Youth Soccer Drills: How To Head The Ball Properly

Have you ever imagined how the use of the head can be an effective way of redirecting the ball when it is still in the air? In youth soccer drills, this exercise in no way hurts the player provided it is learnt properly.

In case your players have not performed this skill of heading before, start teaching them by using a deflated ball. This can be done by letting some air out of the ball so that it shrinks and becomes soft and supple for kids to play. 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. They should keep their eyes on the ball all the way in, and continue watching it as it strikes their forehead.

Let the kids understand the significance of keeping an eye on the ball and watch it coming to them and going away from them. It they don't know which way the ball is going or coming from, they risk getting 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. 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 sit on the ground with the legs spread out in the front. The second player should stand in front of the 1st one 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. Then, the player will have to attack forward to hit the ball. This drill is useful in teaching the players to use their head in guiding the ball.

Head out of Hands: This drill requires cones and one ball for each player. %SPIN21% They should be instructed to move their head to the ball and then the ball to their head.

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 accurately and using their head.

So this is it; using these youth soccer drills, your players will get confident in heading the ball and competing without getting hurt. Our youth soccer coaching community has tons of valuable information on youth soccer and you can take advantage of it by enrolling for it.