The key element for one of the most popular sports in the world, soccer balls come in different designs, sizes and weights. The diversity also extends to the materials soccer balls are made of and the features of the final product. Here are a few technical details on the structure and the making of soccer balls that many of us know nothing of when having fun in a nice game.
Several covering layers are included in the surface structure of the soccer balls and they are not made of natural leather as it may appear at first sight but they are manufactured from lightweight plastic that keeps the balls dry. Synthetic leather is the most commonly used, being made of poly vinyl chloride or PVC and polyurethane. Even the types of artificial leather remain a mystery to most soccer fans, because these patterns too, come in great number of varieties.
Depending on the design of the soccer balls, the various segments of the exterior cover, also known as the panels, present specific features. There can be 32, 26 or 16 panels with the mention that 32-panel variant is normally used in the majority of official games. Yet, the others are encountered with some leagues in England and Scotland. After being sewn together and inflated, the panels create the nearly perfect sphere that we call soccer ball.
Between the external covering and the internal bladder that holds the air, soccer balls have some special material incorporated, which is called the lining. These intermediary layer can be made of polyester or laminated cotton, thus contributing to the strength and the bounce properties of the finite product. For professional soccer balls, up to four or five linings are used, while promotional items and practice balls contain fewer such structures.
Differences of material do exist in the structure of the bladders as well. Soccer balls can be made either from latex or butyl. While the surface tension brought by latex or natural rubber is unparalleled, the tiny pores allow deflation over a certain period of time.
In order to keep the ball practical, you’ll have to re-inflate it at least once a week. Butyl soccer balls present no air retention problem, but require valves to keep the air inside.
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