Forwarding the ball by using the head while the ball is still in the air is an effective method and most of us have never thought about it. This does not hurt the player in any way if is it practiced correctly in the Youth soccer drills.

In case your players have not performed this skill of heading before, start teaching them by using a deflated ball. For this, let some air out of the ball and make it soft so that players find it easy to play with. 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. The players must keep their eyes fixed the ball all the way through, till the time it comes into contact with their forehead.

The kids must know the importance of keeping their eyes open and watch the ball coming to 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, teach players to strike the ball with the forehead’s top-front part instead of the crown or temples.

Youth soccer drills

Most of the youth soccer drills highlight the movement required to head the ball properly. Two of the drills have been explained below for a better understand of yours.

Sitting and Knees: When it comes to youth soccer coaching, this drill uses 2 players and 1 ball. One player should ssit on the ground and have their legs stretched out in the front. The second player will stand directly in front of the first one and throw the ball really low towards him or her. The objective behind this is that because the ball is thrown short, the person will have to come forward to hit it.

This activity should be repeated with a player positioned with both knees on the ground. Here, the player will have to lunge forward to strike 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. This drill requires the players to hold the ball with their hands and the throw it off by heading it. They should learn to alternatively move their head to the ball and then bring the ball to their head.

When the cones are used, the kids learn to head the ball to a particular 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. There is a huge amount of resources in our youth soccer coaching community and you can benefit from it all by subscribing to it.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Andre Botelho is the author of "The Expert Youth Soccer Coaching Guide" and he's a recognized expert in the subject of youth soccer coaching. Learn how to explode your players' skills and make training fun in less than 29 days! Download your free pdf guide at: Soccer Drills For Kids