The beautiful game, what’s not to like? Whether you’re playing yourself or just enjoying the spectacle, it’s truly a unique sport. Many football fans grow up watching their favorite players such as Pele, Zidane, and Messi and want to replicate their skills and abilities in the garden. Others get their sons and daughters playing at a young age. It’s all fun and games and presents the opportunity to create wonderful memories.
For anyone who plays football, you’ll understand the importance of quality. A lack of it can really make a massive difference in a negative way. It can often be difficult to identify the signs of good and bad quality in certain football products just from looking at them. This can lead to some rather disappointing times. If you know how to spot the difference between good quality and bad, you can save yourself plenty of despair. Here are some tips on telling the difference between good and bad quality in football equipment.
Boots
Out of everything, football boots are most likely to affect your individual performance on the pitch. If you’re really serious about playing football, you need to stay well clear of bad-quality boots. You’ll find it very hard to get your game up to standard when playing in a pair of bad boots. Popular Nike and Adidas boots are often made in different styles, each having a different quality. This is so kids can play in the same designed boots as Messi and Ronaldo, without the quality.
How to identify poor quality boots – Poor quality boots tend to have a shiny and plasticky surface. What makes these unhelpful is the fact it will be hard to cushion and control the ball with a surface like this. Laces are also likely to be thinner and stiffer, while the studs can often be made of cheap plastic.
Qualities in a good football boot – A textured surface, good thick flexible laces, and sturdy studs to prevent you from slipping are all essential. The boot also shouldn’t be too stiff and adjust to your foot shape pretty quickly.
Footballs
Footballs are going to affect everyone’s performance. A bad football can really ruin a day of football. Cheap footballs aren’t useless and are certainly a viable option for kicking around the garden. But when it comes to match day, you need the real thing.
How to identify poor quality footballs – Shiny surfaces on footballs will cause the ball to skid and bounce unpredictably. Exposed stitching will also reduce the ball’s lifespan.
Qualities in good footballs – Good quality footballs are important, and using quality materials such as those from Polymer Chemistry Innovations makes all the difference. They’re going to have a textured surface with thick exterior foam. The stitching will also be relatively concealed to avoid loose threads.
Kits
Especially for the popular kits like Liverpool and Barcelona, people love making bad replicas to sell to people. If you want a top-quality jersey, you should only purchase from trusted retailers.
Low-quality kits – May not include manufacturer logo (Nike, Adidas) on the kit itself. Colors may appear washed or faded. The team crest is rubbery or not embroidered.
High-quality kits – Quality badge and manufacturer logos should be stitched into the kit. It should appear to be an exact replica of the professional teams. Crests should be embroidered.
