How to choose a soccer ball

It is important when choosing a soccer ball to know what you are looking for. Below will help you make the right decision on the quality, size and type of soccer ball.. the first time. 

The two common types of soccer balls can be put into two categories. A training level of quality soccer ball and a match level of quality. How to quickly tell? Look for the type of soccer ball stitching or bonding method. These are your red flags to look for.

Match balls are high quality "thermo bonded" or "hybrid" soccer balls with usually a PU outer casing. 

Training balls are usually more affordable on the price scale and are either "machine stitched" or "hand stitched" but can come in a quality PU casing or a cheaper PVC outer casing. PVC balls tend to have a really shiny look and often times sticky. 

What's the main differences between a match ball and a training ball?

MATCH BALL

• Repel water (can't see stitching because it's sealed)
• Hold their shape & weight
• Softer feel in the cold
• Better responsiveness
• Latex bladder (some have butyl which hold air longer)
• PU, synthetic leather outer casings
• True flight to the ball when kicked over long distances
• Increased control
• More expensive

TRAINING BALL

• PVC outer casing (nicer ones have PU)
• Machine stitched (lots of small thread) or hand stitched (thick thread)
• Shiny or sticky casing that often times players complain the ball is sticking to their foot.
• Usually in crazy solid colors like pink, baby blue, etc. found at big box retail stores
• Stitched can break causing the ball to deform after a short period
• Weight can vary from very light to really heavy when played with in rain
• Great price

How do I pick the right size?

Choosing the right size for a soccer ball is simple. It's typically done by the player's age. (Futsal balls have their own size guides. Below is for regular soccer balls.)

• Size 5 - Age 13 or older
• Size 4 - Ages 8 to 12 years old
• Size 3 - Ages 7 or under
• Size 2 & 1 - Used strictly for skills purposes. The smaller the ball when you get older, the harder it is to control. 

Soccer Innovations is your go to soccer ball obsessed gurus. We focus strictly on modern soccer balls with an extremely high standard for a quality soccer ball. Simply put, we don't sell cheaply made balls. You won't find our balls at the big box stores. Our quality standard is too high and we aim to keep the price low for our customers. We are a soccer ball specialty manufacturer with a passion to control quality and the customer experience from top to bottom. Doesn't hurt our ball factory is a certified fair trade factory either. Doing good for all people is the right thing to do. You won't find any other big name brand doing that.

We offer balls in many price ranges for our customers and keep it very simple. We don't sell a million different kind of balls. We make the best ball in every ball category, except hand stitched balls. Buying a hand stitched ball is old school. It's like trying using a paper map, dial-up internet or renting VHS tapes. Our advice, stay away from hand stitched balls. (Sorry Select, technology has improved a lot over the years.)

You know it's a quality ball when you see a Soccer Innovations ball. It's packed with technology that is patented, like our restrictive bladders inside our balls that keep our soccer balls perfectly round, softer and longer lasting. Think of it like a protective shield around the bladder. 

Below is our A-Team line up and the best quality ball per category starting with the top of the line. 

• Hyper Sonic - dimpled synthetic leather 32 panel - thermo bonded
• Inverter - synthetic leather 12 panel, built to play soft in the winter & highly visible - thermo bonded
• Tazmania -  synthetic leather textured 32 panel - thermo bonded
• Speed Ball - synthetic leather textured 32 panel - hybrid
• Bullet Ball - PU textured 32 panel - machine stitched

We offer many other types of soccer balls including skills balls, mini balls, reaction balls, safe 290g heading trainer balls, futsal balls & more!