Pick up a basketball, football, baseball, tennis ball, golf ball or a hockey puck, and the objects feel and look much as they have for two generations.

Yet, grab a soccer ball from 1960, or even one from 1980 or 1990, and the orb is virtually unrecognizable from the one that will be used for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa in June and July. Leather has given way to synthetics. Some 32 individually sewn panels have become eight. Hand stitching has given way to thermal bonding.

The result is a faster-than-ever ball for a faster-than-ever game that allows players to attempt laser-like strikes from 40 yards, and precise long-distance passes that would have been impossible with a ball from the 1960s or 1970s.

'The good players have more abilities to go for more extreme scenarios,' said Hans-Peter Nurnberg, seniortechnicaldirector at Germany-based Adidas, which has made every ball for the World Cup since 1970. 'It's more attractive for the spectator, more chances to score and more confidence for the player because they have higher chances to make a score.'

The idea that FIFA, soccer's governing body, would so willinglytransform the single most important piece of equipment in the world's most important sporting event is an odd concept for most Americans. Dozens of rules have changed in the sports most important in the U.S., and technology has transformed equipment. But the constancy of the balls allows executives and fans to compare performances across eras and regions of the country and the world.

Such consistency doesn't exist in international soccer. FIFA must approve all balls used in the leagues it sanctions. But balls vary from country to country. In the U.S., Major League Soccer is already using its own version of Adidas's World Cup ball. But the English Premier League uses a Nike-manufactured ball. In Germany, the home team supplies the ball. (Imagine if the New York Yankees supplied a different baseball than the one used at Fenway Park in Boston.)

As a result, FIFA sees no problem with changing the ball from one World Cup to the next.

One motivation is money. Every time Adidas produces a new design for a World Cup ball, it sells replicas in all sizes, and FIFA receives a royalty on sales. World-wide, Adidas sold 15 million versions of its 2006 World Cup ball, ranging in price from $12 to $150.

That doesn't mean every player likes the constant change. Goalkeepers are particularly prickly about the innovations, which have tended to make the ball fly faster and curve more dramatically in each iteration. Kasey Keller, a goalie on U.S. World Cup teams who has used the new World Cup ball during the MLS season, said its flight is far less predictable than its designers claim.

A spokesman for FIFA said it tries to balance the traditions of the game by collecting input from players with technical innovations that the various manufacturers develop. It subjects each ball to a battery of tests.

The balls are measured in 16 different places, and the diameter can't vary by more than 1.5%. They are dropped from more than six feet onto a steel plate and must bounce 4 1/2 to five feet. They are turned and squeezed 250 times in a water tank and can't absorb more than 10% of their weight. They are inflated and observed for 72 hours during which they can't lose more than 20% of their pressure. They must withstand minimal damage after being fired at a steel plate 2,000 times.

In addition, Adidas subjected the new ball, nicknamed Jabulani, which means 'rejoice' or 'celebration' in Zulu, to its own testing, including kicking it with a mechanical foot (think of a soccer version of golf's Iron Byron) thousands of times. Technicians found it was the most consistent ball Adidas had ever produced.

'We don't want the ball to determine where the ball goes; we want the player to determine where the ball goes,' Mr. Nurnberg said.

The biggest change from 2006, according to Mr. Nurnberg, is the addition of the ridges on the surface of the ball. Because the ball has just eight thermally bonded panels instead if 14, it could have been much smoother than its predecessors. But balls need a certain 'roughness' to maintain balanced flight, so Mr. Nurnberg's team added the texturing so it wouldn't wobble like a beach ball.

Nelson Rodriguez, executive vice president of competition, technical and game operations for MLS, said Jabulani has one thing in common with its recent predecessors.

'As the balls progress, the goalkeepers and defenders say always it's more unpredictable and it moves more, and the forwards say it's better because they can do more with it,' he said. 'That dynamic has existed with the introduction of every new ball.'

Matthew Futterman

• extreme [ik´stri:m] a.尽头的 n.极端 (初中英语单词)
• director [di´rektə] n.指导者；....长；导演 (初中英语单词)
• attractive [ə´træktiv] a.有吸引力；诱人的 (初中英语单词)
• player [´pleiə] n.游戏的人；选手 (初中英语单词)
• equipment [i´kwipmənt] n.装备，设备 (初中英语单词)
• concept [´kɔnsept] n.概念；观念；思想 (初中英语单词)
• international [,intə´næʃənəl] a.国际的，世界的 (初中英语单词)
• approve [ə´pru:v] v.赞成；同意；批准 (初中英语单词)
• league [li:g] n.同盟；社团 (初中英语单词)
• premier [´premiə] n.总理 a.首要的 (初中英语单词)
• constant [´kɔnstənt] a.坚定的；坚贞的 (初中英语单词)
• flight [flait] n.逃走；飞行；班机 (初中英语单词)
• absorb [əb´sɔ:b] vt.吸收；吸引 (初中英语单词)
• pressure [´preʃə] n.压榨 vt.对...施压力 (初中英语单词)
• addition [ə´diʃən] n.加；加法；附加物 (初中英语单词)
• mechanical [mi´kænikəl] a.机械的；力学的 (初中英语单词)
• maintain [mein´tein] vt.维持；保持；继续 (初中英语单词)
• executive [ig´zekjutiv] a.行政的 n.行政官 (初中英语单词)
• competition [,kɔmpi´tiʃən] n.比赛；竞争 (初中英语单词)
• introduction [,intrə´dʌkʃən] n.介绍；引言；引导 (初中英语单词)
• baseball [´beisbɔ:l] n.棒球运动 (高中英语单词)
• tennis [´tenis] n.网球(运动) (高中英语单词)
• senior [´si:niə] a.年长的 n.前辈 (高中英语单词)
• technical [´teknikəl] a.技术的；专门性的 (高中英语单词)
• spectator [spek´teitə] n.观众，旁观者 (高中英语单词)
• transform [træns´fɔ:m] v.转化，转变；改造 (高中英语单词)
• royalty [´rɔiəlti] n.王位；特权阶层；版税 (高中英语单词)
• battery [´bætəri] n.炮兵连；炮台；电池 (高中英语单词)
• diameter [dai´æmitə] n.直径 (高中英语单词)
• bounce [bauns] v.&n.(使)反弹；拍 (高中英语单词)
• virtually [´və:tʃuəli] ad.实际上，实质上 (英语四级单词)
• precise [pri´sais] a.精确的；清楚的 (英语四级单词)
• willingly [´wiliŋli] ad.情愿地，乐意地 (英语四级单词)
• version [´və:ʃən, ´və:rʒən] n.翻译；说明；译本 (英语四级单词)
• withstand [wið´stænd] vt.抵抗，经得起 (英语四级单词)
• consistent [kən´sistənt] a.一致的；始终如一的 (英语四级单词)
• individually [,indi´vidʒuəli] adv.个别地 (英语六级单词)
• constancy [´kɔnstənsi] n.坚定；坚贞；坚久不变 (英语六级单词)
• consistency [kən´sistənsi] n.坚韧；一致性 (英语六级单词)
• spokesman [´spəuksmən] n.发言人 (英语六级单词)