Overview
Soccer is one of the most popular sports in our current world. It is a game played with passion and might. This game is played on a grass or turf field about 110m long and 75m wide. On the field there are a total of 22 players. The objective of the game is to get a 68.58cm soccer ball in a 12m long by 8m high soccer net. However players can not use there arms or hands to play the game (exception: throw ins/goalies). This game is very physically demanding, it engages fast passed actions and aerobic strength. In addition, there are many features within equipment in soccer that can significantly influence a player’s performance. People think of soccer as a simple game, but what they don’t know is that soccer involves a lot of physics.
Modern Soccer ball
A modern soccer ball is made up of four key components the cover, stitching, lining and bladder.
Bladder
The bladder is the inner most part of a soccer ball and as such contains the air. Therefore the bladder must be made of an elastic material, so it could be inflated. There are three major components to construct a bladder latex, butyl, and DIP butyl. Latex is a synthetic material derived from rubber trees consisting of dispersions in water of polymer particles. This is the oldest type of bladder material, it has the advantage of being soft and thus making it easier to compress upon while kicking. However a latex ball is prone to air leakage, and that is why there is and mixture of butyl and DIP butyl. The DIP butyl facilitates the ball to keep its air.
Lining
The thickness of the material plays a tremendous role in the creation of the lining. The layers of lining are placed between the bladder and cover. The layers of lining are mostly composed of polyester or cotton (polycotton) to give the ball strength, structure and bounce. A professional soccer ball is made with 4 or more layers lining. The layers of lining help the ball keep it shape and determine the life of the ball.
Cover
The cover material is the outer most layers in a soccer ball. There are several different materials used to create the outer coating. Some of which are PVC, polyurethane and leather. There are usually 32 panels in a soccer ball, 20 hexagons and 12 pentagons, this is a Buckminster ball. However there are traditionally soccer balls that are made with 6 – 8 panels to give the ball a better shape; this will create the ball to spin more.
Stitching
The stitching hold the ball together, it keeps the cover on top of the lining. The stitching is usually done by a 5ply twisted polyester cord.