Articles

The Andrews Labor Government is committed to making sport and recreation accessible to everyone across Victoria. In support of this goal, the Minister for Community Sport Ros Spence announced the latest successful recipients of the Sporting Club Grants Program during National Volunteer Week. 

What goal is the best? What goal is right for me? Whether you are a professional football club or recreational player, a portable goal is a must when training or playing.

All good products should be backed up with service and spare parts. SUMMIT is one of Australia’s largest suppliers of goals, nets and rebounders and has a supply of parts that you can depend on.

Football or Soccer: What is the correct name to use? Today, it is officially called football, but soccer was used in the 1800s and was widely adopted as the correct term for the sport. It was England that reverted back to Football in the 1900s, and this has become the professional name in most countries. But there are a few countries that still use the term soccer, and usually that country has other sports they call football – Gridiron (American football), AFL (Australian rules football), Canadian football, Gaelic football, rugby league football and rugby union football. In Australia, the term Football was officially used from 2006, replacing the word soccer. For this reason, Australia tends to use both terms quite a lot. What do we use at SUMMIT? We actually use both. The key reason for this is distinction for when people are choosing sports. In this document you will see that we use the term football, as we are talking about only the one sport. But if you look at our website - summitsport.com.au – the category names have soccer. SUMMIT provides a lot of equipment to different types of sports and they all call their sports football, which causes clashes in wording. We find the easiest way to fix this problem is to call it soccer.

Soccer balls most commonly have 32 panels, made up of both hexagons and pentagons The modern soccer ball (without going back too far) is commonly known to have 32 panels. This is the standard black and white ball with hexagons and pentagons. Today you will find footballs coming in a wide range of panel amounts, shapes and styles. A cynical person would say that this is just a marketing ploy, and in some cases you would be correct. But there are some benefits to having different panel shapes. There are documented cases of high-profile balls that have not flown well due to the aerodynamic properties of the ball, which shows there are performance differences to be achieved (for better or worse). Balls with larger panels (eg 12 panel) have less seams and feel softer on the foot or head. This is most likely down to where the panels join (seam). These join points are usually harder due to stitching or the bonding process. These are pressure points and have stitching, glues or both pulling on the material. This will make the edges thinner and feel a little compressed. Bonded balls tend to be a lot better than stitched balls as they are not held together with stitches. Less or more seams/ridges will change the way the air flow goes around the ball. Without wind tunnel or computer modelling, we can’t say specifically what is going to happen but there will be direct changes to flight and feel. In most cases, the affect is more down to the player’s style or preference. There are players that like traditional style football, while others like the larger paneling. We know that different players like different balls, here at SUMMIT we try to design a variety of characteristics into the range. Why are some soccer balls smooth, textured and embossed? In the mid 2000’s soccer balls started to see a range of textures/graining added to the surface of the material. Before this, the materials used were predominantly smooth. The main surface differences were the glossiness of the material, from high gloss to matte. Today there is an ever-growing range of textures, feels, glossiness, and embossing’s (embossing is the deeper style of ridge/bump/pressing into the surface of the material. The following explains the differences and terms for each. Super Gloss Dimple Grain Diamond Grain Embossed Details How do different textures change the ball? Textured/Graining Is a light surface imprint in the material of the ball. When manufacturing the PU, TPU, PVC, the material is rolled over a drum that gives the texture. Although there is essentially no difference to material, the texture does change the characteristics of the ball in a couple of ways. FIRSTLY: It should give a little more grip off the boot for controlling spin and direction. It should also allow keepers to get a better glove on the ball. SECONDLY: It gives the outer a softer feel to the touch. This might come from micro-flexing on the creases of the pattern, but has yet to be tested to get a definitive answer. LASTLY: Lastly, it will have an affect on flight. This last reason is dependent on how the ball is moving through the air and the speed, which is reliant on the quality of the player. In theory, one compliments the other – the good player will be able to use the grip, flight and spin to their advantage. Embossing Embossing is a deeper style of imprint into the surface of the material. Although this can be done by pressing shape onto the un-sewn panel, it is usually done with added heat. A metal casting with a heating element will have the shape that is to be embossed added. This presses down onto the material sheet and creates the embossing. This is a good way to add some design and feel to a ball, and mainly seen on larger panel balls. There are a few advantages of adding embossing to a ball design. FIRSTLY: Large indents will affect the way the air moves over the ball. Depending on the shape, this could give lift or curve to its flight. SECONDLY: Secondly, it could add some strength to the panel. Like corrugations in engineered materials (metal, plastics etc.), waves/indents can allow flex or strength in a system. Smooth/Glossy and Matte Smooth, glossy and matte surfaces are also available, and I would usually say this is personal preference. There are some differences with how the ball feels, and in some cases, how it collects moisture/dirt. This is only very minimal, but a super smooth or glossy ball should slide over surfaces a little quicker. They can also have a harder initial touch, but this feeling can be a false impression. A good glossy ball should have a soft foam backing and can actually feel very positive in play. Our current Mero (super gloss outer and deep foam lining), is a good example of this - initial touch to the finger-tip has a tight feel, but on the foot or head it is soft and pliable.