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Home/Training Drills/Heading Drills/The Near-Post Flick-On
HeadingIntermediate

The Near-Post Flick-On

Score from a near-post flick-on. Attack the near post early, glance the driven ball on across goal with a flicked header, and arrive at the back post to head the second ball in.

Create your own drill
Live animationHEA
Duration
10 min
Total drill time
Players
3
Recommended
Pitch
44 × 36 m
Setup space
Level
Intermediate
Skill required
Intensity
Medium
Physical demand
Age band
U11-U12
Any format

Setup & instructions

A server drives a flat ball to the near post. The first runner attacks it early and glances it on with the side of the head, and a second runner arrives at the back post to head it in. Emphasise attacking the near post ahead of the marker, using the pace on the ball with a small flick, and timing the back-post run late. Practise both the flick and the finish. Rotate the roles. 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

Defences organise against the ball's current direction. A flick-on changes that direction by a few degrees at the near post, and everything set up to deal with the original delivery is suddenly facing the wrong way. That is the whole mechanism, and it explains why a flick needs contact rather than power.

The pace is already on the ball. A driven near-post delivery arriving at speed only has to be touched to keep travelling, which is why the instruction is to glance it rather than head it. Players who try to generate their own power on a flick almost always mistime it, because a full heading action needs the ball to be in a specific spot and a fast delivery will not wait.

Contact is with the side or top of the head rather than the flat forehead, which is the opposite of what every other heading drill teaches. That is worth saying explicitly, because a player told repeatedly to use his forehead will square up to a ball he should be glancing and stop it dead.

Winning the near post is what buys the chance to touch it at all. Attacking in front of the marker, early and hard, means arriving before the defender can get his body across. A flick-on attempted from behind a defender is a header the defender wins.

The runner behind is the point of the whole thing. A perfect flick into an empty back post achieves nothing, and the arrival should be timed to the delivery rather than to the flick.

How to run this drill

  1. Drive the delivery low and fast to the near post. The routine needs pace on the ball, because the flick borrows it. A floated ball to the near post gives defenders time and leaves nothing to redirect.
  2. Attack the near post in front of the marker. Early and hard, getting the body across first. A flick attempted from behind a defender is simply a header the defender wins.
  3. Glance it, do not head it. Contact only. Trying to generate power on a fast delivery is what causes mistimed flicks, because a full heading action needs the ball in an exact spot.
  4. Use the side or top of the head. Deliberately not the flat forehead. Squaring up to a ball that should be glanced kills the pace and turns the redirection into a stopped ball.
  5. Time the back-post run to the delivery. The second runner starts as the ball is struck, not as it is flicked. Waiting to see the flick means arriving after the ball has already gone through.
  6. Rehearse it from both sides. The flick is easier with the ball coming across the body one way than the other. Working both sides means the routine is available from either corner.

Coaching focus

FROM SESSION PLAN

Coaching points

  • Attack the near post early, in front of the marker
  • Use the pace on the ball, just flick it on
  • Glance with the side of the head, redirect it
  • Time the back-post run late and arrive attacking
  • Head the finish down and into the net

Common mistakes

  • Attacking the near post too late
  • Trying to power it instead of a flick
  • Heading up rather than redirecting across
  • Back-post runner arriving too early, static

Progressions & regressions

VARIATIONS

Progressions

  • Add markers on both runners
  • Deliver from a corner and a wide free-kick
  • First-time finish only at the back post

Regressions

  • Hand-fed or thrown delivery to groove the flick
  • No markers, set runs
  • Slower delivery to time the header
Equipment
Cones×2
Full Goals×1
Tactical principles
near post flick onflick on headercorner routineheading drillglancing headerset piece headingredirect the ballback post arrivalu12 heading drillfootball heading drill
Audience
U11-U12

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All Heading drillsAll drill collectionsHeading for U11-U12

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