Ever wondered the effectiveness of using the head to readdress the ball while it is still in the air? In youth soccer drills, this exercise in no way hurts the player provided it is learnt properly.
When you are about to teach the heading skill to players for the first time, you should do it with a deflated ball. For this, let some air out of the ball and make it soft so that players find it easy to play with. Before I get down to the details of kids soccer drills on heading, let me share with you the basics of this skill that players need to be taught first.
The players should learn to move along the ball while it is still in air because they need to be in front of the ball when making a contact with it. Teach the players to continue watching the ball all the way through and until that time when it strikes their forehead.
The kids must know the importance of keeping their eyes open and watch the ball coming to and going away from them. It they don’t know which way the ball is going or coming from, they risk getting hurt. Teach them in youth soccer practice to use the top-front part of their forehead to strike the ball and not with the temples or top of the head.
Majority of the youth soccer drills lay stress on the value of movement necessary to head the ball accurately. Two of these have been discussed for your benefit and are as follows;
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 second player will stand directly in front of the first one and throw the ball really low towards him or her. The strategy behind this is that the person who hits the ball has to come forward to do it because the ball id thrown short.
This activity should go on with a player positioned with both knees on the ground. Then, the player will have to attack forward to hit the ball. This drill teaches the technique of using the head to direct the ball.
Head out of Hands: To work with this drill, you need to have cones and a ball for each player. The players need to hold the ball with their hands and then knock it off by heading it. They should learn to alternatively move their head to the ball and then bring the ball to their head.
The cones can help the players learn heading to a particular location. The players learn the techniques to head the ball accurately and using their head.
There you go; using youth soccer drills, the players will head the ball fearlessly thereby making them better competitors. Our youth soccer coaching community has tons of valuable information on youth soccer and you can take advantage of it by enrolling for it.
Andre Botelho is the author of "The Expert Youth Soccer Coaching Guide" and he's a recognized expert in the subject of youth soccer coaching. Learn how to explode your players' skills and make coaching sessions fun in less than 29 days! Download your free pdf guide at: Soccer Practice.
Filed under Physical therapy by on Jul 4th, 2010. 