Advertisement

Review: Wilson X Connected Football

I have been playing with the Wilson Connected smart NFL football ball for a few weeks. Well I say playing, more aimlessly lobbing the ball around a field. For a person from London, this is about as good as it gets. I’m never likely to get any coaching, such is the dearth of American Football specific coaches in the UK and to be honest, at 36, even with Tom Brady as a reference point, it’s fair to say my window to make it as an NFL quarterback is closing rapidly.

However, the Wilson ball is no ordinary pigskin. Which is a good thing considering it’s about £70 more expensive than the standard ball it is based on. Within the frame of the ball, it is fitted with both bluetooth technology and an accelerometer. This enables the ball to be connected to any bluetooth enabled device and for its spin and positioning to be measured. Quite interesting I’m sure you’ll agree.

But it’s how the data received from the ball is presented is where the real fun starts. The app which accompanies the ball is really what makes the difference. Wilson Connect X can be downloaded from Google Play and the iTunes app store on your phone or tablet.

Now as I mentioned before, to do say I could do with some coaching is a massive understatement. The app shows the speed, distance thrown, RPM (revolutions of the ball), and spiral effect (which shows how tight the spin of the ball is). Its an absolute revolution, pun intended.

I finally understand what I’m supposed to be doing. There are games and tests which make the ball fantastically addictive. I have been out in the park with friends and my son for house trying to make my spin tight and improving my ball arc. Driving to beat my previous best and beat people with me.

There are five game modes at your disposal: QB warm up, precision, elimination, game day and final drive. The warm-up and precision modes both measure throw velocity, distance, spin rate and spiral efficiency, but the precision mode will also calculate a WX rating, which is Wilson’s version of ESPN’s QBR score to measure total quarterback performance.

The games are nicely pitched at playing with friends and ones you can do on your own.

The elimination game can be played with up to eight friends. After selecting a metric, you then toss the ball to each other with player one telling you your score and when to throw. You will be eliminated if you don’t reach the goal set by the challenge. Last person standing wins. Myself and my mates really enjoyed this and it’s a great way to get a few friends who may not be NFL fans onboard.

The other modes simulated real NFL situations and what makes this great is that you can select you favourite NFL team and try and improve on the incumbent QB. Not difficult if you are a Bears fan, as actually getting on the field would be an improvement on Jay Cutler, and around 50% of my friends are better wideouts than we currently have on the roster.

It’s an incredible way to learn and develop and it’s almost a real sports version of Pokemon Go. Its gets you outdoors playing sport but the technology is what keeps you there. If you can afford it then I would recommend it. Tom Brady, I’m coming for you.