Is Heading Dangerous?

Here in North America, especially in Canada, we are very keenly aware of the dangers of head injuries. Sidney crosby, arguably the best ice hockey player in the world today, was hit in a fashion that led to a severe concussion, and put him out of the game for nearly one year. This was done after extensive medical assessment, treatment and order to not play sports. Similar actions are taken in American Football when these heavily armoured athletes are injured. Examinations of the brains of deceased boxers and American footballers have shown significant scarring and trauma to the brain, that led to any number of maladies including depression, Parkinsonism and dementia including Alzheimer's disease.

So is heading dangerous?

This excerpt is from the New York Times:

How Dangerous Is Heading a Soccer Ball?

By KJ DELL'ANTONIA

Soccer parents, watching their children use their head to send the ball rocketing in an age of increased worry about the long-term effects of minor sports concussions, have been arguing for years about the practice. On theWell blog, Gretchen Reynolds reports on new research showing frontal lobe damage and weaker verbal and visual recall among players who had headed a ball more than a thousand times in the last year, even those who reported no concussion, and among college players who were frequent headers in a Division 2 program.

The good news for parents of younger kids and recreational players is simple: that’s a lot of heading. “What our research shows is that there appears to be a threshold” – about 1,100 or so balls headed in a single year, a substantial number — “beyond which heading may be problematic,” Dr. Lipton said. “Below that threshold, it appears that heading is safe. So our research is actually optimistic, I think.”

For parents involved in the debate over whether young soccer players should wear headgear, this new data adds support for the argument that a soccer-specific helmet is unnecessary, at least to address concerns about heading in less intense play. (Neither set of researchers addressed the question of headgear.) Headgear proponents argue that their product addresses a concern over collisions, not just heading, and that as our perception of the sport evolves, headgear will become standard (as it has in hockey, where helmets weren’t mandatory for newly drafted players in the National Hockey League until 1979).

Do you worry about your soccer player and concussions or other header-related brain damage? Have you considered headgear, or talked with a coach about limiting heading drills? Should we worry more about keeping young soccer players safe, or just let them play?

The hi-lited paragraph appears to be good news, and should eliminate some of the worry that parents and players have about a vital part of the game. The big issue is ensuring that players are taught the correct way to head the ball, and importantly not to be afraid to head the ball.

These three photos are a very good demonstration of heading by one of my favourite defenders 

1. Set Position

Notice that both players have their eyes focused on the ball (out of frame), their mouths closed (to prevent damage to teeth, tongue etc), and are well balanced in anticipation of the ball.

2. Heading

This photo was taken milliseconds after impact. The defender (player in green) made contact with the ball and note its trajectory up and away. Both players have their eyes closed, but that is a natural response post heading. The defender's body position demonstrates a good follow through with her left arm starting to pull body through the heading of the ball. This results in more power and clearance. The actual impact point of the header (not shown) is the forehead, which is flat and wide which is amore stable platform from which to head the ball, and is a larger area from which to dissipate the energy from the ball into and around the head.

3. The Follow Through.

The defender has now completely followed through with her header,  she is on her toes , her head and body have "gone through" her arms, like she is pushing her face through a newspaper she is reading.

 The yellow player is just running through the where the ball had been, and missed it completely. Green's position is dominant and won the ball and cleared it about 20 metres up field.  

Now the third picture illustrates where most potential head injuries occur in soccer. Collisions. In this case nothing happened, but, when the players get taller, bigger, stronger and start getting into the air thats when people really get head injuries. Usually not from repetitive heading, but from hard physical, usually inadvertent contact.

So, encourage your players to head the ball. Start slow, off the forehead, and toss, don't throw the ball. Make them comfortable with the contact and to not be afraid, Reassure their parents that they will be fine. And limit them to less than 1100 headers per year.

YNWA

Hal White