Question Number: 18069

Law 2 - The Ball 12/5/2007

RE: select High School

sam of boston, massachusettes united states asks...

This question is a follow up to question 15578

what do you use to check the psi of the ball?

Answer provided by Referee Gary Voshol

In upper level matches, the referee or a designate (such as the 4th official) will check all game balls for pressure using a guage.

In your run-of-the-mill youth games, where they hand you the ball just before the kickoff, you will probably simply see if it bounces as you expect. You can push your thumbs into it, as you tend to get a feel for the resistance that should be there in a properly inflated ball. You should also toss it up in the air with a spin a couple of times, to make sure that it's not out of round from being sat upon while the coach was strategizing with the team.

In short, the scrutiny you give to the ball is in proportion to the care the team/competition has given to the ball.

Answer provided by Referee Chuck Fleischer

Rules of thumb abound on this task but using a guage is best and they are common enough. Get one that measures in metric or imperial units, mine does. So what if you don't have a guage and need the rule of thumb -- bounce the ball on the playing surface and inflate it enough for it to rebound 50%. That's close it a proper pressure.

Regards,

The following questions were asked as a follow up to the above question...

See Question: 18084