Head injuries are probably the most discussed myth in soccer. There has been studies’ claiming that if you frequently hit a ball using your head you may get head injuries and lower intelligence.

Many studies have proved that there is no connection between head injuries and heading a ball in soccer, still many people believe that heading a ball is dangerous.

However, some researches claimed that young and untrained players are more sensitive for headache when not heading a ball properly.

Thus, heading a soccer ball properly is vital for all soccer players -unless you really want those headaches, which I doubt you do! Head, dental, brain, and eye injuries constitute only about 6% of all soccer injuries.

Definition

A head injury in soccer is generally defined as a collision between you and an opponent. This collision will usually occur when you and your opponent jump for the same ball.

It is also vital to head the ball properly. A research of professional soccer players showed that heading a ball properly would not result in brain damage.

In soccer, correct heading is defined as using your frontal bone to head the ball. Using your neck muscles is also important while heading a ball.

This because the muscles will help you stabilize your neck (avoiding neck injuries) and you will also get a more powerful hit which should not feel like a headache 🙂

Hit The Ball, Don’t Let it Hit You

Keep in mind to hit the ball, and don’t let it hit your first. To avoid head injuries you need to strength your neck muscles.

This can be done by using isometric drills. One drill you can do by yourself to increase the strength of your muscles is providing resistance against your head with your hand.

The idea behind above mentioned drill is to use your neck muscles to turn your head forward, backward, right and left. A good idea is to wear a mouth cover to protect your teeth.

During my soccer career I have successfully completed an master degree in computer science so I must be at least smarter than a monkey (I know that monkeys are pretty smart 🙂

Conclusion

My conclusion is that some researchers are just trying to create some publicity for their own work. If their claiming about heading were true, many soccer players would be pretty dumb! Instead they are pretty smart, so just head the ball as much you want and don’t worry about some hyped-up modern studies.