Scottish football to ban heading of the ball in training

[Pablo Bonvin]

Just seen this on BBC.

 

Scottish football to ban heading the day before and after matches https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-63767548

 

Heading is a crucial part of a footballer’s skill set but given the potential long term issues it causes, this is probably a necessary action that clubs need to take. Some might call footballers namby-pamby and wrapped in cotton wool, but dementia isn’t something to be messed with.

 

What do you reckon? Will this have an effect on the standard of football we see? Will it evolve to cope without heading the ball eventually? A tough one.

[OneManBand]

Thought Scottish were reight hard tho

[beswetherick]

How will this be enforced? Are the heading police going to be at training sessions on a Friday?

[Kew Owl]

Really don’t get the thought process behind this at all.

 

Its either “safe” to head the ball or it isn’t - and if it is deemed unsafe, then it should be banned full stop, not just in training.

 

Why is it deemed OK to head the ball in a competitive League game, but not in training ?

 

[punkskaphil]

5 minutes ago, Kew Owl said:

Really don’t get the thought process behind this at all.

 

Its either “safe” to head the ball or it isn’t - and if it is deemed unsafe, then it should be banned full stop, not just in training.

 

Why is it deemed OK to head the ball in a competitive League game, but not in training ?

 

 

It's the repetitive nature of it. If you head the ball many times several days in a row, you're more likely to cause yourself an injury than if there's some recovery time between heading activities.

[beswetherick]

2 minutes ago, punkskaphil said:

 

It's the repetitive nature of it. If you head the ball many times several days in a row, you're more likely to cause yourself an injury than if there's some recovery time between heading activities.

It could be argued that heading the ball without sufficient training is unsafe and could cause injuries. 
 

Also, if this is actually going to be monitored, clubs could just do extra heading training on other days during the week. 
 

I understand the reasoning and am quite familiar with the impact of dementia, but this feels a bit half arsed to me. It’s a difficult problem to solve though!

[edmontonowl]

Clashes of heads when challenging for headers is as much part of the brain injury process as heading the ball.

 

Despite being a football traditionalist, I tend to feel that heading should be dealt with, which I suppose means eliminated 

[31Dec1966]

I don't understand why football is singled out. How does boxing remain legal where the sole INTENTION is to punch the head as hard as possible resulting in concussion. Heading the ball in football is not intended to cause harm.  In rugby players routinely smash into other players as often as possible knocking them to the ground.

[CalmJimmers]

The NFL has similar rules in regards to training and contact.

 

[edinburghowl]

9 minutes ago, 31Dec1966 said:

I don't understand why football is singled out. How does boxing remain legal where the sole INTENTION is to punch the head as hard as possible resulting in concussion. Heading the ball in football is not intended to cause harm.  In rugby players routinely smash into other players as often as possible knocking them to the ground.

It’s the regularity, that’s what the medical people are concerned about. You will head a ball hundreds if not thousands of times a year and pretty much every day in training. There is no break. Whereas Boxers only get punched in the head a few times a year when they are actually fighting. When training/sparring they won’t have the regular head contact.

 

I don’t necessarily agree with the banning of heading but I understand the difference between football and boxing.

[thewookieisdown]

28 minutes ago, 31Dec1966 said:

I don't understand why football is singled out. How does boxing remain legal where the sole INTENTION is to punch the head as hard as possible resulting in concussion. Heading the ball in football is not intended to cause harm.  In rugby players routinely smash into other players as often as possible knocking them to the ground.

Sure, but rugby is moving very quickly into a long term crisis. Player numbers are already down as habits change (gym over sports club, much more peripatetic lifestyles) and that's now accelerating as parents don't want their kids taking these risks. Friend of mine who's a head at a reasonably well known public school told me that as recently as ten years ago they had a decent fourth XV, and now they struggle to field a consistent second XV.

 

Must say these seem entirely rational choices by kids and their parents. 

[Geedee]

The difficulty is if 'absolute' safety is the only criteria , what form of activity do you allow.

Eg I love motorcycling, it is dangerous people die every year, therefore should it be banned? 

 

And if you ban motorcycling what about cycling over 100 people died cycling in 2021.

 

What about hill walking , pot holeing,  climbing all totally unnecessary but all have regular accidents that cause death or life changing injuries

 

Bottom line is,  life is dangerous but it's a lot better than the alternatives.

 

 

 

 

[edmontonowl]

This is only about football. What other sports do is their business and it's going to be up to them how they react to the health consequences of their activity

[striker]

Wonder how long it will be before we see more footballers wearing those padded hats?

 

I'm not against the science, or the health precautions necessary. I just wonder whether the era of players suffering (which is tragic) was influenced by those heavy balls. Modern balls are much lighter. 

 

That said and in no way trying to diminish safeguarding against players health, things such as concussion protocols etc are good for the game and if this protects people who play the game, then it's a necessary evolution.

[vulva]

Heading is part of the game. Banning it would be like asking F1 drivers to slow down. Heading the ball is a risk. If you don’t want that risk, don’t play football. Simple. 

[Joe Sunburn]

They can wear protective headgear during training sessions. Aren't a couple WC players wearing face shields for nose/cheek injuries? Knee braces? Headgear during training sessions only can only help prevent injuries and long term effects. 

[Tewkesbury]

2 hours ago, vulva said:

Heading is part of the game. Banning it would be like asking F1 drivers to slow down. Heading the ball is a risk. If you don’t want that risk, don’t play football. Simple. 

Not for long.

 

Another 10-20 years and it will be gone.

 

The game will adapt, just as it has ro every other rule change.

[vulva]

14 minutes ago, Tewkesbury said:

Not for long.

 

Another 10-20 years and it will be gone.

 

The game will adapt, just as it has ro every other rule change.

You can’t stop heading in football without fundamentally changing the game. Those advocating it want their bumps feeling. How does MMA etc get away with that as a sport. 

[vulva]

1 hour ago, Joe Sunburn said:

They can wear protective headgear during training sessions. Aren't a couple WC players wearing face shields for nose/cheek injuries? Knee braces? Headgear during training sessions only can only help prevent injuries and long term effects. 

How’s about people just accept there is risk is everything. What’s next, not crossing the road in case you get run over? All this is getting driven by the families of ex pro’s, who missed the football gravy train we see now. No one with any sense will not have sympathy for those with issues that have arisen for heading the ball, but ffs, let’s get a grip. 

[Maddogbob]

You can't ban heading from the game, it totally undermines the fundamentals of the game.

 

What next? Not kicking the ball to hard because it might hit someone.

 

I've mentioned this before, but even the kicking the ball out of your hands as a goalkeeper is banned until u11/12 here and it's very detrimental to the game, watching kids who have to play out from the back, when the frankly can't, with no retreat, well it's flipping painful.

 

How do you expect kids to learn to control a high ball or even the correct technique. If you don't train for it?

 

Nothing is risk free.

 

 

Edited November 29, 2022 by Maddogbob