Recent research suggests that the problem of heading is actually the number of sustained concussions. In a study of 38 amateur soccer players, those who headed the ball more than 1,320 times per year (which works out to just a few times per day) had more problems. Microscopic white matter injuries consistent with a traumatic brain injury were detected using diffusion tensor imaging. The advice of experts is to minimize heading especially for children whose brains are more vulnerable. The warning is for practice drills when players head the ball back and forth thirty or forty or more times without a break. Neurology Today 1-5-2012.
