Matej
Premium
- 2,019
- Zagreb
Orange is good, Orange is round
This is a ball. It is small enough to fit in the palm of your hand, and large enough to prevent unnecessary flexion of your fingers. I would say it's ideally proportioned for an average hand. You can clutch it as long as you want without stressing your hand.
Because the ball is so light and small, it will never slip out of your hand, which is a problem when holding big balls. If you ever played dodgeball, you understand my concerns and why I mention this. Then again, it's not that you would ever play a game like that with a ball this small, but you never know, people do all kinds of games with tiny balls.
Another advantage of having a small ball like this is that allows the holder of the ball to carry out activities with highest level of control possible. Its moderate elasticity and grippy surface further increase the success rate of task performing. So far our ball is a versatile one.
There is probably no need to remark on the shape of the ball, but I'm still going to do it, because I'm sure most people don't ever think about it. The ball is rounded. Ask any footballer, how important is to have a round ball. Round is great because you can roll it. No Messi or Ronaldo would ever score a goal if their ball was square, right? Maybe they would, but that would look really silly, running around the field with shapes out of place, right? Besides, objects with sharp edges and points certainly shouldn't fly around at high speed. I'm sure you can tell why.
When it comes to maintenance, every ball requires some, and so does ours. You can clean it by soaking it in alcohol or rubbing it with wet wipes. Decent maintenance program will keep the ball in shape, but won't give it complete disinfection; microscopic irregularities on the surface of the ball are suitable for nesting bacteria that are hard to remove as a result. So I wouldn't recommend giving the ball to a dog or something, because cleaning may prove difficult after it is done chequeing (if you ever get it back, that is). Because that's what dogs do with balls, right, they chew them vigorously. Heaven for them and micro-organisms resting in their teeth, but nightmare for us pedantic cleaners.
If the ball receives a puncture, patching may fix it, but remember this is only a temporary solution. Most of the air will escape by the time you patch it, and even if you do it quickly enough, the ball will gradually lose air because of the surface material. Filling the ball with air won't work either since this one is non-inflatable ball.
One problem about this ball is that you have to consider where it will be stored. As you know, round objects tend to roll all the time, sometimes without any particular reason unless you have support objects that keep it in place. Whatever you do, don't keep it on floor, because that's absolutely the worst thing you can do to your household members who raised you and made sure you had enough money to buy yourself that ball.
Searching for its victim...
But just in case you do decide to be foolish, the ball will employ its own anti-stomping measures. You see, this ball comes in bright orange colour, which is great, because you can spot it easily at night, so there is less risk of causing an accident in rooms with no source of light. But once again, try not to provoke the devil when not needed.
Orange colour also helps with visibility in water, because water is blue, and the ball is orange... you get the idea. The last thing you want to happen to your precious ball while playing catch and throw on open sea is to lose it, I just can't imagine anything worse than this. Try to take extra precaution when playing on a beach or dunes, the colour of the ball blends with hot environment easily, so it's easy to lose sight of it.
I noticed a thin, barely visible line that goes around the ball, never knew what it represents. Maybe if you decide to cut the ball in half for the sake of sharing it with your friend it can serves as a guide or mark where exactly to cut. Well, as long as it doesn't affect its appearance, I don't care how many lines and curves it has.
Our ball can't be used as a weapon because it is elastic and soft on touch, if you try to smash someone's nose like you could with a basketball, you're going to fail because the ball absorbs great deal of force. It is definitely more useful as a passive, support weapon; it could break some bones if the victim accidentally steps on it (again, don't do it).
Transporting our ball is not a problem. You can use one hand to hold the ball, and the other to do whatever else is needed.
This ball was a gift, so can't say how much it would cost. But if I had to estimate its value, I would say it is worth 2 dollars or something. Perhaps for that price you could buy yourself a bigger ball, but every real player knows the size is not all that matters, right?
