| Clubs, what if you took advantage of unlimited playing time? |
Discover the Play Unlimited subscription:
- Worn or punctured balls? Unlimited replacement included
- 12-month commitment, cancellable at any time
- Pay monthly or quarterly, at your own pace
- Minimum 10% discount on the entire Football catalogue
- Never more expensive than a traditional purchase, guaranteed
- 100% of used footballs collected and recycled in France
- Delivery, after-sales service, recycling: an all-in-one service, with no surprises
https://playunlimited.decathlon.fr/ |
| The story behind this ball |
Our design team created this hybrid ball after observing football players in action on the pitch.
This ball is a hybrid because its design combines the comfort of a machine-stitched ball with the durability of a hand-sewn one (the seams are on the inside).
We've also used a special bladder (2 km of thread is wrapped around it) to ensure durable inflation and better sphericity. |
| The durability of our balls |
We've developed a tool for characterising the durability of our balls.
Defects that appear in use are identified and assessed through a series of laboratory tests.
These tests enable us to compare the overall strength of our footballs with those available on the market.
Our aim: to have the most durable products on the market. |
| Lighter than a regular ball |
This ball is considered light because it is about 30% lighter than a regular size 5 football. What difference does that make? Thanks to its weight, young football players can kick or head the ball more comfortably. It's also easier to aim and execute long passes. |
| How big is it? What's the circumference? |
The size of this ball is between 68.0 cm and 70.0 cm (size 5). |
| A "round" ball? |
Here's how we test sphericity:
Average measured variation: 1.8% max (FIFA Basic certification).
We measure the football's sphericity at 4500 different points and then examine any differences.
If the discrepancy is greater than 1.8% (FIFA Basic Standard), our engineers are tasked with improving the sphericity to ensure a consistent bounce. |
| Maximum pressure loss test: here's what we do... |
Here's how we test pressure loss: We inflate the ball to the recommended pressure (meaning 0.8 bar).
72 hours later, the ball must not have lost more than 15% of its pressure, meaning approx. 0.1 bar (FIFA Basic certification). The pressure after 72 hours must, therefore, be at approx. 0.7 bar.
This also means that it is quite normal for a ball to lose pressure after a few days. |
| We've also tested how much water the ball absorbs... |
Here's how we test water absorption:
We simulate rainy playing conditions in a lab, leaving the ball to sit in 2 cm of water on a pivoting support whilst subjecting it to 250 compressions.
At the end of the test, the ball must have absorbed no more than 15% of its weight (FIFA Basic certification). |
| It's all about the bounce |
Here's the bounce test:
The ball is dropped onto a steel plate 10 times from a height of 2 metres.
The bounce height must be between 125 and 155 cm with a maximum difference of 10 cm between the ball's highest and lowest bounce. |
| Not even a scratch! |
The most stringent test we put this ball through is the shooting machine test.
The ball must resist 2,500 shoots against a concrete slope at 50 km/h at a distance of 2.5 m.
At the end of the test, we check:
- the ball's general state: stitching must withstand this test
- the circumference: must not have increased by more than 1.5 cm.
- the sphericity: it must not have varied by over 1.8%
- the pressure: loss of pressure must not exceed 12.5%. |
| How about you? What do you think? |
We value your feedback and use it to continuously improve our products.
A huge thank you in advance for sharing your feedback with us. |
