History – hamster ball for humans, hard plastic single layer spheres made for small rodent pets, have been manufactured and sold since at least the 1970s. A Russian article on the Zorb mentions a similar device having debuted in 1973. In the early 1980s, the Dangerous Sports Club constructed a giant sphere (reportedly 23 metres / 75 feet across) with a gimbal arrangement supporting two deck chairs inside. This device was eventually cut up for scrap, with some of the plastic remnants used to cover a compost heap.Human spheres have been depicted in mass media since 1990 when the Gladiators event Atlaspheres first aired, albeit with steel balls.
Sphereing is also referred to as Orbing or Zorbing, and Zorbing entered the Concise Oxford English Dictionary in 2001 where it was defined as: “a sport in which a participant is secured inside an inner capsule in a large, transparent ball which is then rolled along the ground or down hills”.
In the zorb ball,you don’t mind being strapped in and tumbled around.You are actually quite secure inside the inner capsule because all the actual rolling/bouncing is absorbed by the larger, air-cushioned outer capsule.As you tumble head over heels, the build up of centrifugal force keeps you pressed hard against the inner plastic wall, so it’s easy to feel a sense of weightless ness as you enjoy the revolving view outside.
