The 10 Best Footballs

For most backyard games, the Wilson NFL Super Grip is the ball to get. Its soft composite cover feels a little tacky in dry hands, so tight spirals come easier for teens and adults with ordinary grips. A bladder built to hold air means less time with the pump, and the classic laces sit right where your fingers expect them. It can show up soft and need air, and the cover turns slick in rain.

The Wilson NCAA gives older players a college look for little money. Its reddish composite cover is sewn rather than molded, which helps it stand up to daily throwing and damp fields. Two white stripes near each tip give fingertips a place to push off on the release. A butyl bladder keeps it firm from one weekend to the next. It comes only in official size, so it's a handful for younger kids.

Wilson builds the Wilson GST Leather for high school and college games, from Horween leather in its Ada, Ohio, factory. The leather is treated to feel soft out of the box, and the sewn stripes and pebbled laces add grip when hands are sweaty. It's the ball for a player who wants practice to feel like Friday night. Leather needs dry storage and some care, and BestReviews found it can lose air between sessions.

Cheap and cheerful, the Wilson NFL MVP suits a tailgate, a park or the trunk of the car. A soft composite cover is gentle on cold fingers, and its bladder is made to keep air in between games. It comes in three sizes, from a pee wee ball for kids under nine up to official, so one family can match each player. It can arrive soft and need a pump, and it slides around in wet hands.

Families who want a full-size ball and a pump in one box can start with the Franklin Adult 1000. It arrives flat with a hand pump and needle, so there's nothing else to buy. The synthetic cover has a deep pebble that grips in dry or damp weather, and the thick laces are hand-sewn. It feels firmer than a soft composite ball, and the seller's title mixes adult and junior wording, so check the size.

Coaches filling a practice bag can turn to the Wilson GST SpeedSkin, which copies the shape, stripes and laces of Wilson's leather game ball in a composite cover. Wilson says it needs no break-in and pitches it for practice and wet weather, which is where leather suffers. The stripes are sewn on instead of painted, for a surer grip on release. It's new, so there's little record yet of how it wears over a season.

With the Passback Official, a quarterback or receiver can practice alone. One tip is cut flat and covered in rubber, so when you throw that end at a brick or concrete wall, the ball spins back to you. Passback says that doubles the reps of a normal game of catch. It ships flat without a pump, so wet the needle before inflating, and the warranty covers only 60 days.

Fans who want the real thing can buy the Wilson The Duke, the ball of the NFL since 1941. Wilson's workers in Ada, Ohio, hand-make it from Horween leather and stamp it with the league shield. Wilson notes that balls used in actual NFL games can be prepared to their own specs. New leather feels stiff and slick until it's broken in, and the cost makes it more keepsake than backyard ball.

Pool parties and beach days call for the Wave Runner Grip It. Its textured skin stays grippy when soaked, and the ball floats and won't soak up water, so it stays light all afternoon. It's a smaller ball that fits kids' hands and still flies well for grown-ups. The color is picked at random, and it's a toy for water and sand rather than a ball for practice on grass.

Little fans get their team's colors and logo with the Franklin NFL Team Mini, and a small pump comes in the box. At eight and a half inches long it fits small hands, and marks on the laces show kids where their fingers go. It also makes a handy keepsake for autographs. This one is the Kansas City Chiefs ball, other teams are sold separately, and it's too small for adults to throw well.