What makes a Good Football?

What makes a good football? Any kicker worth his salt knows that the difference between a ball skimming just below the crossbar and having enough juice to go through the posts can be how a ball is prepared. Equipment managers spend hours each week doctoring the “perfect ball”, just for a small advantage over opponents. So what is the difference between a football straight out of the box from a store like Dick’s Sporting Goods, and an NFL Duke that the professionals play with on Sunday in front of tens of millions of people?

For one, a broken-in ball will be much smoother than a fresh one. A football typically has dimples covering its surfaces, but people caring for a ball can legally shave them down by rubbing them with something hard, like a wooden brush or against concrete. This creates a smoother ball, making it fly through the air smoother and helping athletes perform. Additionally, some people use a technique called “mudding”, which is when they rub a mixture of some kind all around the ball to make it less stiff and easier to manipulate. There are a ton of techniques that exist to doctor a football, but those are the most common, and in my opinion, the most effective as well (which may be why every NFL team does it before games).

So in the end, is preparing a football going to make you win? Well, if your team isn’t very good and is losing by 40, then it probably won’t make a difference. But in a game of inches, where one pass could be the difference between holding a trophy on a podium and sulking in your bedroom for a week, a slight advantage is all you can ever ask for.