Combination Defensive Heading Clear

Pitch diagram

Objectives

• -Clear the ball with height, distance and width
• -Attack the ball rather than waiting for it
• -Follow age-appropriate heading guidance on volume

Setup

1. 1A defensive zone in front of goal with a serving cone 12 yards away in a 30 x 24 yards area.
2. 2Add a neutral bounce player on each side line inside a marked yard-wide channel.
3. 3Soft, correctly inflated balls only — keep total headers low.

Coaching instructions

1. 1Server throws the ball into the zone for the defender to clear.
2. 2The defender heads for height and distance towards a wide target cone.
3. 3Limit each player to a small number of headers per session.
4. 4The first pass must go into the bounce player before the practice opens up.
5. 5A sequence only scores when three different players have touched the ball.

Common mistakes

• -Backing away from the ball
• -Too many repetitions in one session
• -Two players combining over and over while the third stands still