College Soccer Camp
Information About All Soccer Camps

How can I work on heading a soccer ball?

I have a problem heading the ball. Every time I head a soccer ball, two things happen:

1) I head the ball with the wrong part of my head
or
2) I don't head the ball far enough.

How can I improve on heading a ball?

Public Comments

1. by fixing one of your two problems(:

2. You could ram your head into a brick wall. That helped me.

3. Keep your eyes on the ball, time your jump.

Start off by just throwing the ball up in the air, header and catch it.

With strength you've got use the spring in your jump, lean back and header. Make sure you use your arms aswell.

4. Well, one thing for sure, is practice. Naturally, the more you practice heading the ball, in any circumstance, you will improve. But here are some important tips i can give you:

When you say you are heading the ball with the wrong part of your head, I can say that you must usually head the ball with your forhead, JUST below your hairline, that is optimal, for both aim and power. The aim though, comes from how well you can keep your neck adjusted in the direction you want the ball to go. Your neck muscles are important for determing direction and power.

Before working on power, work on aim. Set a target on a wall that you can hit the ball on. Throw the ball to yourself, or have a friend throw you one, and aim the ball toward the spot on the wall with your head as you hit it. Move the target around so you have to adjust your aim, practice a lot.

Lets talk about power. Power, of course, comes with technique and where and how you hit the ball with your head. One of the most important things for ACCURACY and POWER is to ALWAYS GO TO THE BALL. Never wait for the ball to come to you. You must literally spring towards the ball to generate power, and in game situtations, beat your opponent to the ball.

After you are able to head the ball with the right part of your head, aim the ball correctly, and have developed the instinct to go to the ball when heading it, you can develop certain muscles to head the ball even harder,

I can safely say, almost every part of your body is used when heading the ball, but there are a few that stand out. Your abs, and obliques, if developed, can really help generate an explosive upper body movement when heading the ball. If your core is strong, you can head the ball much harder, this is a fact. Another muscle to develop is your neck. Its a little harder, but you can find workouts to do it. Also, developing your back will speed the amount of time it takes for you to move your body/neck back, and then eventually forward to head the ball.

So for power, develop mostly the abs, obliques, neck, back.

5. This is a good question. Just start out holding the ball over your head and bouncing it into your hands over and over again to warm up. Next, just toss the ball in the air and head it. There really isn't a right or wrong way to header but the preferred ways are, center of the top of your head or the crown of your forehead.(The place above your forehead where your hair begins)

Best of luck to you my friend!!
Joga Bonito.