National Soccer Coaches Association of America

Purpose: To improve heading technique while also practicing eye-contact signaling.

Procedure: This drill includes 16 players. Eight players are distributed evenly outside the center circle, each holding a soccer ball. The other 8 players are inside the center circle. The players inside the circle jog around until they make eye contact with an outside player holding a ball. On making eye contact, the inside player runs toward the outside player, and the outside player then tosses the ball for the runner to jump and head back to him or her.

Coaching Points: After each player receives many opportunities to head (and after the coach has had ample time to make corrrections), the players reverse roles so that those who were inside the circle heading are now outside the circle and become the tossers.

The coach might demand a specific type of head ball; if the focus is on defensive heading, the coach might ask players to head through the bottom half of the ball to ensure that the ball goes up. The optimal angle for the defensive header is for the ball to come off the head at a 45-degree angle of flight. This causes the ball to travel the greatest distance through the air.

If heading to goal is the focus of training, the coach might ask players to head throught the top half of the ball so that the ball goes down. The target for heading to goal is to try to make the ball hit the goal line, which makes for the most difficult angle for the goalkeeper to deal with.

As competency increases, the coach might demand heading to a specific target. For power, the player must head the ball as hard as possible at the tosser's chest. The ball should have a flat trajectory and be headed with power. For accuracy, the player must head the ball to someone other than the tosser. With this variation, the tosser must stay alert, but this shouldn't be a problem.

For drill animation, CLICK HERE.