Could this football turn you into a pro? £250 'smart' ball tracks your performance to make you a better striker

It may be too late to make the England squad for this year’s World Cup, but a new smart football could get you in shape for the next one. 
Built-in sensors in the Adidas Smart Ball monitor how hard it is struck, tracks flight trajectories and reveals impact points for penalties and corners.
It syncs with the firm’s micoach app via Bluetooth, and helps players learn and master various kicking and control skills. 

Built-in sensors in the Adidas Smart Ball, pictured, monitor how hard it is struck, tracks flight trajectories and also reveals impact points for penalties and corners. It syncs with the firm's micoach app via Bluetooth and helps players learn and master various kicking and control skills

FORMULA FOR FOOTBALL SUCCESS

Professor Stephen Hawking has produced a mathematical formula to guarantee England success at this summer’s World Cup in Brazil - and also on how to take the ‘perfect penalty’.
The Cambridge physicist analysed data from every tournament since 1966 - but he believes the heat, the altitude and the distance from home could all scupper England's chances.
He added England's chances of success could be worked out by examining ‘environmental, physiological, psychological, political and tactical variables’.
And said ‘Statistically England's red kit is more successful and we should play 4-3-3 rather than 4-4-2.'

For example, the data is used to teach users how to bend free kicks, take better penalties, generate more power, and avoid injury.

 

Each time the ball is kicked, the app reveals the speed, amount of spin, which foot kicked the ball and its flight path.
The £250 ($299/€ 299) ball is on sale now in the U.S and Europe from Adidas and Apple stores and comes with a wireless charger. 
Elsewhere on the miCoach Smart Ball app, the dedicated training section features tutorials to help master more advanced techniques, including the ‘knuckleball’.
Knuckleball is a technique developed by baseball player Eddie Cicotte.
Cicotte’s method involved holding the ball between his knuckles with the intention of avoiding the rotational spin created by throwing a ball normally. 

Adidas 'smart' ball can help make you a better striker

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Each time the ball is kicked, the data is fed back to the app. The left-hand screenshot reveals the speed, amount of spin, which foot kicked the ball and its flight path. The dedicated training section, pictured right, features tutorials to help players master more advanced techniques

He found that if the ball is not rotating, its trajectory is more likely to be affected by the airflow over the undulations of the ball's stitching, making it move in the air.
Applied to football, by hitting the so-called 'sweetspot' of the ball, just above the equator with a big toe, the player can produce a shot which reaches its maximum height, before dipping sharply.
It’s a technique used by Gareth Bale and David Beckham among others.
The micoach’s Challenge Yourself section, challenges players to kick the ball a certain speed, bend around a wall or try to replicate professional-level free kicks.
There is also a record book section to save and record all kicks to improve and track performance over time.

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Professor Stephen Hawking has produced a mathematical formula, pictured, to guarantee England success at this summer's World Cup in Brazil - and also on how to take the 'perfect penalty'

Numbers game: The Cambridge physicist analysed data from every tournament since 1966 - but he believes the heat, the altitude and the distance from home could all scupper England's chances