Look at neck size and head mass. Girls have slimmer necks and smaller heads, both of which put them at greater risk of concussion. About 6x, if I remember right.
If your youth coach wants to practice headers...
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nature put it at 2x.
This... My DD is a defender and starting at about U15 if you are trying to bring the ball down and play it with a forward on you rather than head it away (including long balls and keeper punts) at elite levels and high school you will be pulled. You try to bring it down with chest or thigh and you just created a 50/50 ball in your own 1/3 with nothing between you and the keeper. Unacceptable. Its just a fact and coaches know it. Heading is a very important skill as a defender and if the player doesn't do it or does it wrong they won't last in that role. While practicing 20min every practice seems excessive they need to practice technique just like every other skill and the proper technique will actually reduce their risk of injury. Using the muscles in the neck to absorb the impact rather than just letting it smash your skull makes a difference.
A single concussion will not cause CTE it is the repeated blows to an area that is already damaged. This is why the concussion protocols exist. Player gets concussed they need to come out immediately and stay out for at least 24 hrs. Tossing a ball and heading it will not cause CTE. It is the hard hits player/player, player/ground, player/goalpost and then another in the same area before the first one heals.
Paul Spacey
SILVER ELITE
Heading is a small part of the game, especially at grassroots level.
Should kids be taught how to head the ball with the correct technique to avoid injury and concussion? Absolutely.
Is it really necessary to practice headers often during training for grassroots teams? No.
Teach your players to get themselves into the correct position and understand/anticipate the game in such a way that heading the ball can be minimized. If you are exceptional with your soccer IQ and feet, any lack of heading ability won't matter much. You can coach your players how to position themselves and put someone off (physically) so that they cannot get a clean header during a challenge; that way, any kids who are hesitant about heading the ball or potentially clashing heads, can still compete and just do their thing once the ball comes down
"If God had wanted us to play football in the clouds, he'd have put grass up there." Brian Clough. Legend.
Should kids be taught how to head the ball with the correct technique to avoid injury and concussion? Absolutely.
Is it really necessary to practice headers often during training for grassroots teams? No.
Teach your players to get themselves into the correct position and understand/anticipate the game in such a way that heading the ball can be minimized. If you are exceptional with your soccer IQ and feet, any lack of heading ability won't matter much. You can coach your players how to position themselves and put someone off (physically) so that they cannot get a clean header during a challenge; that way, any kids who are hesitant about heading the ball or potentially clashing heads, can still compete and just do their thing once the ball comes down
"If God had wanted us to play football in the clouds, he'd have put grass up there." Brian Clough. Legend.
Are you insinuating that heading a ball is as useless in game as flopping and lining up 3 yds fro a free kick?
Did you play soccer?
Yes, concussions have happened from youth players intentionally heading the ball, both when using proper form and not. Unfortunately, there is little convincing evidence that the headbands designed to lessen the risk actually do so.
It is important to keep in mind that this exact same discussion was had not long ago with american football. The NFL says they have a concussion protocol, but there is a near certainty that repeated sub-concussive hits over time also result in CTE.
Luckily, there is a big difference between soccer and american football regarding hits to the head. But if we are honest with ourselves, can we really doubt that the inexorable march has begun before we find out that heading in soccer has some negative results especially after many years of playing at a high level.
Every parent should discuss this topic with their children playing soccer and with their coach/club, and make a decision for their family based on their own assessment. However, don't go into the decision thinking we've scraped the depths of the scientific understanding of the consequences, because it is more likely that we are only starting to understand, and the article linked is a good example of what might be out there.
Because for the aerials (either on defense or offense) the other players are attempting to win it at the highest point (not to mention the keeper with his hands). If you wait for it to be chested down and use the feet, the keeper already has it or the forward has put it forward and an attacker is 1v1 with the keeper
in the boys game, higher levels, this is a ludicrous suggestion.
At the grassroots levels I agree they do it at lot less. It’s hard to get the ball in the perfect zone. I wonder how folks would feel about banning headers for flight 2 and below?Heading is a small part of the game, especially at grassroots level.
Should kids be taught how to head the ball with the correct technique to avoid injury and concussion? Absolutely.
Is it really necessary to practice headers often during training for grassroots teams? No.
