I can imagine that not too many parents would be happy with a kid running around the house kicking a (soft) soccer ball. The phenomenon I talk about here is known as “houseball“, a term that comes from the book about the life of Neymar da Silva Santor Junior (https://www.bol.com/nl/p/het-geweldige-verhaal-van-neymar/9200000085027643/). As a kid, Neymar Jr. apparently played football inside the house. Something my son is also doing, since long before I knew it was something Neymar did as a child. (This means my son has at least 1 thing in common with Neymar Jr. ;-)).

In the picture above: the soft balls that my son uses to play houseball. We have a variety of soft balls varying from size  1 to size 4. He plays with these balls until they’re completely worn and torn.

For houseball, you definitely need a house with not too many stuff standing out in the open that can easily break. But don’t worry, if you allow houseball in your home you will automatically end up with an interior that doesn’t have many stuff that can break. Only stuff that survives from the impact of a soft ball will stay over time ;-).

Naturally soft balls are a lot better that leather size 1 balls, and that’s not only because they’re lighter and softer. My personal experience is that leather size 1 balls are very seldomly perfectly rounded. Balls that roll with a slight deviation are very frustrating. The soft balls from KIPSTA are perfectly round, they keep their shape and what’s very important for the rest of the family is that they don’t make too much noise. Moreover, the impact power on walls, windows and doors is very limited. In the evening while the rest of the family is watching TV, my son plays houseball behind us in the living room. Because those soft little balls don’t make much noise, it quite frankly doesn’t bother us.

What is houseball

• Kicking the ball against the wall / large window / door, it bounces back and he controls it, then kicks it back.
• Juggling with a soft ball which is much harder than with a normal ball.
• Practicing headers (without the risk of concussion).
• Practicing moves and dribbles around tables and chairs.
• But most of the time, my son imagines playing games of big names… imitating his biggest football heroes all with the roars of the crowd and cries of the commentator included.

What’s it is good for

Playing houseball regularly delivers a lot of extra touches on the ball without the need to leave the house. It’s good for ball control, especially because he mostly plays with a size 1 ball.