Erick Hernández breaks a new world record for ball control

September 30, 2023

Former Cuban footballer Erick Hernández broke the world record last Saturday for the most touches on a ball suspended in the air during one hour with a total of 12,237, reported EFE.

Hernández left the previous record far behind this way, from 2017, which belonged to Mexican Abraham Muñoz with 11,901 touches.

"I felt quite comfortable, the conditions were not ideal (…) but I came very well prepared. I was doing three hours of daily training (…) for approximately two and a half months," Hernández told EFE at the Hotel Cobapacana in Havana, where he achieved his feat.

In addition to this record, Hernández holds other outstanding marks. Last July he set the world record for ball control by keeping it balanced for three hours and four minutes while sitting on the ground, with 1.5 kilograms of weight tied to each ankle. This new mark surpassed his previous record by just two minutes, when he managed to keep the ball balanced for three hours and two minutes in the same position and with similar weight.

In another test conducted last year, Hernández struck the ball for one hour, nine minutes and 50 seconds. In April of that same year, he made 351 touches with his head to the ball in one minute, thus surpassing the previous mark of 341 set by Chinese player Gao Chong.

Known as "The Dominator," Hernández holds several verified Guinness records. In 2005 he managed to touch the ball 319 times in one minute with his head, and in 2009 he controlled the ball with his thighs for one hour and 28 minutes.

In 2020, from his home due to the mandatory isolation imposed by the pandemic, Hernández appeared again in the Guinness Book by striking the ball with his head 188 times in just 30 seconds, surpassing by one his own verified mark from 2011.

Another personal ball control record… in the water

On Wednesday, Cuban Jhoen Lefont broke his own Guinness world record for ball control, keeping it balanced on his head for 23 minutes and two seconds without it falling into the water of the swimming pool at the Baraguá complex in the Cuban capital, reported the official Cuban News Agency (ACN).

The previous mark of the so-called "Dolphin of Cuban football" dated from September 14, 2019, when at the pool of the capital's Hotel Nacional he kept the sphere on his head for 19 minutes and two seconds.

"My preparation for this attempt was very good, although a bit intermittent due to the birth of my daughter and some injuries; but then I increased the ball control sessions to three and four daily sets," said Lefont.

The former Yumuri player explained that he was very well focused and knew how to control the ball well, in addition to following the work supported by the rhythm of music that breaks up the monotony of working alone in a pool with a ball on your head for 23 minutes.

Lefont hopes that this world record will be verified by the Guinness Book specialists, which would bring him to ten.

"This year I still hope to attempt world records in two tests: most touches in a minute and another one with weight attached to the body," said Lefont.