Heading the ball

[mrsblue]

Seeing as Im only 31 I cant see how the game has moved on that much to the point of outlawing heading in youth football.

Im currently involved in youth football and wouldnt dream of changing the fundamentals of the game and I wouldnt want the coach not to teach heading.

When a kid approaches you and says I watched the Real Madrid game last night and Bale scored a bullet header why cant I do that? What would you answer be?

99.99% of under 11 girls do not want to head the ball and I for one cannot blame them so the chances of one of them asking about Bale is very remote however if they did I would say focus on the flight with your eyes open and don't let the ball hit you as you need to attack it.

 

[Pubey]

Seeing as Im only 31 I cant see how the game has moved on that much to the point of outlawing heading in youth football.

Im currently involved in youth football and wouldnt dream of changing the fundamentals of the game and I wouldnt want the coach not to teach heading.

When a kid approaches you and says I watched the Real Madrid game last night and Bale scored a bullet header why cant I do that? What would you answer be?

"Because you're 11 years old and ****ing ****, Little Timmy"

 

[mrsblue]

"Because you're 11 years old and ****ing ****, Little Timmy"

And Bale is one in a million!

 

[bucket&spade.f.c]

99.99% of under 11 girls do not want to head the ball and I for one cannot blame them so the chances of one of them asking about Bale is very remote however if they did I would say focus on the flight with your eyes open and don't let the ball hit you as you need to attack it.

Dont worry That word clears it all up for me. Didnt know you was talking about Girls, makes sense

 

[Yorkshire Blue]

Definitive evidence on how it potentially affects children just isn't going to happen either. Would you happily randomise your child to a study to see whether or not heading causes brain injuries?! The only study designs which are possible for this kind of issue will have biases. However it may be possible to suggest a fairly clear link.

Unless the FA gets a grip on this, anecdotal evidence will continue to mount along with expert opinions, and you'll see parents deciding that rather than playing football - little Timmy is going to take up the piano or play basketball or tennis.

Football's growth in the States is largely because it's seen as a safer game to American Football!

Seeing as Im only 31 I cant see how the game has moved on that much to the point of outlawing heading in youth football.

Im currently involved in youth football and wouldnt dream of changing the fundamentals of the game and I wouldnt want the coach not to teach heading.

When a kid approaches you and says I watched the Real Madrid game last night and Bale scored a bullet header why cant I do that? What would you answer be?

I think there's a middle ground. Crosses are a vital part of the game but long lumps forward not so much. Banning defenders from hoofing it isn't going to work, but you can help eliminate the unnecessary boot forwards - e.g. goal-kicks, up and unders from the keeper. Maybe forcing attacking players to retreat 25 yards from the goal so that keepers/defenders have time and space to play the ball out. Could throw-ins be replaced with tap-ins?

 

[Pubey]

I think there's a middle ground. Crosses are a vital part of the game but long lumps forward not so much. Banning defenders from hoofing it isn't going to work, but you can help eliminate the unnecessary boot forwards - e.g. goal-kicks, up and unders from the keeper. Maybe forcing attacking players to retreat 25 yards from the goal so that keepers/defenders have time and space to play the ball out. Could throw-ins be replaced with tap-ins?

Completely agree. So much football (5/6/7-a-side) is already played with these restrictions, along with futsal. It wouldn't be hard to introduce those rules into youth football and training. It's the goal punts which are the worse to head. Especially when it's windy and you don't catch it well.

 

[mrsblue]

Football's growth in the States is largely because it's seen as a safer game to American Football!



I think there's a middle ground. Crosses are a vital part of the game but long lumps forward not so much. Banning defenders from hoofing it isn't going to work, but you can help eliminate the unnecessary boot forwards - e.g. goal-kicks, up and unders from the keeper. Maybe forcing attacking players to retreat 25 yards from the goal so that keepers/defenders have time and space to play the ball out. Could throw-ins be replaced with tap-ins?

Ban drop kicks for under 16 games as these high balls dropping at speed whilst players jockey for position are an injury waiting to happen.

 

[chapperzUK]

I think there's a middle ground. Crosses are a vital part of the game but long lumps forward not so much. Banning defenders from hoofing it isn't going to work, but you can help eliminate the unnecessary boot forwards - e.g. goal-kicks, up and unders from the keeper. Maybe forcing attacking players to retreat 25 yards from the goal so that keepers/defenders have time and space to play the ball out. Could throw-ins be replaced with tap-ins?

I believe in some age groups that the opposition has to be behind the half way line for goal kicks to allow them to play it short.

 

[Massimo Giovanni]

At last, proof that Mario Walsh was ahead of the times! His heading style was to jump for it and allow the ball to gentle massage his mane with no harmful consequences to his brain, coiffured barnet, or interruption of the flight of the ball.

