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Defensive Heading Clearance: Two-Touch Limit
Clear the ball high, far and wide
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Defending
Set Pieces
Defensive Heading Clearance: Two-Touch Limit is a 12-minute heading drill for 3-14 players, suitable for Under 12 to Adults at beginner, intermediate, advanced level. You need balls, cones, full goals. Below you will find the objective, the set-up, how to run it, coaching points, common mistakes, progressions, regressions and variations.
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Defending
Set Pieces
Technical Practice
Beginner
Intermediate
Advanced
Full Squad
Youth Friendly
Adult Suitable
Goals Needed
First Touch
Speed of Play
Two Touch
Duration
12 min
Players
3-14
Pitch size
Penalty area
Ability levels
Beginner / Intermediate / Advanced
Pitch diagram
Defensive Heading Clearance: Two-Touch Limit — Marked area · Penalty area
Step 1 of 4Defender attacks the delivery and heads clear into the target zone.
- 1. Defender attacks the delivery and heads clear into the target zone.
- 2. Recover to the edge of the box after every clearance.
- 3. Ten repetitions each.
- 4. Players are limited to two touches — one to control, one to release.
- Cones mark the area
- Dashed lines = zones / thirds
- Ball
- C = coach / server
- Solid arrow = pass, thick = shot, dashed = run / dribble
Objectives
- -Clear the ball high, far and wide
- -Attack the ball first
- -Reorganise after the clearance
Setup
- 1Server on the flank delivering into the box.
- 2Defenders start on the six yard line.
- 3Target zone cones outside the box.
Coaching instructions
- 1Defender attacks the delivery and heads clear into the target zone.
- 2Recover to the edge of the box after every clearance.
- 3Ten repetitions each.
- 4Players are limited to two touches — one to control, one to release.
Coaching points
- -Attack the ball at the highest point
- -Head through the bottom half to send it high
- -Clear towards the side, not the middle
- -First touch out of the feet into the next action
- -Body open before the ball arrives
Common mistakes
- -Waiting on the goal line
- -Heading straight up
- -Static jump with no run-up