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    Heading/Concussion

    Concussions in soccer has risen to another level and that is partly due to allowing females play soccer....females are almost 15% more likely to sustain a concussion than boys...one of the problems that I see is the bad technique of heading a ball by females....I grinch every time the ball goes in the air during a female game and see them go up to head the ball...most, especially younger girls, let the ball hit them instead of attacking the ball...think I'm wrong...next time you watch a girls game, see how they react when the ball is in the air...

    #2
    Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
    Concussions in soccer has risen to another level and that is partly due to allowing females play soccer....females are almost 15% more likely to sustain a concussion than boys...one of the problems that I see is the bad technique of heading a ball by females....I grinch every time the ball goes in the air during a female game and see them go up to head the ball...most, especially younger girls, let the ball hit them instead of attacking the ball...think I'm wrong...next time you watch a girls game, see how they react when the ball is in the air...
    How much practice do you think these younger girls you mention above have had heading the ball. With the restrictions on heading until U12, the younger girls have probably had very little practice and instruction, if any at all, on how to head the ball properly. Instead of banning female players, perhaps a real effort on the part of coaches to teach proper technique would help. All new skills take practice, so I wouldn't expect to see good heading technique until U14/U15 (again, only with actual instruction!).

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      #3
      Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
      Concussions in soccer has risen to another level and that is partly due to allowing females play soccer....females are almost 15% more likely to sustain a concussion than boys...one of the problems that I see is the bad technique of heading a ball by females....I grinch every time the ball goes in the air during a female game and see them go up to head the ball...most, especially younger girls, let the ball hit them instead of attacking the ball...think I'm wrong...next time you watch a girls game, see how they react when the ball is in the air...
      Very few coaches know how to teach it or spend any time on it boys or girls. Girls also don't have the same muscular strength as boys. That said more concussions come from two heads colliding rather than actually heading the ball.

      Comment


        #4
        Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
        How much practice do you think these younger girls you mention above have had heading the ball. With the restrictions on heading until U12, the younger girls have probably had very little practice and instruction, if any at all, on how to head the ball properly. Instead of banning female players, perhaps a real effort on the part of coaches to teach proper technique would help. All new skills take practice, so I wouldn't expect to see good heading technique until U14/U15 (again, only with actual instruction!).
        It's bad in girls high school & college soccer as well...again, go watch a female game and see what happens when ball goes in the air

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          #5
          Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
          That said more concussions come from two heads colliding rather than actually heading the ball.
          That's on the boys side...not so for girls...they're afraid of the ball...period..

          Comment


            #6
            Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
            Very few coaches know how to teach it or spend any time on it boys or girls. Girls also don't have the same muscular strength as boys. That said more concussions come from two heads colliding rather than actually heading the ball.
            Concussions are caused not by impact, but by the brain getting rattled in the skull. Studies have shown that cognitive brain function can be impacted slightly (to the worse) by simple heading of the ball even with proper technique. Given that young brains aren't fully developed and youth players' neck muscles are generally weak, it makes sense to limit heading at the younger ages. Doesn't mean we can't work on technique more at U13 to catch up.

            Serious concussions in soccer are generally caused by two players colliding or a player's head hitting a hard surface or taking an elbow to the head during play. Having said that, something I've seen quite a bit is players taking a hard clearance, shot or cross to the head from a short distance away from the kicker, especially when defending.

            Comment


              #7
              Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
              Given that young brains aren't fully developed and youth players' neck muscles are generally weak, it makes sense to limit heading at the younger ages. Doesn't mean we can't work on technique more at U13 to catch up.
              So the rest of the world allows heading for younger children ( probably because they teach it the correct way) and you think the US will catch up when they first learn to head a ball at U13...Okie dogie!

              Comment


                #8
                https://www.huffingtonpost.com/ken-r...b_3799186.html

                Comment


                  #9
                  Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
                  That's on the boys side...not so for girls...they're afraid of the ball...period..
                  One thing I have never understood about the women's game is why can't a size 4 ball be used? Kind of like the ladies use a softball instead of a baseball

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
                    That's on the boys side...not so for girls...they're afraid of the ball...period..
                    I have a D that plays defense, and has always been very good in the air (tall, jumps well). She learned at a young age to attack the ball, as opposed to letting it hit her. She's made sure to build up her neck/shoulders to allow her to go after the ball. Practiced at younger ages using an ultra light volleyball and a foam ball until she got the technique right.

                    From what I've seen (3 soccer playing daughters, many years on the sideline), most of the concussions I've witnessed have been from:

                    1) collisions in the air when jousting for a high ball; head to head, shoulder to head, elbow to head. Head to head are the worst, but also the rarest, IMO.

                    2) landing after a collision (head to ground); this seems to happen a lot when a defender tries to go over the top of an opponent on a punt or high ball, and the opponent backs under her and sends her cartwheeling.

                    3) inadvertent strike to the head by a deflected kicked ball (blasted ball deflects off leg or foot and hits player in the face just a few feet away and player has zero reaction time). This can happen to anyone, male or female, and simply an unavoidable accident.

                    I don't recall seeing a player concussed by a flying ball that she was attempting to head.

                    Comment


                      #11
                      Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
                      One thing I have never understood about the women's game is why can't a size 4 ball be used? Kind of like the ladies use a softball instead of a baseball
                      It's still just as firm and traveling at similar speeds. Most of the trouble is head to head collisions, head to ground etc. Teaching proper technique can help some, as can alternatives to heading (step back and chest it to your feet as an example) but you're never going to avoid collisions

                      Comment


                        #12
                        Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
                        So the rest of the world allows heading for younger children ( probably because they teach it the correct way) and you think the US will catch up when they first learn to head a ball at U13...Okie dogie!
                        Perhaps the rest of the world is so desperate for soccer success that they don't give a flying F about concussions? Is there ANY chance that the US might have the right perspective on player safety? Nah, let's bash the US any chance we get.

                        Comment


                          #13
                          Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
                          Perhaps the rest of the world is so desperate for soccer success that they don't give a flying F about concussions? Is there ANY chance that the US might have the right perspective on player safety? Nah, let's bash the US any chance we get.
                          Oh look..a butt-hurt American

                          Comment


                            #14
                            Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
                            Perhaps the rest of the world is so desperate for soccer success that they don't give a flying F about concussions? Is there ANY chance that the US might have the right perspective on player safety? Nah, let's bash the US any chance we get.
                            Take it to the political thread. The sucks with soccer, period.

                            Comment


                              #15
                              Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
                              Take it to the political thread. The sucks with soccer, period.
                              Not a political comment, really. Just an honest question of social priorities. Do you really think that all of the other countries even care about brain development, accumulation of sub-concussive impacts, etc. in their young soccer players? In the same way, do you think Texas football dads are that concerned about similar issues with their young football prodigies?

                              It's a worthy discussion. Shutting it down with complaints about our lack of international success is not terribly productive.

                              Comment

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