Holding air ironically is not an important factor for ball quality. In fact, the better quality high-end balls have thinner bladders, causing them to lose air more rapidly than cheaper balls. My preference is a good quality ball that has a decent amount of surface friction and cushioning feel. My team buys for game balls older models Adidas Final pro match balls for about 90 each on Ebay. Great quality, and we do not care that they are four or five years outdated. But be careful to not buy "replica" balls that are made with lower quality materials.

We also use Numero 10 from Select balls. Half the price of the Adidas balls but decent quality. Select makes a very good ball for the money. In fact they make the match ball of the German professional soccer league (and brand it Derbystar). They also have higher end balls and lower end balls, whereas Numero 10 is kind of their middle range ball.

Anonymous wrote:I won't provide a specific ball rec, but i will say the Adidas balls I've bought have performed magnitudes better than the Nike balls I've bought. The Nike balls I've bought have had trouble holding air.

My 1 nike ball is junk.

Thank you all for your replies.

I won't provide a specific ball rec, but i will say the Adidas balls I've bought have performed magnitudes better than the Nike balls I've bought. The Nike balls I've bought have had trouble holding air.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Better balls (FIFA Pro quality) will not hold air as well as the mid range (Adidas League level). Plus, if he is that good he will need to adjust ball pressure due to temperature changes. Buy him a small pump to keep in his bag.

If he is really good or is playing a lot - get a few FIFA Pro balls. The Puma Orbita (la liga, seria A, or unbranded) can be found for 50 or less (Nike and Adidas pro balls won’t go below $80 very often). If you just need a bag of balls for training that aren’t terrible - buy adidas “league” level balls or select numero 10s ($40, but can often find them for under 30). A middle option would be the adidas “competition” balls, which retail for 60 but they aren’t discounted that often, so at that price point you may as well buy top end pumas.

NP here. Thanks for this. I just picked up a Puma Orbita La Liga 1 Pro Match on sale for $50 (from $140) on Puma’s website. Yellow probably wouldn’t be my first choice, but that’s a great deal.

To other posters, be careful ordering for discounted prices on Amazon as lots of reviewers write about ordering pro balls and then receiving official replicas.

We have a neon yellow puma la liga ball and my kid can easily always find it after practice!!!

Yeah, I always try to get bright colors for exactly this reason.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Better balls (FIFA Pro quality) will not hold air as well as the mid range (Adidas League level). Plus, if he is that good he will need to adjust ball pressure due to temperature changes. Buy him a small pump to keep in his bag.

If he is really good or is playing a lot - get a few FIFA Pro balls. The Puma Orbita (la liga, seria A, or unbranded) can be found for 50 or less (Nike and Adidas pro balls won’t go below $80 very often). If you just need a bag of balls for training that aren’t terrible - buy adidas “league” level balls or select numero 10s ($40, but can often find them for under 30). A middle option would be the adidas “competition” balls, which retail for 60 but they aren’t discounted that often, so at that price point you may as well buy top end pumas.

NP here. Thanks for this. I just picked up a Puma Orbita La Liga 1 Pro Match on sale for $50 (from $140) on Puma’s website. Yellow probably wouldn’t be my first choice, but that’s a great deal.

To other posters, be careful ordering for discounted prices on Amazon as lots of reviewers write about ordering pro balls and then receiving official replicas.

We have a neon yellow puma la liga ball and my kid can easily always find it after practice!!!

Anonymous wrote:Better balls (FIFA Pro quality) will not hold air as well as the mid range (Adidas League level). Plus, if he is that good he will need to adjust ball pressure due to temperature changes. Buy him a small pump to keep in his bag.

If he is really good or is playing a lot - get a few FIFA Pro balls. The Puma Orbita (la liga, seria A, or unbranded) can be found for 50 or less (Nike and Adidas pro balls won’t go below $80 very often). If you just need a bag of balls for training that aren’t terrible - buy adidas “league” level balls or select numero 10s ($40, but can often find them for under 30). A middle option would be the adidas “competition” balls, which retail for 60 but they aren’t discounted that often, so at that price point you may as well buy top end pumas.

NP here. Thanks for this. I just picked up a Puma Orbita La Liga 1 Pro Match on sale for $50 (from $140) on Puma’s website. Yellow probably wouldn’t be my first choice, but that’s a great deal.

To other posters, be careful ordering for discounted prices on Amazon as lots of reviewers write about ordering pro balls and then receiving official replicas.

I'd argue that you don't want a rock hard ball, a ball that hurts when heading it, but one that feels good while juggling it. So, some more expensive balls will respond better when playing with them and last a lot longer. But hey, there are tons of stories of young players playing with whatever they have and becoming great.

Do more expensive balls help with development at all? I've only every bought $30 and under balls for my teenage daughter. They've been lost or a hole poked in them too often for me to want to spend more money. She also hasn't requested more expensive balls, unlike her "need" for the high end cleats.

Better balls (FIFA Pro quality) will not hold air as well as the mid range (Adidas League level). Plus, if he is that good he will need to adjust ball pressure due to temperature changes. Buy him a small pump to keep in his bag.

If he is really good or is playing a lot - get a few FIFA Pro balls. The Puma Orbita (la liga, seria A, or unbranded) can be found for 50 or less (Nike and Adidas pro balls won’t go below $80 very often). If you just need a bag of balls for training that aren’t terrible - buy adidas “league” level balls or select numero 10s ($40, but can often find them for under 30). A middle option would be the adidas “competition” balls, which retail for 60 but they aren’t discounted that often, so at that price point you may as well buy top end pumas.

Puma La Liga has treated us well. We buy 1 each year and it lasts!

Thanks so much for the recommendations!

I was told that Select Numero 10 is a good mid-range priced ball. I just ordered some from Epic Sports, which has lower prices. My son has gone through 6 balls since June, so hoping that spending a little more on some quality balls is worth it.

My son has gotten great nike balls from pjs. I think any from pjs or Rockville soccer should be fine. We also use cheap balls from 5 and below but the quality is obvious.

Does anyone have recommendations for decent soccer balls that my teen son could use for training purposes? The ones he's picked out recently have gone flat pretty quickly.