Head injuries in Soccer, just a Myth or?

Head injuries in soccer 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 (if you don’t want to have headache of course :-).

Head injuries in soccer, includes also dental, brain and eye injuries and constitute about 6% of all injuries caused in soccer. 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 (avoid neck injuries) and you will also get a more powerful hit which should not feel like a headache :-)

Keep in mind to hit the ball, and don’t let it hit your first. To avoid head injuries in soccer 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 carrier 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 :-) My conclusion is that some researchers are just trying to create some publicity for his/her own work.

If their claiming about heading in soccer where 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 hyper modern studies.