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Home/Training Drills/Heading Drills/Diving Header
HeadingIntermediate

Diving Header

Score with a diving header. Time the run to arrive as the low ball comes across, commit to the dive, get the forehead through it, and direct it down and into the net.

Create your own drill
Live animationHEA
Duration
12 min
Total drill time
Players
3
Recommended
Pitch
44 × 36 m
Setup space
Level
Intermediate
Skill required
Intensity
High
Physical demand
Age band
U13-U14
Any format

Setup & instructions

A server drives a low, hard ball across the six-yard box. The attacker times a forward run and dives full length to meet it with the forehead, powering it down into the net. Serve the ball flat and hard, below head height. Emphasise timing, bravery, and getting the forehead through the ball. Rotate the server and the attacker. Heading loads: no deliberate heading at U11 and under, and at U12-U13 keep it to roughly 15-20 headers in a session and under 30 minutes of heading a week, using a correctly sized and properly inflated ball (US Soccer and FA guidance).

Setup time: 1 min

Tactical breakdown

Injuries from diving headers come from half-commitment rather than from the dive. A player who launches and then pulls out arrives with his hands down, his head unprotected and his body twisting, which is genuinely dangerous. A player who commits fully arrives with the forehead leading, arms forward, and lands on his chest and forearms in a way the body handles well. That is why this floors at fourteen and why it belongs only with players whose ordinary heading is already secure.

The situation is narrow, which is worth stating because players want to try it constantly. A diving header is for a ball crossed low and fast across the six-yard box, at a height between knee and waist, that cannot be reached with a foot. Anything higher should be headed standing. Anything lower or slower should be met with a boot, which is more accurate and considerably safer.

The run has to arrive as the ball does, and the timing is tighter than for a standing header because the player is committing his whole body to a point in space rather than adjusting at the last moment. Setting off early means diving through where the ball was.

Contact is the flat forehead through the middle of the ball, eyes open, directing it down. From that low position the ball is already close to the ground, so the header needs only to be steered downwards and across the keeper rather than driven.

How to run this drill

  1. Restrict it to the right situation. A low, fast cross between knee and waist height that cannot be reached with a foot. Higher should be headed standing, lower should be kicked.
  2. Build it from the knees on soft ground. Start kneeling and falling forwards onto a hand-fed ball, on grass. That grooves the contact and the landing before any real dive is attempted.
  3. Time the run to arrive with the ball. The timing is tighter than a standing header because the whole body commits to a point in space. Setting off early means diving through where the ball was.
  4. Commit fully or do not go. Pulling out mid-dive is what causes injuries: hands down, head unprotected, body twisting. The full commitment is the safe version, not the reckless one.
  5. Forehead through the middle, eyes open. Contact on the flat of the forehead, directing the ball down and across the keeper. From that height it needs steering rather than driving.
  6. Land on the chest and forearms. Arms forward through the dive so the landing is taken on the chest and forearms rather than the hands or the shoulder. Coach the landing as part of the skill.

Coaching focus

FROM SESSION PLAN

Coaching points

  • Time the run to arrive as the ball comes across
  • Commit fully: attack the ball, do not wait for it
  • Get the forehead through it, eyes open
  • Direct it down and across the keeper
  • Attack in front of any defender to the ball

Common mistakes

  • Waiting for the ball instead of attacking it
  • Closing the eyes and missing the contact
  • Heading up instead of down and across
  • Late run, arriving after the ball has passed

Progressions & regressions

VARIATIONS

Progressions

  • Add a defender to contest the ball
  • Vary the delivery height and pace
  • Serve from both sides for both angles

Regressions

  • Serve from the hands at a set pace to groove the contact
  • Head from a kneeling start to learn the technique safely
  • Slower ball to time the dive
Equipment
Cones×1
Full Goals×1
Tactical principles
diving headerhow to do a diving headerheading drilllow cross finishingcommitting to the balladvanced headingfinishing with the headattacking headeru14 heading drillfootball heading drill
Audience
U13-U14

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All Heading drillsAll drill collectionsHeading for U13-U14

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