Changing the ball?

[La Rikardo]

Originally Posted by Rich1

Not true. The ampunt of air in a soccer ball will affect how far it flies, how fast it flies, and the spin rate on those fancy kicks you see. The reason many balls are used is because the clock does not stop when it goes out of bounds and they pay outdoors so it may take a while to get it back.

I can find no rule specifically prohibiting changing the ball but if I deemed it good to start the game we use it for the whole game. Just because one player or one team thinks it doesn't suit their game is not a valid reason to switch. Both teams will need to adapt to the ball being used.

At the highest levels of soccer, all balls used absolutely must be of identical pressure, weight, and quality. In the amateur and youth competitions that make up 99.9% of the competitive soccer played in the United States, we're not so worried about it. The difference between a basketball with a pressure on the high end of what's legal and a basketball with a pressure on the low end of what's legal is certainly meaningful, but if players generally agree that a ball's pressure is either higher or lower than what they'd prefer (and I'm not talking about games of high enough level where game management specially prepares a ball for game use; I'm talking about games where we're asking a team for a ball to use during the game), I don't see any reason why we can't change one legal ball for another legal ball.