SoccerToday Soccer Locker Review: adidas Launches the Newest Innovation in Soccer with the miCoach SMART BALL
Gimmick or Cool Tool? Technology and soccer rock in this new, must-have application.
Have you ever wanted to bend your corner kicks like David Beckham or shoot penalty kicks like Cristiano Ronaldo or Robin Van Persie? It can take hours of practice, often with little feedback on how well you are doing. Now adidas solves the feedback challenge with the new miCoach SMART BALL. The sensor in the miCoach Smart Ball provides near–instant feedback on speed, spin, trajectory and strike point … so cool and it offers a video playback so you can see yourself in action.
On Tuesday, May 27, adidas launched its miCoach SMART BALL, available at adidas.com, Apple retail stores and the Apple Online Store (www.apple.com).
The SMART BALL is a Bluetooth Smart and app-enabled soccer ball with integrated sensor technology for dead-ball kicking training such as penalties, free-kicks, shooting, corners, long passes and goal kicks. The SMART BALL relays data on how hard it has been struck, offers visual flight trajectories, depicts ball spin and shows impact points via the adidas miCoach SMART BALL app available for iPhone and iPod touch. This data can then be used to help train players, providing coaching instructions on how to alter kicking technique to bend free kicks, launch knuckle balls and generate more shot power.
The miCoach SMART BALL has a range of ways to help improve kicking skills, giving the ability and confidence to deliver when it matters most. The intuitive miCoach SMART BALL companion app offers a dedicated training section for users to focus on improving their skills with tutorials to help master progressively more advanced techniques, including the elusive “knuckle ball.” A “challenge yourself” section challenges you to kick the ball within a certain speed, bend a shot around a wall or try to replicate pro-level free kicks. There is also a “record book” section to save and record all kicks to improve and track performance over time.
Challenge kicks are supported with social sharing functions. The adidas miCoach SMART BALL also features wireless charging capabilities and comes with a charging dock.
“We’re proud to bring the miCoach SMART BALL to soccer players around the world,” said Christian DiBenedetto, adidas senior innovation director. “There was a huge amount of interest in the concept when we first showcased the ball. The testing feedback from athletes has been tremendous and we know users will love the engaging and instructional training this ball will bring to their game. It is another great example of the breakthrough innovation we bring to sports to make athletes better.”
“The adidas miCoach SMART BALL is a personal training tool,” DiBenedetto continued. “Everything we do at adidas is about helping athletes perform at their highest level and the SMART BALL is designed to help players train and refine technique, allowing athletes to improve flair, skill, power and control.”
adidas miCoach SMART BALL is now available exclusively for $299.00 at adidas.com, Apple retail stores and the Apple Online Store (www.apple.com). The miCoach SMART BALL app is available for free from the App Store.
About adidas miCoach: miCoach is an interactive training service to train for sports. Bringing the knowledge and experience of adidas’ elite coaching partners to the masses, miCoach provides users with real-time coaching and all the tools they need to track performance and monitor progress to get results. The breadth of the offer includes a free to access web platform and training community with hundreds of free training plans, free mobile apps on iOS, Android and Windows Phone 8 as well as a comprehensive range of devices for tracking all aspects of performance, both in game and in training. for more information, visit www.micoach.com. Follow miCoach on facebook.com/adidasmicoach and @adidas_micoach on Twitter.