Teach your players to get themselves into the correct position and understand/anticipate the game in such a way that heading the ball can be minimized. If you are exceptional with your soccer IQ and feet, any lack of heading ability won't matter much. You can coach your players how to position themselves and put someone off (physically) so that they cannot get a clean header during a challenge; that way, any kids who are hesitant about heading the ball or potentially clashing heads, can still compete and just do their thing once the ball comes down
"If God had wanted us to play football in the clouds, he'd have put grass up there." Brian Clough. Legend.
the ball over the top (along with the thru ball) is one of deadliest balls and one of the few scoring opportunities in the boys game at higher levels. It forces the defender to choose. Fall back too far and you put the attacker onside with only you and the gk behind you.Too forward and you’ve let the ball into open space 1v1 with the keeper. For the keepers too it’s one of the hardest skills: they need to decide whether to guard the space behind the line and sweep or whether to fall back and protect the goal…but the one zone they can’t defend is the space immediately behind the back line…a ball goes in there and it’s one of the few times the defender is clearly at fault and the goalkeeper is rightly screaming at them. That area is 100% the defenders area and both defenders and strikers are trying to win it at the highest point (the striker to put it into the area behind the line, the defender to the mids). Learning proper positioning is all fine and good but it doesn’t eliminate this tradeoff. It’s a direct consequence of the offside rule (made worse by the ability of the gk to punt or to gk it long [in this last case with No offside restrictions])
Cognitive decline from heading is apparently pretty common:
“Players with the highest lifetime estimates of heading had poorer scores on scales measuring attention, concentration, cognitive flexibility and general intellectual functioning.”
Text further down shows significant cognitive impairment in 20-80% of players, depending on the study.
It’s not helpful to cherry pick data
here’s more recent data that refutes these findings
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
My general point is that there is inherent risk in so much we do already. It’s up to each family to mitigate as we see fit.
here’s more recent data that refutes these findings
Heading in football, long-term cognitive decline and dementia: evidence from screening retired professional footballers - PubMed
These results suggest that once a player ends their playing career, their risk of harm falls in line with the population, suggesting either that changes are reversible or that heading may not be as harmful as commonly thought. Future longitudinal studies of large numbers of professional football...
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
My general point is that there is inherent risk in so much we do already. It’s up to each family to mitigate as we see fit.
Hmmm...maybe I could've gotten that Ph.D......
Of course I used to skateboard without a helmet too...
He’s famous for it……
Agreed, but there are some that believe its up to the institutions or someone else to protect them from risk, ie "Nanny Staters".
Drink water out of a hose? Lawn darts? WD40 a tennis ball and kick it around after you lighted it on fire?
Not much of a refutation. It says “yes, there is cognitive impairment, but it mostly does away after a while.”It’s not helpful to cherry pick data
here’s more recent data that refutes these findings
Heading in football, long-term cognitive decline and dementia: evidence from screening retired professional footballers - PubMed
These results suggest that once a player ends their playing career, their risk of harm falls in line with the population, suggesting either that changes are reversible or that heading may not be as harmful as commonly thought. Future longitudinal studies of large numbers of professional football...
My general point is that there is inherent risk in so much we do already. It’s up to each family to mitigate as we see fit.
No thanks. I’ll keep focusing on foot skills.
My gk son and I just had a discussion about balls over the top in the boys game over dinner (other than the Uswnt, and a few games from his gf and cousin, he hasn’t seen enough of the girls game to judge)
He was very animated. He said balls over the top are probably the third toughest play he faces…after cutbacks on the ground and cutbacks in the air. Unlike a thru ball on the ground, he says it’s one he and his gk peers worry about because the ball is out of control and unlike the ground there is no really fixed routine to stop it. It makes it more dangerous for them and the two times he’s had a serious collision has been with this type of ball.
he said that the thru ball on the ground is probably a result of a defensive tactical mistake and he bears part of the responsibility for failing to see it. But the ball on the air is totally the defenders responsibility for failing to challenge the aerial. He said he’d totally go off on a teammate that put him in that situation by whincing away from the aerial (gks yell a lot), it would absolutely destroy the trust which is so important between the cb and gk (trust which he recognizes go both ways and which in the past he’s merited a loss of) and that a player that did that wouldn’t survive long in the higher level boys game. He brought up the bad experience he had with these balls on one team that led to 4-8 1v1s a game and he said it was absolutely awful (no but I’m grateful I got better on 1v1s…just it sucked).
it was a good convo so thanks for that…was surprised his feelings on the subject were stronger than mine. As to the risks he said there’s a lot riskier stuff going on in soccer and if the adults feel it isn’t safe for kids they should change the rules, but not by throwing gks under the bus.
He was very animated. He said balls over the top are probably the third toughest play he faces…after cutbacks on the ground and cutbacks in the air. Unlike a thru ball on the ground, he says it’s one he and his gk peers worry about because the ball is out of control and unlike the ground there is no really fixed routine to stop it. It makes it more dangerous for them and the two times he’s had a serious collision has been with this type of ball.
he said that the thru ball on the ground is probably a result of a defensive tactical mistake and he bears part of the responsibility for failing to see it. But the ball on the air is totally the defenders responsibility for failing to challenge the aerial. He said he’d totally go off on a teammate that put him in that situation by whincing away from the aerial (gks yell a lot), it would absolutely destroy the trust which is so important between the cb and gk (trust which he recognizes go both ways and which in the past he’s merited a loss of) and that a player that did that wouldn’t survive long in the higher level boys game. He brought up the bad experience he had with these balls on one team that led to 4-8 1v1s a game and he said it was absolutely awful (no but I’m grateful I got better on 1v1s…just it sucked).
it was a good convo so thanks for that…was surprised his feelings on the subject were stronger than mine. As to the risks he said there’s a lot riskier stuff going on in soccer and if the adults feel it isn’t safe for kids they should change the rules, but not by throwing gks under the bus.
