Youth Soccer Drills:the Truth About Heading

Has it ever occurred to you that head can be very effectively used in passing on the ball when it is still in the air? In youth soccer drills, this exercise in no way hurts the player provided it is learnt properly.

In case your players have not performed this skill of heading before, start teaching them by using a deflated ball. This can be done by letting some air out of the ball so that it shrinks and becomes soft and supple for kids to play. When it comes to kids soccer drills, like always, begin with the basics of heading, some of which I’ll be happy to share with you.

When the ball is in air, teach the players to move along with it so that their body is directly in front of it when they face the ball. Teach the players to continue watching the ball all the way through and until that time when it strikes their forehead.

Let the kids understand the significance of keeping an eye on the ball and watch it coming to them and going away from them. If they close their eyes, they’ll get hurt. In youth soccer practice, players should be taught to strike the ball with the top-front area of the forehead instead of the temples or crown of the head.

A large number of youth soccer drills call attention to the movement involved in correctly handling the ball. Two of the drills have been explained below for a better understand of yours.

Sitting and Knees: When it comes to youth soccer coaching, this drill uses 2 players and 1 ball. One player should ssit on the ground and have their legs stretched out in the front. The other player should stand directly in front of the 1st and throw the ball at a very low level towards him or her. The concept is that the ball will be thrown short so that the person towards whom it travels has to come forward to hit it.

Keep doing this activity with a player positioned with both knees on the ground. Now, the player will have to move forward to actually shoot the ball. This drill is useful in teaching the players to use their head in guiding the ball.

It needs the players to hold the ball with their hands and then throw it out by heading it. %SPIN21% They should be taught to move their head to the ball and not move the ball to their head.

Using the cones has the advantage of teaching the players to head the ball to a specific location. The players learn the techniques to head the ball in a direction using their head.

So this is it; using these youth soccer drills, your players will get confident in heading the ball and competing without getting hurt. There is no limit to the amount of information and knowledge available in context of the heading skill and you can subscribe to our youth soccer coaching community to let this knowledge help you too.

By: Andre Botelho

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Andre Botelho is the author of "The Expert Youth Soccer Coaching Guide" and he's an expert in the subject of Youth soccer drills. Tp explode your players' skills and make coaching fun in less than 29 days, download your free Youth Soccer Drills guide at: Youth soccer drills.