WEEK 1

[Deetman]

Originally Posted by cire

Can you (or anyone) elaborate on the "competition quality" balls? Were all the balls the same, or did they vary much like a lot of teams reported on these forums during build? Were they all more firm, non deflated? At what point did they replace the balls, if at all?

Thanks!

From my viewpoint observing in the stands, the "quality" of the balls in play generally seemed to exhibit general wear and tear akin to what teams noticed during build season. At Hatboro-Horsham it appeared that if a ball was largely intact (no significant divots or gouges) it was used. If a ball sustained significant damage it was removed from play after the match. I know I saw at least two ball-hats.

2018 (HH winning alliance, 2nd seed) had a unique system on their robot that measured the compression of the balls and adjusted their shooter accordingly. Talking with someone in their pits, their testing showed that a 10% variability in compression could result in shot variances of 10 feet.