FineSoccer Kids 35

Welcome to the FineSoccer Kids Newsletter.  Today’s subject deals with heading.

The two types of heading I want to address are heading to goal and defensive heading.  It’s always interesting to hear people talk about heading because you hear some people teach that as a rule of thumb you should head balls down and others say you should head balls up.  The reason I find this interesting is because these things are said as if there is a right and a wrong direction to head and frequently don’t take into account the different situations for heading.

Defensive heading is usually done in the back third of the field and as a general rule of thumb; a defensive header should be headed up and away.  The reason for this is that if a defensive player in her back third of the field heads the ball down, there is too great a likelihood that an oncoming attacker will win the ball on the ground and get a good scoring opportunity.  If the defender heads the ball up and away, the hope is that the ball will go over the heads of the oncoming attackers and be away from danger.

Heading toward goal should be done low and hard.  For the most part, it’s much more difficult for a keeper to save a ball that is low and to her side than it is for her to get up for a high ball.  The most difficult header to save from a goalkeeper’s perspective is frequently the ball that bounces on the goal line to the side of the keeper.  The high ball is just a lot easier for the keeper to save.  Also, there is the obvious question which is how many balls are headed to high and go over the cross bar?  The answer is many.  However, I have yet to see a ball that was headed too low to get in the goal.

While many coaches can work with you on HOW to head the ball (addressing such issues as the part of the head to make contact with the ball and proper stance etc) too few seem to emphasize WHERE to head the ball and if you remember the general rule which is defensive headers should go high and away and offensive headers should be low and hard, you will be a better soccer player.

Any questions, comments or suggestions should be sent to kidscomments@finesoccer.com or posted to the FineSoccer Forum at http://finesoccer.net

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Have a great day!

Lawrence

PS  If  you haven’t done so yet, please take a moment to check out the Full Season Training Book at http://www.worldclasscoaching.com/fstbook.asp.  This is the Full Season Training Session from this past fall, cleaned up in a much easier format to follow.