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What do David Beckham, David Ginola and Ryan Giggs all have in common? They're all amazing at curving a football. |
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But how do the footballers get the ball to curve so much? Is it all down to the skill of the player, or does technology lend a helping hand? |
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Well, modern footballs are made up of pentagons and hexagons. However, this year's Premier League ball has been improved by adjusting the size of the pentagons. |
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This change means that when inflated, the pressure is equal over the entire surface of the football, making it a lot rounder. And the rounder a ball is, the better it travels through the air! |
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One of the other reasons it's faster is because of the material underneath the outer layer, which acts a bit like a trampoline! |
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All of these layers of different materials make up a football. All individually designed with a different purpose. |
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One of the layers is made of latex. When the football is kicked, the latex absorbs some of the energy, and then repels it back onto the outer walls of the football, making it travel faster. |
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The ball is supposed to respond with much greater accuracy, so - test time! Neil Ingles, the former international Scottish player, was on hand to help out. |
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Neil is going to strike three different footballs from three different eras to find out which is the most responsive. This one is from fifty years ago... |
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...this one is from a couple of years ago... |
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...and this is the current Premier League ball. |
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Neil has to try and score a goal but there's one obstruction - a rather 2D Fearne! So Neil has to try and curve the ball around "Fearne" to hit the back of the net. |
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Neil's using the instep of his foot to cut across and hit the outside of the ball, so that it curls around "Fearne". |
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With the first ball, the lace-up kind from fifty years ago, you can see that Neil scores but that the ball doesn't curve very much. The ball is quite heavy and hard to control. |
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With the valve-pump football from a few years ago, Neil also scores. Much more of a curve. |
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With the current Premier League ball, he scores again with no problem. There's an awful lot more of a curve, and the ball is much more fast and responsive. So there you have it - technology is helping balls to curve more! |
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