Not great for a "goal scorer" but helped to get Super Roy back home to the Hall.

 

[bucket&spade.f.c]

Ban drop kicks for under 16 games as these high balls dropping at speed whilst players jockey for position are an injury waiting to happen.

I believe in some age groups that the opposition has to be behind the half way line for goal kicks to allow them to play it short.

Im a massive fan of play it from the back as 9/10 drop kicks get headered/booted back to box anyways.

The only problem I see in say banning drop kicks up to U16s is we would lose an aspect of standard in the game as U16's is touching adult football (yes some league have U21s).


Heading, drop kicks,long balls etc have all been part of the game we all love since the start why change something that isnt broken.

 

[mrsblue]

Im a massive fan of play it from the back as 9/10 drop kicks get headered/booted back to box anyways.

The only problem I see in say banning drop kicks up to U16s is we would lose an aspect of standard in the game as U16's is touching adult football (yes some league have U21s).


Heading, drop kicks,long balls etc have all been part of the game we all love since the start why change something that isnt broken.

Drop kicks IMO are a complete waste of time !

They offer nothing yet actually take vital time off the clock,We all see pro keepers lump it forward and the ball sometimes bounces straight to the opposing keeper or even runs out of play or we have the spectacle of head tennis and even the forward being penalised for backing into the defender!

We all want to see beautiful play so banning drop kicks ensures teams play it from the back.

 

[chapperzUK]

Ban drop kicks and the goalkeeper will just roll the ball out and boot it up pitch from the floor.

 

[mrsblue]

Ban drop kicks and the goalkeeper will just roll the ball out and boot it up pitch from the floor.

The keeper collects it from a corner he then minces around allowing both teams to get up the pitch then he generally either lumps it or rolls it out then lumps it where the ball on average goes out of play.

My thinking,
Keeper collects it from the corner and has only seconds to release it by throwing ONLY this IMO would stop managers from defending with all eleven because the keeper will need targets to throw too thus forcing managers to leave bodies up the pitch.

Both keepers under current laws spend a large proportion of the 90 simply fluffing around with the ball.

 

[EastStandBlue]

This thread is bat**** mental.

 

[Jam_Man]

This thread is bat**** mental.

Its been heading the ball too much.

Doesnt matter what you do the ball is going up in the air at some point.

 

[Pubey]

This thread is bat**** mental.

Why? Are you disputing the mounting evidence that repeatedly heading the ball for years could lead to brain injury? That heading the ball when young could be dangerous? Or the suggested changes to different levels of the game?

 

[Jam_Man]

Id imagine he meant trying to change the game so that players dont have to head the ball as much.

 

[EastStandBlue]

Why? Are you disputing the mounting evidence that repeatedly heading the ball for years could lead to brain injury? That heading the ball when young could be dangerous? Or the suggested changes to different levels of the game?

The third one. Removing drop kicks from the game? Why stop there, why not eradicate every action that results in the ball going above head height? I'm not doubting that repeatedly heading the ball will have contributed towards brain injuries in the past, but I am doubtful that the modern football has the potential to do this. The old leather puddings of the 60s and 70s were substantially heavier than today's engineered footballs and were made even heavier still by the amount of water they retained.

Without making sweeping changes to football that would be to extreme detriment to it (in my opinion), then one of the best ways to resolve something like this would be to ensure players are properly educated on heading technique. I'm not talking about having rows of 7 and 8 year-olds lining up to do heading drills for weeks on end, but I see no reason why heading can't be something that's taught properly as and when it becomes prevalent in the game, such as when kids step up to U14/15/16 football when set pieces are properly introduced.

I'm all for football being a progressive sport that continually adapts and bends as per the demands/requirements/safety/spectacle of the sport, but effectively prohibiting the ball from going above head height? I'm not so sure. Footballers would be far, far better served by the introduction of free substitutions for head injuries and mandatory weeks out for concussion cases.

 

[londonblue]

I read this the other day and just laughed at it. borderline stupid. How did we ever do it in the old days?

Its like anything in life if you are taught correctly it will not hurt.

Agreed, but just because it doesn't hurt doesn't mean it isn't doing long term damage. Personally I wouldn't know if it is or isn't, so research into the issue seems sensible to me.

 

[londonblue]

Seeing as Im only 31 I cant see how the game has moved on that much to the point of outlawing heading in youth football.

Im currently involved in youth football and wouldnt dream of changing the fundamentals of the game and I wouldnt want the coach not to teach heading.

When a kid approaches you and says I watched the Real Madrid game last night and Bale scored a bullet header why cant I do that? What would you answer be?

The same as the answer as I would give when the child asks, "they play 11 a side, why can't we?"