Nike have revealed their new football that will be used in the Premier League next season.The new ‘Flight’ ball will be used for the 2020/21 season by Nike sponsored competitions - which includes the Premier League and Serie A.The first thing you’ll notice about the ball is the ridges which aren’t too dissimilar to the dimples on a golf ball.You might instantly think that it’s going to cause carnage for goalkeepers with the ball flying about everywhere.However, those ridges will actually help it fly straight. Bad news for those players who like a knuckleball-style free-kick.Nike say the concept is to stop ‘the unpredictable motion of the ball once it has been kicked.’Instead, the ‘Flight’ is supposed to be more consistent when it’s kicked and will have a 30% increased truer flight on its previous ball, the ‘Merlin.’
The ball has undergone eight years of experiments, which started two years after the controversial ‘Jabulani’ ball used in the 2010 World Cup, with Adidas claiming it was the 'roundest ever' but it moved all over the place.
"Everything done at the Lab is rooted in science," says Kieran Ronan, Nike Senior Director for Global Equipment.
"Here, we are able to detect small differences in performance that may not be perceivable to most athletes, but when those small differences are iterated upon 68 times, the result is a noticeable leap in performance.
"The construction started with a square-shaped Aerotrack groove. Over the course of the 68 iterations, we modified the shape of the groove, added sculpted chevrons and explored multiple features throughout to deliver one geometric pattern that helps promote a more stable flight."
Goalkeepers will no longer be able to complain that the ball ‘moved’ in the air as an excuse why they didn’t save a long-range shot.
We can’t wait to see it in action.