With the 16/17 European season just around the corner, it’s fitting that we give a quick precursory nod to the new Ordem 4 Match Ball. Nike’s newest installment is the official match ball for La Liga, Serie A and the Premier League. The 4 comes inked with juicy 3-D flow motion colors, a new state-of-the-art bladder system, fuse-weld panels and aero trac grooves.
The entire soccer ball is overlaid with Nike’s black iconic flicker cage. The cage often gets mixed reviews. At first glance, some might wonder, why did Nike intentionally put (what looks like) ugly black electrical tape over a wicked-cool ball. As we’ve learned, there’s always a method to Nike’s madness. The guys at Nike Lab wanted to keep pushing the limit on design to help players judge flight movement. The genius behind the cage is that when the ball moves in the air, it creates a contrasting flicker – allowing the player to track the ball and respond with a higher degree of accuracy. Whether you like the look of the cage or not, there is no denying that it’s function is pretty smooth.
