Heading the ball

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.

Quoted from OddShapedBalls

I could well be making this up, but isn't the vast majority of data and claims about heading the ball back from when it was  made out of pig iron and required a rugby forwards' neck muscles to head it?  

The modern balls are incredibly light with a cushioned surface (generally) so it's a different landscape and I would imagine more science being applied to the ball would have better gains than making rules around heading more complicated.  For example if you have to let the ball bounce first, you'll just move the issue on to the bounce as 2 or more players crunch in for it......but I'm just a pleb who's too broken to play anymore so what do I know.