ArticleBMC sports science, medicine & rehabilitation2022
Video analysis of 100 matches in male semi-professional football reveals a heading rate of 5.7 headings per field player and match.
Article in BMC sports science, medicine & rehabilitation, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
5 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 13 citations in OpenAlex.
- Quantification of heading in adult football: a systematic review and evidence synthesis.British journal of sports medicine · 2025Pooled it
- Automated detection of physical contact events in youth ice hockey: a player-centric deep learning approach.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- High-magnitude headers are not associated with structural and functional brain changes in active high-level football (soccer) players.BMJ open sport & exercise medicine · 2025Article
- Quality Criteria for Studies Assessing the Acute Effects of Heading: Results from a UEFA Expert Panel.Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.) · 2024Article
- Differences in the technical performance of heading between men and women football players during FIFA World Cup 2022 and FIFA Women's World Cup 2023 matches.BMJ open sport & exercise medicine · 2024Article
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Authors and funding
7 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
introductionHeading is an integral part of football and frequent media reports and previous studies about potential danger of heading and head trauma in football fuelled discussions. Epidemiological data and video analyses regarding headings situation and associated head injuries are still missing in male adult professional football.
methodsIn a prospective cohort study in the male fourth German football league, 100 official matches of the 2015-2016 season were assessed by video analysis and a standardized protocol. Heading situations and concomitant circumstances as well as incidents with a propensity of injury (critical incidents) were analyzed. Critical incidents (CI) and seasonal reported head injuries were cross-referenced.
resultsOverall, 11,514 headings were analysed in detail. Video analysis yielded a mean of 5.7 headings per player and match (SD: 1.2; range 0-15). Heading was predominantly performed with the frontal part of the head (76.8%), and nearly two thirds of all headings occurred during defending (65.8%). 71.0% of all headings occured during tacklings, of which 71.9% involved body contact with the opponent player. Video analysis yielded 31 CI on the head due to heading (incidence: 1.02 per 1000 h match exposure and player). 29 CI occurred during heading duels (odds ratio: 5.91), 30 CI with body contact (odds ratio: 28.8) and 6 CI with elbow contact (odds ratio: 6.13).
conclusionHeading frequency in male semi-professional football could be determined with a rate of 5.7 headings per match and field player. Cross referencing CI and seasonal reported head injuries revealed a very low number of reported head injuries.
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