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Should there be a ban on Children heading the ball?


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Heading is a keypart of defending, also a striker. The balls nowadays are lighter. They should also be playing with a size 4 ball. Not a size 5. When coaching, special emphasis should be given to how to correctly head the ball. Eyes always open and use the forehead. If done correctly, it is absolutely fine. If not, keep practising. They wont hurt themselves if they do it wrong, but if they keep their eyes open all the way, most of the time they will head it correctly anyway.

 

 

 

You a neurosurgeon then or an expert in how the brain reacts in such situations ?

 

Nope - thought not. When you know what you are talking about let us know.

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Eyes open or shut, forehead or not... the brain is still going to rattle around in the skull once the head hits the ball. No amount of practice is going to change that :)

 

That it also true of kids on bouncy castles, long jumping or sprinting etc, should we ban them from that too?

 

my teams always keep the ball on the ground anyway. ;)

 

What if the ball is in the air from the opposition then and is at headheight? Would you advise your players to move and just let the ball go past them?

 

Ground football is the ideal and helps train pass and moving well. But there is also a major part in the game for heading.

 

You a neurosurgeon then or an expert in how the brain reacts in such situations ?

 

Well, it is his opinion and that is what forums are about. It would be a very boring place if everyone agreed.

Also, it must be noted there is no confirmed evidence that disproves his opinion.

 

On the subject as a whole though, I think there needs to be money invested in this to look at studying this ion depth.

 

I like parts of the American approach, where they limit the amount of time allowed to be trained on heading the ball, however I think the lower should apply to under 10's not under 12's.

30 minutes trained heading max per week and no more up until the age of 13.

 

I'd also be happy for them to introduce it into games that heading is not allowed in competitive games up until the age of 13 too.

 

That said, 99% of youngsters will never go to a stage where they will be heading the ball for a living and therefore it is only to protect the 1% of players who actually make it.

 

We have to remember though, that the links (and that is all it is at the moment) only refer back to players of an era where the ball was a lot heavier and harder.

The balls now in use are so much more lighter and softer.

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Absolutely no evidence to say its wrong. Just what we were taught as kids and what i was taught doing coaching awards. Il just put redfox's rudeness down to him being dropped on his head when he was born.:hihi:

 

You say that it is 'absolutely fine' and 'they wont hurt themselves if they do it wrong'. I would suggest that in light of the research that has been done making such claims could potentially be quite dangerous.

 

I won't claim to know for sure either way, but the little bit of reading I have done has demonstrated that there is not a medical consensus that heading is entirely safe for children.

 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/health/news/11024398/Heading-a-football-is-too-dangerous-for-children-neuroscientist.html

 

https://www.stir.ac.uk/news/2016/10/heading-a-football-causes-instant-changes-to-brain/

 

There is also a great deal of medical research into head injury and brain concussion in adults and children due to heading in football if you care to search for it. I suggest searching PubMed or the BMJ Journals website.

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You say that it is 'absolutely fine' and 'they wont hurt themselves if they do it wrong'. I would suggest that in light of the research that has been done making such claims could potentially be quite dangerous.

 

I won't claim to know for sure either way, but the little bit of reading I have done has demonstrated that there is not a medical consensus that heading is entirely safe for children.

 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/health/news/11024398/Heading-a-football-is-too-dangerous-for-children-neuroscientist.html

 

https://www.stir.ac.uk/news/2016/10/heading-a-football-causes-instant-changes-to-brain/

 

There is also a great deal of medical research into head injury and brain concussion in adults and children due to heading in football if you care to search for it. I suggest searching PubMed or the BMJ Journals website.

 

We are talking under 10s here, so no harm in keeping everything under head height from a safety or technical viewpoint. I suspect rugby isn't full on and if a proper cricket ball is used the batsman must wear a helmet if under 16 (checked - it's under 18) this came direct from the ecb and the world didn't end.

 

That said, kids will find a way to hurt themselves.

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I don't think the above have been medically researched. The impact of such sports is unknown so banning them would be silly :)

 

Why don't we ban everything! Ban, walking because statistically speaking we could get run over by cars, lorries, buses, cows! Ban rugby, that could be dangerous, cricket too... what about banning eating, because we're be told that most things we eat are bad for us... :o:help:

 

Getting crazy isn't it!

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