4:20 , Drogba vs Bayern in CL finals to put it ET is my vote, where I think he scored the final PK for Chelsea to win it . Insane skill
I read that and think of all the head bangers at metal shows. Probably the same thing.It’s not helpful to cherry pick data
here’s more recent data that refutes these findings
Heading in football, long-term cognitive decline and dementia: evidence from screening retired professional footballers - PubMed
These results suggest that once a player ends their playing career, their risk of harm falls in line with the population, suggesting either that changes are reversible or that heading may not be as harmful as commonly thought. Future longitudinal studies of large numbers of professional football...
My general point is that there is inherent risk in so much we do already. It’s up to each family to mitigate as we see fit.
Who said that one study is the best we have?
It is a self-assessment study with only 92 participants from 8 years ago. It is neither particularly recent nor particularly thorough.
However, if you start with a desire to tell yourself that headers are safe, it satisfies that particular need.
Good post, except I think you have the definition of "deductive reasoning" a little wrong.
zebrafish
SILVER ELITE
Props to dad4 for bringing more than opinion into this conversation.
Pure and simple, there isn't any well-done scientific evidence that I've seen which convincingly shows heading the ball is actually safe. And I do look at this primary literature. Talk to neurologists/neurosurgeons, they'll tell you the same thing.
It is a historically woefully understudied topic that thankfully is getting more attention and research dollars.
What is clear is that the more carefully people look with imaging and functional studies at heading, the more they find that heading the ball *isn't* good for the brain. And this risk probably extrapolates down to a situation where there isn't a "safe" or "ok" amount of heading. The same can be said of alcohol consumption and cancer risk.
There's not firm science behind the age threshold that US Soccer set in regards to heading (12 years), but I'm glad they did... something.
Interestingly, the EPL came out last year with guidance on heading in all players (https://www.premierleague.com/heading-guidance)-- that includes adults and pros.
It is definitely clear from the science that girls' concussion risk is significantly higher than boys' in soccer, and the biomechanics behind this likely translate into headers being worse for female players than male players. The EPL link discusses that some.
I think the game should eliminate heading. We would all adapt. It would still be beautiful.
We can all talk about acceptable risk and where to set that threshold. But I think better information is needed for people to really understand the risks that they are inflicting on their kids (that many don't realize are there, especially from this conversation...).
To anyone who says you can't play at top levels without heading the ball, I say to you: Son Heung-min scored zero goals with his head last year. And, oh yeah, he tied for the golden boot in the EPL. Something like 2% or fewer of Messi's goals have come from heading the ball. I could go on. Yes, there are some very talented players in the air--- but it isn't critical for the game in all players.
I played the game for 30+ years and headed the ball many times (yes, with proper technique)-- occasionally seeing stars for a few seconds. That's not good. Do I wish I could eliminate that from my past? Absolutely. And I don't want my kids to be there either.
Pure and simple, there isn't any well-done scientific evidence that I've seen which convincingly shows heading the ball is actually safe. And I do look at this primary literature. Talk to neurologists/neurosurgeons, they'll tell you the same thing.
It is a historically woefully understudied topic that thankfully is getting more attention and research dollars.
What is clear is that the more carefully people look with imaging and functional studies at heading, the more they find that heading the ball *isn't* good for the brain. And this risk probably extrapolates down to a situation where there isn't a "safe" or "ok" amount of heading. The same can be said of alcohol consumption and cancer risk.
There's not firm science behind the age threshold that US Soccer set in regards to heading (12 years), but I'm glad they did... something.
Interestingly, the EPL came out last year with guidance on heading in all players (https://www.premierleague.com/heading-guidance)-- that includes adults and pros.
It is definitely clear from the science that girls' concussion risk is significantly higher than boys' in soccer, and the biomechanics behind this likely translate into headers being worse for female players than male players. The EPL link discusses that some.
I think the game should eliminate heading. We would all adapt. It would still be beautiful.
We can all talk about acceptable risk and where to set that threshold. But I think better information is needed for people to really understand the risks that they are inflicting on their kids (that many don't realize are there, especially from this conversation...).
To anyone who says you can't play at top levels without heading the ball, I say to you: Son Heung-min scored zero goals with his head last year. And, oh yeah, he tied for the golden boot in the EPL. Something like 2% or fewer of Messi's goals have come from heading the ball. I could go on. Yes, there are some very talented players in the air--- but it isn't critical for the game in all players.
I played the game for 30+ years and headed the ball many times (yes, with proper technique)-- occasionally seeing stars for a few seconds. That's not good. Do I wish I could eliminate that from my past? Absolutely. And I don't want my kids to be there either.