Soccer Heading
Soccer Heading - Introduction
Hello and welcome to my article for heading the soccer ball properly and positioning your body correctly for soccer head protection to avoid any head injury.
During any soccer match there will be many different situations when players will be in position of hitting soccer ball with head to either score a goal, intercept a pass or knock the ball out of the danger zone and in some cases out of play.
Knowing the right technique for heading and practicing it over and over again can make any player confident and dangerous during a soccer match, be it defending or attacking.
Heading in soccer can be dangerous but using the right technique and proper use of our body will add to soccer head protection during any areal duel where we go up in the air to head the soccer ball.
Knowing how to position your body and head the soccer ball while being aware of your surroundings at any time during the soccer/football match is crucial for any good player.
Having the height advantage helps but it does not necessarily mean that being tall makes a great heading player, height can be a huge advantage to heading the soccer ball, however learning the proper technique is what makes any player dangerous in the air, short or tall.
The biggest problem with learning to head the soccer ball with the right technique is the fear of ball striking below our forehead and into our face so we end up striking the soccer ball with the top part of our head which ends up hurting and giving us even more fear the next time we are found in a situation where we have the opportunity to head the soccer ball.
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Reality is that we as human beings are not meant to be hitting things with our heads so its only natural that we have the fear of striking anything with our head, let alone a ball that is traveling towards us at different speeds.
Our primal instinct is to duck down and cover :)
However in order to overcome this fear we have to face it and reprogram our brain through training not to duck or close our eyes when the soccer ball is coming towards us, instead to actually attack the soccer ball HEAD ON.
There are also many different situations where we will have to use our head to strike the soccer ball depending on the position and where the ball is at the specific time.
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We may have to dive at the ball, glance the ball for a goal, clear it out of our danger zone etc.
I would like to explain the proper technique for soccer heading because once the heading technique is mastered, any one of these different ways to head the ball will come easy to players knowing how to head the soccer ball.
Practicing over and over again will make it every players instinct to head the ball the correct way as the brain remembers the correct technique through months and years of practice.
Remember that nothing is achieved overnight and that anything worthwhile is mastered with time and consistency :)
The Proper Technique for Heading in Soccer
- Know your surroundings when going up in the air to head the soccer ball. When going up in the air or diving for the ball , most important thing is to know where the other players are.
You don't want to be sandwiched in between two opposing players that you had no idea were coming, causing you to get hurt.
Once you see the ball coming into an area where you can head it, anticipate where the opposing players are and what they are about to do.
This can make a huge difference in who wins the ball and even gets hurt in an areal duel for the header.
Positioning your body can make a huge difference because if done correctly it will make the opposing player unable to get even close to the ball.
- Jump up with your arms and elbows going up in the air to give yourself soccer head protection and withstand any harsh impact from other players as heading in soccer can lead to some serious soccer injuries.
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Doing this first few times you go up in the air for a header will also show the opposing players that its dangerous to go up against you since your elbows are always up protecting yourself and hurting any player that dares to go hard in the air against you.
Jumping with your elbows up will also give you more hang time in the air allowing you more time to clear or redirect the ball towards the goal.
- Keep your mouth closed and teeth clenched when going to head the soccer ball. You don't want to bite your tongue off ;)
- Don't wait for the ball but instead charge at it and make sure you hit the ball and not the other way around :)
Important factor in doing this is being able to judge where the ball is going to come down so you can charge it and jump up in the air to head the ball at the right time.
- Keep your neck and back straight while using your abs to put power and direction on the header.
This will also make you taller and stronger when you go up in the air against another player.
- ABS, ABS, ABS are what has to be used for power or direction of the ball, not the neck.
- Most important part in soccer heading is to keep your eyes open and hit the ball with your forehead. This is the top part of your head between where the hairline starts and nose bridge.
Learning to use this part of your head in soccer heading will also make sure that you hit the ball right in the center which will greatly improve the power and accuracy of heading the soccer ball.
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This is one part of soccer heading that is most difficult to master as we are scared that the ball will hit us in the face therefore misjudging where we hit the ball by only one inch makes the impact under the ball not giving much control or power on our headers.
- Once you learn to strike the ball in the center without fear of the ball hitting you in the face directing the ball in correct soccer heading comes last.
I read about squaring your shoulders towards where you want the ball to go but have learned a soccer heading technique where your shoulders and the rest of the body follow for a precise and hard soccer headers.
When going up to head the soccer ball follow through with your eyes pointing in the direction you want the ball to go. You would be amazed at how our brain works and by looking at your target when heading the ball, whole body will follow, shoulders included.
One simple exercise for soccer heading I learned from reading PELE's biography on how to let go of the fear of ball hitting us in the face is to grip the ball with our hands and start slowly bringing it towards the bottom part of our forehead, just above the nose bridge. Eyes open and focus on the ball.
After we get comfortable with this soccer heading exercise on where to strike the ball, start putting little speed on bringing the ball to our forehead while still gripping the ball with our hands.
When this part of soccer heading letting go of the fear gets comfortable move on to throwing the ball back against our forehead and meeting it with a small impact coming from our abs.
Remember that the key of this exercise is to learn how to judge where to hit the ball.
It may sound stupid when you read it but one of the greatest soccer players ever lived learned his heading technique by starting with this exercise.
I also found it very helpful for my soccer heading technique to look at hitting the top part of the ball instead of focusing to hit the center of the ball.
While focusing to hit the center of the ball I usually hit the ball under the center so I started experimenting with focusing to head the top part of the ball.
To my surprise focusing my headers on top of the ball I started hitting the ball on the center making my headers a lot more powerful and accurate than before.
PRACTICE PRACTICE PRACTICE AND PRACTICE SOME MORE
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