After all the debate and anger over the Adidas Jabulani World Cup ball, aerodynamic experts from NASA have finally weighed in with their scientific opinion. After some experimentation they have determined that the Jabulani develops an unpredictable flight pattern after reaching a speed of 44mph—coined as the “knuckle ball” effect. This unpredictable flight pattern is caused by the near perfect spherical shape of the ball. Adidas utilized internal seams in this ball (the first of its kind), which rids the ball of its normal patchwork structure. The ball has been blamed for the unusually low scoring games as players struggle to control the ball as they typically would.

For more info check out NASA’s video below:

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