The Effect of Heading on postural control and physical fitness of U-13 soccer players

Heading in football is one of the basic and essential skills for any player. This also increases the incidence of head injuries in this sport. Repeated heading in childhood can lead to serious brain dysfunction and sometimes irreversible consequences. The most common consequences of a head injury are headache, dizziness, and imbalance. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to investigate the short-term effect of head injury on postural stability and physical performance of Nonhal football players.

Twenty players under the age of 13 at the club level in Tehran province who participated in at least two training sessions per week participated in this study. In this study, a heading training session included a standard 10-minute protocol. After general warm-up, a total of 20 consecutive heading was struck by each player in 10 minutes. Immediately before and immediately after heading training static and dynamic balance, agility and dribbling speed were measured using Y-Balance, Illinois agility and slalom dribbling tests, respectively.

The results showed that after a ten-minute session of heading by the players, there was a significant decrease in the scores of balance, speed and agility tests in the experimental group compared to the control group (P≤0.05).

Therefore, performing a heading by soccer players can have a negative effect on the postural control and their balance. Therefore, considering the importance of postural control and physical fitness, it is recommended not to use heading during the game.