The TeamGeist Soccer Ball Thread - The official WC06 match ball

[Zeppelin]

http://us.news1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/fifa/gen/fifa/20060530/i/704354819.jpg
I HATE THIS !!

The Ball that will be used at the WC in Germany will probably be praised as much as it is disparaged. Strikers and midfielders love it. Goalkeepers hate it.

What is the technical explanation on why the Goalkeepers hate this ball ?

http://us.news1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/fifa/gen/fifa/20060530/i/3302671799.jpg
LOVE IT !

[dsp87260]

It's the same story every World Cup.

Every World Cup they introduce a new ball and the offensive players love it and the defensive players (mainly the goalkeepers) hate it.

I don't know the properties of the new ball, and I probably don't know the rights terms for this explanation (seeing as how I'm not an expert in aerodynamics), but every new ball introduced has seemed to swerve more and be more "bendable" (as in "bend it like Beckham") than the last.....more unpredictable.

For obvious reasons, attacking players like unpredictability and defensive players don't....

[Henry Porter]

Have their been any studies done on this? I wonder how much of this is just in the goalies' head.

[Carlillos2theMex]

it's not that bad if you like maxi pads stuck to your ball.

[Excape Goat]

Only two leagues in the wiorld have triedn the new balls.

I believed only one or two Argentinian players played at home. So the only players who had experienses with the ball will be MLS players.

[Big balls]

The only thing I've read are some words by Isaksson. He said that the ball could very well affect his performance. He said it was awful and "hard to grip". "loose" etc., he said it was like a football you buy at the gas station.

Well it's the same for everyone but I'm a bit worried about the advantage of the freekicks. Not something you want when you're facing Beckham.

[goliath74]

Less friction should give it more speed and power and less bend.

[coreyo]

come on,
at least wikipedia it or something.
"Teamgeist means "team spirit" in German. +Teamgeist is the name of the official football for the FIFA World Cup 2006 made by Adidas. The ball was unveiled in front of many millions at the world cup draw by the German captain Michael Ballack. It is considered one of the best balls made by many top class professionals because of its design and innovation. The ball differs from other more orthodox 'Buckminster' balls (32 panels - 20 hexagons and 12 pentagons) in that only 14 specially constructed panels surround it.

Traditional 32 panel hand stitched balls have a wider target zone meaning accuracy is hard to consistantly achieve. The new 14-panel design has resulted in a ball with the most consistent performance characteristics ever, enabling the players to show their true skills. There are fewer seams, so the ball is rounder and performs more uniformly, regardless of where it is hit. The more perfect the sphere is, the more balanced it will be, offering greater accuracy due to the predictability of its flight. The new panel shape harmonizes the energy displacement and minimizes the amount of corners, while the larger panels allow for a cleaner kicking area. Perhaps the biggest difference the players will find with the new balls will be how they play in the wet. Normally, a wet and heavy ball behaves quite differently from a dry one. It flies slower through the air, has a lower bounce and is more difficult to curl. A patented Thermal Bonding technology makes the new ball virtually waterproof with identical performance characteristics wet or dry. The FIFA Approved Standard for water absorption stipulates no more than a 10% weight increase – the +Teamgeist’s has less than 0.1 % weight increase. Similarly, it has significantly improved on all standards for uniformity of rebound and pressure retention and shape and size retention. Clever design and technologies has enabled Adidas to reduce manufacturing tolerances to a new level.

The adidas Innovation Team (a.i.t) has tested the new Match Ball for the 2006 FIFA World Cup Germany, first under tough laboratory conditions, later also with professional players and clubs on the field of play. Scientific tests were conducted together with the Sports Technology Research Group of the University of Loughborough, one of the leading institutions of its kind worldwide. These tests confirmed that the adidas +Teamgeist is more round, precise and consistent than any top competitor match ball." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teamgeist

[ValentinoFly]

Terrible Gay!!!

[Zeppelin]

Every WC fifa changes things on the ball ( the same way adidas/nike/puma do on the jersey ) for money, what a smart *ss...

[ShaRule]

Only two leagues in the wiorld have triedn the new balls.

I believed only one or two Argentinian players played at home. So the only players who had experienses with the ball will be MLS players.

what are u saying? many european teams played with the new ball many months ago, like club bruges..iran even played with the GOLDEN FINAL ball

http://cache.gettyimages.com/xc/71088923.jpg?v=1&c=MS_GINS&k=2&d=08A8BA3C818346D00DBFC92BBC6A5281

http://media.farsnews.com/Media/8503/ImageReports/8503100577/7_8503100577_L600.jpg

[ursula]

what are u saying? many european teams played with the new ball many months ago, like club bruges..iran even played with the GOLDEN FINAL ball

]

What he is saying is that only MLS has played the ball on a weekly basis. Sure, many teams clubs and country, have played the ball some.

In following MLS I noticed that long distance shots and goals are up with it. The ball really takes off.

