Pigskin leather, the same one they use to make grippy American footballs, should be just as grippy when used to make anything else. So why not a yoga mat? That’s the thinking behind BallerYoga, a yoga mat cut in the same leather as your standard Wilson football.
No, not just kind of the same, but the exact same, since it’s cut in leather made from the same tannery Wilson uses for their NFL-quality balls, complete with the pebbled surface. That way, you can half moon, downward dog, and half camel on top of a material that should bring back memories of the glory days of your high school football career. Or something like that.
BallerYoga makes three sizes of yoga mats: 69.5 x 24 inches, 72 x 24 inches, and 80 x 26 inches, so even those at the taller and wider end of body types should be covered. All of them are cut in the same Horween leather in either a natural sand color or color-treated to resemble one of the NFL’s balls, providing what the outfit claims to be superior grip on the horizontal plane and rapid vertical release.
Unlike mats made from traditional materials, it doesn’t carry a chemical smell nor does it get slippery once sweat starts puddling, with the leather only likely to look even better with age. Do note, the outfit recommends the natural color over the red one, since the color treatment can come off on the latter (and get on your body) over time.
Available now, the pricing for the BallerYoga mats start at $495.