Impact of Headers on Soccer Players Questioned

A key move in the game of soccer is hitting the ball with the head. It is called “heading the ball” and physicians have debated the effect on the player’s body of this maneuver.

Judy George, a contributing writer for Med Page Today reports on a study of players who head the ball in a soccer game.

The study, a small one, found that those who “headed” the ball more often had small, but detectable alterations in gait and positioning. The study authors wrote that “frequent soccer heading was associated with subtly altered body positioning that could affect players’ balance.”

Adult recreational players who reported the most headings showed different patterns of foot placement and hip adduction that may indicate vestibular processing and balance recovery problems, according to John Jeka, PhD, of the University of Delaware in Newark.

But, Dr. Jeka also questioned whether these changes were clinically meaningful.

“We knew soccer heading was associated with abnormal white matter microstructure and poorer neurocognitive performance, but now we also suggest that soccer heading may be associated with poorer balance control and vestibular processing during walking,” Jeka told MedPage Today.

According to George, “For this analysis the researchers studied 20 amateur soccer players—10 men and 10 women whose average age was 22…. The soccer players completed questionnaires reporting the average number of times they headed the ball during a practice and game, the average number of practices and games per week, and the average number of months they played each year. Headers for each player ranged from 16 to 2,100 a year, averaging 451.”