Mitre roadshow
We’ve been working with Mitre over the last few months, helping to launch the new official 2010/11 ball for the Football League & SPL – the Mitre Tensile.
With its revolutionary 10 panel design and 30% less stitching – which optimises power and efficiency, improves airflow and reduces drag – the Tensile is all about Speed, Accuracy and Control.
To put the Tensile to the test, in July Threepipe travelled to 5 Football League and SPL clubs to test out the new elements of the ball.
Armed with a speed gun, some cameras and a bag of balls, we took to the road and headed to Colchester United, Watford, Barnet, Coventry City and Hearts – to really take the ‘player’s ball’ to the players.
Once there, we set up 3 ‘tests’ for the players, with the aim of producing some engaging video content dedicated to the Tensile and its attributes of Speed, Accuracy and Control.
Speed – To emphasise the increased speed the Tensile has been designed to provide, we set up a speed gun behind the goal and asked the players, from the penalty spot, to give us their ‘best shot’.
With the average speed of other balls coming in at around the mid-60’s (mph), the Tensile produced some great results with players regularly achieving results in the mid-70’s using the Tensile – with Danny Graham from Watford recording 76mph on only his second short and Coventry’s Gary McSheffrey taking the crown of the fastest shot by smashing 77mph!
Graham scored 2 for Watford in their first league game of the new season at Norwich – no coincidence there!
Accuracy – The Tensile’s design means that players need to only concentrate on where they’re putting the ball, and not what the ball will do. The improved airflow means unlike some balls, the Tensile will go exactly where players want it (in theory, and if you’re good enough!). To put this to the test, we set up two cameras – one behind the goal and one strapped to the goal post, and told the players to hit the camera! Which they did. Many times.
(Thanks go out to Watford’s Scott Loach for his effort – which resulted in us buying a new lense!)
Control – To prove how easy it is for players to have complete control with the Tensile, we asked the most skilful players from each club to show us their skills. The ball’s been designed to improve player’s control – and we weren’t disappointed with a huge array of tricks and talent. Check them out on the video… We must give a special mention to the Hearts U19 boys had all sorts of skills in their locker, and they’ll soon be making an appearance on Sky’s Soccer AM’s skills school – too (Using the Tensile…), so keep an eye out for that!
by Duncan.
