The Adidas Jabulani, The Worst Soccer Ball in World Cup History

Rabi Mehta, an aerospace engineer at NASA Ames in Mountain View said: "It's quite obvious. You're seeing a knuckle-ball effect," [Mehta said in a statement released by NASA.] He explained that when a relatively smooth ball with seams flies through the air without much spin, the air close to the surface is affected by the seams, producing an asymmetric flow. This asymmetry creates side forces that can suddenly push the ball in one direction and cause volatile swerves and swoops. From his research on tennis and cricket balls in wind tunnels, Mehta believes that the Jabulani ball will tend to knuckle at 45 to 50 mph, which coincides with the speed of the ball during free-kick around the goal area. Another point made by Mehta, is that a lot of the stadiums for the World Cup are located at high altitude (Johannesburg is at 5,500 feet) and this will affect the ball aerodynamics as well, since the air density is lower. At this high altitude, the ball will tend to fly faster (less drag) and swerve less (less lift).

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• jabulani
• soccer
• sudafrica
• 2010
• world
• cup
• nasa

[elusi0nx]

THE BALL IS TOO ROUND

[Sammyv17]

0:43 When I kick a ball it does that.

[resist0224]

This ball does suck cuz i would always get dizzy trying to follow the bal into my hands

[mrga009]

FC BAYERN RULZ!

[Thesoccerdood]

wtf its amazin

[RitvarLegend]

this ball is stupid

[Dominik047]

Why is there so much hate for America. Were not all fat lazy ass holes like you see in movies and on tv. My fellow nations let's stop the fighting and get lost in the beautiful game

[KojachBaumherr]

@PeGeFreestyle student players as well as a nasa research center....

[CFUVF]

@joebama97 fuckin bam hink yer mental ! mad poof

[Wanikeo]

only a true player can control the jabulani

[luisalonsoreyes]

fuck you adidas!