Heading the ball

Maybe the beginning of the end for heading:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/63594737

Quoted from White_shorts

I apologise if this story about Mick Lyons and Alzheimer's has been mentioned already:

https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/ex-everton-captain-mick-lyons-26941041

Its an awful condition........but I would quite like to forget his tenure.

Let's stop people heading a soft sphere with air in it but let 2 people into a ring and punch intercourse out of each other... Makes sense

I know many people mainly through one of my previous jobs that suffered with dementia .

Nearly all of them had never headed a ball in their life.

Football will never give up heading a ball because it would be the end of the game we love.

Today's football's are far lighter than the leather ones I played with as a youth.

I played football regularly to the age of 38, where in my younger years I was a striker and as age caught up with me, I played at Centre Half.  I have no idea how many times I headed a ball, but it must be in the thousands, and I'm still here at 76 years of age.  On the other hand, my mother who never in her life headed a football DID have dementia and died at the age of 93.

Quoted from grimsby pete

I know many people mainly through one of my previous jobs that suffered with dementia .

Nearly all of them had never headed a ball in their life.

Football will never give up heading a ball because it would be the end of the game we love.

Today's football's are far lighter than the leather ones I played with as a youth.

I may be mistaken but I think the lighter ball theory has largely been disproven. Balls are indeed much lighter, but they are also designed to travel faster so in effect the benefit gained through reduced weight is lost through increased velocity; the latter netting out the former.

The reality is, the game of football would be changed beyond recognition if heading were suddenly outlawed, just as boxing would be if punches to the head were banned. How different would our Wrexham play-off game have looked without headers.

I’m not up to speed with where we are with the science in this, but surely the most straightforward solution is to drastically reduce the amount of heading performed throughout a footballer’s playing career.

For a start, avoid it entirely up to a certain age. Realistically, up until a certain age the kids struggle to get the ball off the floor anyway so time is better spent on technical skills with a focus on short, sharp passing routines. Beyond that, limit heading to a certain amount of minutes of training time per week - perhaps one or two routines per week and one large sided game where it is permitted.

Many jobs have occupational hazards or exposure to a certain level of risk, be it radiology or offshore work. Sometimes risk cannot be eliminated, but rather managed as best as possible. I think that’s the approach football has to take.

Quoted from Poojah

I may be mistaken but I think the lighter ball theory has largely been disproven. Balls are indeed much lighter, but they are also designed to travel faster so in effect the benefit gained through reduced weight is lost through increased velocity; the latter netting out the former.

The reality is, the game of football would be changed beyond recognition if heading were suddenly outlawed, just as boxing would be if punches to the head were banned. How different would our Wrexham play-off game have looked without headers.

I’m not up to speed with where we are with the science in this, but surely the most straightforward solution is to drastically reduce the amount of heading performed throughout a footballer’s playing career.

For a start, avoid it entirely up to a certain age. Realistically, up until a certain age the kids struggle to get the ball off the floor anyway so time is better spent on technical skills with a focus on short, sharp passing routines. Beyond that, limit heading to a certain amount of minutes of training time per week - perhaps one or two routines per week and one large sided game where it is permitted.

Many jobs have occupational hazards or exposure to a certain level of risk, be it radiology or offshore work. Sometimes risk cannot be eliminated, but rather managed as best as possible. I think that’s the approach football has to take.

Well the second mullin goal would have been fine, he didn't touch it with his head!

Quoted from grimsby pete

I know many people mainly through one of my previous jobs that suffered with dementia .

Nearly all of them had never headed a ball in their life.

Football will never give up heading a ball because it would be the end of the game we love.

Today's football's are far lighter than the leather ones I played with as a youth.

That's like saying people get lung cancer who've never smoked a cigarette and the filters on today's cigarettes are better than they were 50 years ago. It's still obviously worse for you and the science on head trauma is constantly evolving.

I can't see heading the ball stopping, but reducing exposure has to be considered.

I'm not sure on this legal case. Unless the FA or whoever is being sued knew about risks and ignored them, how have they done anything wrong? Would these people have not played football as a result of knowing there was a risk?

Every profession has a risk attached. Someone with a job involving computer work all day is presumably at more risk of blood clots and the like.

Obviously, take sensible precautions in all professions, but some risks will always remain.

What is very irritating is people like Nobby Stiles's son, who was more than happy that his father was a national hero, but then campaign and say how awful it all is when Nobby fell ill in later life.

Stiles senior, I am sure, would not have changed one moment of his career, if it meant he couldn't play football at the highest level because he would fall ill all those years later. I can't even remember Nobby heading the ball!

Geoff Hurst who did head the ball is still in wonderful health so like a lot of things it depends a great deal on lady luck.

Quoted from pen penfras

That's like saying people get lung cancer who've never smoked a cigarette and the filters on today's cigarettes are better than they were 50 years ago. It's still obviously worse for you and the science on head trauma is constantly evolving.

I can't see heading the ball stopping, but reducing exposure has to be considered.

Agree completely. Young children's brains are still developing and minimising heading is a step in the right  direction. Same argument as science evolves is mobile phones and use in children eg affects of electromagnetic radiation.