I know this may seem like a silly question, but without the use of a pressure gauge, how can you tell you've inflated a ball to the proper level. I recently purchased a ball from Eurosport and it came un-inflated. I know there's a recommended pressure level stamped on the ball (mine says 0.7-1.0 bar [whatvever that is] and 10-15 psi). I don't own a pressure gauge, so I can't actually messure the psi. Should I inflate the ball until it's solid as a rock, or are you supposed to give it some slack? How do you know if it's under-inflated or over-inflated? I want to inflate it to whatever proper match level is, but I don't want to over-inflate it either and risk possibly popping it or whatever. Thanks for taking time to answer this rather rudimentary question.
press the ball against your chest, and if your fingers dont go in too much its inflated enough, you dotn want it hard as a rock or you will break your foot.
A good test for whether a ball is inflated to match pressure is to put it on the ground. Then put your thumbs together on the top and give the ball a hard push. If you can depress your thumbs more than about half an inch, it's too flat. Any less, and it's overinflated.
Since you don't have a pressure gauge, you might consider getting one. It comes in handy. See: DIAL GAUGE - #794 http://www.scoresports.com/products.asp?Category=Accessories You should be able to find one at a good soccer store.
People on my team always give me guff because I inflate my balls to what I feel to be the proper level, which is fairly hard, but with a little bit of give. All of theirs tend to be IMO underinflated. I generally follow the "thumbs 1/2 inch" rule. Otherwise it's impossible to get any good power on a kick! How do they think the pros get so much speed on shots, etc? It's because the ball is ready for it. Of course they're also very strong and well practiced, but still.. the ball DOES have something to do with it.
Pump it until its very firm and only pushes in slightly with a firm push of the thumb, but a little bit. If it pushes in half an inch thats far too much unless your squeezing the life out of it.
Yeah, ot needs to be fairly firm though, and even if you pump a ball extremely hard it will still be fine to hit. I have never kicked a ball that felt sore to hit even when it was too pumped. Break your foot? I don't think so.