[Polar Bear]

.
Traditional 32 panel hand stitched balls have a wider target zone meaning accuracy is hard to consistantly achieve. The new 14-panel design has resulted in a ball with the most consistent performance characteristics ever, enabling the players to show their true skills. There are fewer seams, so the ball is rounder and performs more uniformly, regardless of where it is hit. The more perfect the sphere is, the more balanced it will be, offering greater accuracy due to the predictability of its flight. The new panel shape harmonizes the energy displacement and minimizes the amount of corners, while the larger panels allow for a cleaner kicking area. Perhaps the biggest difference the players will find with the new balls will be how they play in the wet. Normally, a wet and heavy ball behaves quite differently from a dry one. It flies slower through the air, has a lower bounce and is more difficult to curl. A patented Thermal Bonding technology makes the new ball virtually waterproof with identical performance characteristics wet or dry. The FIFA Approved Standard for water absorption stipulates no more than a 10% weight increase – the +Teamgeist’s has less than 0.1 % weight increase. Similarly, it has significantly improved on all standards for uniformity of rebound and pressure retention and shape and size retention. Clever design and technologies has enabled Adidas to reduce manufacturing tolerances to a new level.

It sounds to me like the new ball may not favor the goalkeeper or the offense. If it is more predictible in its trajectory, the goalkeeper should not be fooled by weird movements as much. However, the offense should be able to place the ball more accurately. I'm not sure who is better off. Either way, I am in favor of a more round ball. Balls are supposed to be sheres, not boxes. As for the looks, I don't find it very aesthetically pleasing. I prefer the hexagon look on the ball. Perhaps, I am just used to that and with time will grow to like this look better.

[Holla at ya boy]

I have had that ball since Christmas

[leg_breaker]

Only two leagues in the wiorld have triedn the new balls.

I believed only one or two Argentinian players played at home. So the only players who had experienses with the ball will be MLS players.

England play cup games and home internationals with it. They played with it today, and Beckham's set pieces were pretty deadly, there were two own goals within the space of a few minutes. Even Crouch managed a hat-trick, as well as putting a penalty over the bar. This ball is going to cause all sorts of problems.

[lotharis1]

come on,
at least wikipedia it or something.
"Teamgeist means "team spirit" in German. +Teamgeist is the name of the official football for the FIFA World Cup 2006 made by Adidas. The ball was unveiled in front of many millions at the world cup draw by the German captain Michael Ballack. It is considered one of the best balls made by many top class professionals because of its design and innovation. The ball differs from other more orthodox 'Buckminster' balls (32 panels - 20 hexagons and 12 pentagons) in that only 14 specially constructed panels surround it.

Traditional 32 panel hand stitched balls have a wider target zone meaning accuracy is hard to consistantly achieve. The new 14-panel design has resulted in a ball with the most consistent performance characteristics ever, enabling the players to show their true skills.


Doesnt that indicate that it takes more skill to perform with the older ball? and that this new ball is more like an idiot proof spill cap?

plus the more orthodox ball is like the volleyball, with the 18 pannels 3 per side, the buckminster itself was introduced into the game not too long ago, and the more traditional ball had made a comeback, like in MLS's ball of a few years back, which actually had the best passing touch of any ball I've ever used, but since its all about the goal scorers and their bent free kick goals which make for commercials, jersey and ball sales, so thats what will win out in the end


It sounds to me like the new ball may not favor the goalkeeper or the offense. If it is more predictible in its trajectory, the goalkeeper should not be fooled by weird movements as much.


see what troubles keepers is the vision of it...

what you see is not the normal colors and rotation which you have trained most of your life with? it turns over in a different way, so its harder to make gut instinct reactions the way you would normally to a ball you see. Thus it takes longer to read, and longer to react to shots you'd normally save on instinct. It also has a smoother surface, from less seems, which means its more slippery when you try to catch it, expecting to have the same grip on it youd have with your normal ball that youve trained on your whole life.

[Pottertons]

I actually like the look of this ball. I love the fact that you don't have all the hexagons on it because it contours ot the design.

As for performance, I've never tried it and @ $120 CAD, I probably won't until a few years later when it's rubbish and a newly imporved ball is available.

[LordR]

I like the name but the design is rubbish.
Why can't modern balls look like this:

http://www.soccerballworld.com/images/telstar-1970.jpg

[pepsi]

At first i didn't really like the design, as some other people said, it looks like maxipads stuck to the ball lol

But it has kind of grown on me, it could be better looking i suppose, but its not totally bad

As far as it being a problem for goalkeepers, Schwarzer still managed to make
some pretty nice saves against the Netherlands the other day :p

[jcsd]

Paul Robisnosn doesn't like the new ball:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/world_cup_2006/teams/england/5054694.stm

I don't think t's a good thing, because I'd rtaher not see loads of goals from goalkeeping errors due to the fact goalies aren't used to the new ball.

To be honest I think it's a bit silly, why every World Cup bring in balls that are (comaprtively) radically different from what the players are used to playing with? Why not ease them in gradually before the World Cup to give players more of a chnace to get used to them? The answer of course is the overriding concern here is to make sure that addidas sells as many of their inflated spheres as possible,