TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2021//
TI  - Heading incidence in boys' football over three seasons
JO  - Science and medicine in football
A1  - Peek, Kerry
A1  - Meyer, Tim
A1  - Beaudouin, Florian
A1  - McKay, Marnee
SP  - 175
EP  - 180
VL  - 5
IS  - 3
N2  - PURPOSE: To quantify the incidence and characteristics of purposeful headers and unintentional head impacts in football (soccer) in boys' football over three seasons.<br><br>METHODS: This retrospective longitudinal study analysed purposeful headers and unintentional head impacts collected over three seasons (under-10 to under-12) using match video analysis from boys' team in Australia. Total headers and head impacts, as well as incidence rate (IR) per 1000 match-hours for different match characteristics, were calculated.<br><br>RESULTS: Total number of headers and heading IR increased significantly (r = 0.99) with age from under-10 (n = 29; IR: 483) to under-12 (n = 149; IR: 1515). All but three players (87%) were observed to head the ball at least once during a season (mean: 10, range 0-25) with the accumulative number of headers performed by out-field players over three seasons ranging from 6 to 40. Players in defensive positions (n = 121) headed the ball more frequently than midfielders (n = 83) or attackers (n = 53). Five (IR: 22) unintentional head impacts were observed, of which four required medical attention.<br><br>CONCLUSION: Although the number of headers performed by young players in under-10 to under-12 age groups was low, the range of headers performed by individuals varied greatly. These results could be used to guide age-specific heading coaching practices.<p />  <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 2473-3938
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/24733938.2020.1849783
ID  - ref1
ER  -