If you still haven’t caughtat least a twinge of World Cup fever, then you might as well be Ann Coulter (seriously, lady, ).
Personally, it’s made us want to get back out on the pitch, even if we haven’t kicked a ball around since elementary school. To remedy our rusty skills, we’ve been been messing around with , which functions sort of like a friendly U11 coach.
Integrated sensors built into the size 5 regulation weight ball provide almost instant feedback about the speed, spin, trajectory, and strike point of our kicks to an accompanying smartphone app. And supplemental coach notes tell us what all that data means (though some are admittedly more helpful than others. Helpful: “To get a better power kick, the ball spin should be below 150 rpm.” Less helpful, but encouraging: “It takes 10,000 hours to become proficient at a task”).
Adidas also thoughtfully incorporated various challenges for once we master the basics, so we’ll be able to practice bending and knuckleballing like the pros. Our touches might be slower than they once were, but we’re going to crush the competition at next week’s co-ed rec game.
$300,