Forwarding the ball by using the head while the ball is still in the air is an effective method and most of us have never thought about it. Doing this skill in youth soccer drills is particularly safe when it is carried out with care and caution.
You should deflate the ball in case of teaching this skill to your players for the first time. It requires you to shrink the ball’s size by letting some air out of it, thus making it supple. Including heading skill in the kids soccer drills requires you to first teach them the basics of this skill before starting with the practice.
Teach the players to move along the ball in such a way that their body comes directly in front of the ball when they get in contact with it. The players must keep their eyes fixed the ball all the way through, till the time it comes into contact with their forehead.
Your players must recognize the importance of continuously looking at the ball whether it coming to them to 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. Following are the two drills that have been explained for you:
Sitting and Knees: This youth soccer coaching drill involves just 2 players and a ball. One player should sit on the ground with the legs spread 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.
Repeat this activity with one player positioned with both knees on the ground. Here, the player will have to lunge forward to strike 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. It requires the player to hold the ball with his hands and then knock the ball out of their hands by heading it. They should learn the art of moving their head to the ball and vice-versa.
Use of cones can help in teaching them the skill of heading to a specific location. The players learn the techniques to head the ball in a direction using their head.
So there you have it; youth soccer drills to develop the skill of heading amongst the players and enable them to compete in the game without the fear of 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.
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.
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