10 Soccer Heading Drills to Improve Your Aerial Game
Heading is a trainable skill. These ten drills build the chain from safe contact to winning contested balls in a match — with coaching cues and progressions for every level.
Aerial ability is decided long before the ball arrives: by how early a player reads flight, how well they hold body position, and whether they attack the ball with a locked neck. Every drill below trains one link in that chain. Work them in order — a player who has not mastered forehead contact standing still has no business contesting an aerial duel.
If you are new to heading, read our full guide to how to head a soccer ball before starting. The six-step technique described there is the standard every cue on this page refers back to.
How to structure a heading session
Keep sessions short and sharp. A good format is ten minutes of technique (drills 1–4), fifteen minutes of applied work (drills 5–8), and ten minutes of competitive work (drills 9–10). Total contact volume should stay under about 30 headers per session for adults and considerably fewer for youth players — cumulative volume, not any single header, is the main safety concern. Use a ball one size down and slightly under-inflated for the technique block.
Beginner drills: build safe, repeatable contact
The goal here is not power. It is a flat forehead, a locked neck, open eyes, and a body that moves through the ball instead of waiting for it. Every rep should look identical.
1. Seated self-toss headers
BeginnerSit on the grass, toss the ball 40–50cm above your forehead and head it straight back up. Sitting removes the legs from the equation so every rep trains contact point alone.
Coaching cue: Strike with the flat bone above the eyebrows, mouth closed, eyes open at contact.
2. Kneeling partner headers
BeginnerKneel three metres from a partner who underhand-serves to your forehead. Head it back to their hands. Twenty reps, then swap.
Coaching cue: Hinge from the hips, not the neck. The torso does the work; the neck stays locked.
3. Standing wall headers
BeginnerStand two metres from a wall, toss the ball into it and head the rebound back. Continuous reps build rhythm and confidence with a moving ball.
Coaching cue: Meet the ball in front of your face, never let it arrive on top of you.
4. Directional headers to cones
BeginnerA server tosses; you head to a cone target left, right, or straight ahead as called out at the last moment. Ten reps per direction.
Coaching cue: Turn the whole trunk toward the target before contact — don't twist the neck.
Intermediate drills: add the jump and the serve
Once contact is automatic, add flight, jump timing, and direction. This is where most match heading is actually won — arriving at the right place a fraction of a second before the ball.
5. Two-footed jump headers
IntermediateServer lofts the ball above your reach; jump off both feet and head it back down to their feet. Fifteen reps.
Coaching cue: Arch back at the top of the jump and snap the torso through the ball.
6. Running jump headers
IntermediateStart five metres back, time a run onto a lofted serve and head it off one foot at full stride. This is how most match headers actually happen.
Coaching cue: Jump early and attack the ball — late jumpers get beaten by players 15cm shorter.
7. Flick-on relay
IntermediateOne server plays a long ball to a target player who glances it on to a runner behind. Great for target-man movement and near-post set-piece work.
Coaching cue: Get in front of the marker and let the ball brush the top of the forehead — redirect, don't strike.
8. Crossing and finishing
IntermediateWide servers cross from both flanks; attackers alternate near-post and back-post runs and head at goal. Rotate every six crosses.
Coaching cue: Head the ball downward. Headers that bounce before the line are the hardest to save.
Advanced drills: contested, competitive, game-realistic
In a match there is always an opponent. These drills put the technique under physical pressure and force fast decisions between attacking, clearing, and leaving the ball.
9. Contested aerial duels
AdvancedTwo players compete for a lofted serve inside a 10x10 grid. Attacker scores by heading to a target; defender scores by clearing beyond a line.
Coaching cue: Win the body position first. Contact hip-to-hip before the ball arrives decides most duels.
10. Defensive clearance under pressure
AdvancedServe long balls into your own box with two attackers pressing. The defender must clear high, long, and wide, then recover to the edge of the box.
Coaching cue: Get under the ball, contact the lower half, and clear it to the touchline — never square across your own goal.
Progressions and regressions
Progress a drill by adding a moving serve, a defender, a target, or a time constraint. Regress it by removing the jump, softening the ball, or shortening the serve distance. If technique breaks down — the eyes close, the neck goes loose, contact drifts to the crown — regress immediately rather than pushing through. Players learn heading in the reps that look correct, not in the ones that merely happen.
For youth teams, check the age restrictions on our youth soccer heading rules page before including any heading in a session plan.
Frequently Asked Questions
How often should you practise heading drills?
Two short sessions per week is plenty for most players. Keep contact volume low — 15 to 30 quality repetitions per session beats hundreds of sloppy ones, and it keeps cumulative head-impact load down.
What equipment do you need for heading drills?
A properly inflated ball one size down for youth players, a wall or a partner, and cones. Foam or under-inflated balls are ideal for the first weeks of technique work.
What is the best heading drill for beginners?
Seated self-tosses. Removing the jump lets a player focus entirely on forehead contact, a locked neck, and keeping the eyes open through the strike.
How do you make heading drills game-realistic?
Add a defender, a live server crossing from wide, and a target. Heading in a match is decided by movement and timing, so drills should force players to attack a moving ball from a run.