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Descriptors and definitions of heading technique and performance in football: A systematic review
Ross S Cairns1, Marnee J McKay1, Andreas Serner2
1Sydney School of Health Sciences, Faculty of Medicine and Health, The University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia.
Objectives:
This systematic review explored descriptors (and their definition) used to assess heading technique and performance as well as how heading descriptors were reported.
Design:
Systematic review.
Methods:
Six electronic databases and manual reference searching identified 2661 potentially eligible studies, with 52 studies meeting inclusion criteria. A narrative synthesis is presented.
Results:
A lack of consensus in terminology for descriptors of both heading technique and performance was identified. Thirty-nine studies reported 75 unique heading technique descriptors with categories including: head/neck related (head impact location, head and neck position, head-to-torso position, eyes on ball, mouth posture, pre-heading muscle activation); body positioning (body posture/stance, body weight distribution, torso/spinal posture, player movement, upper limb posture, lower limb posture); jumping (initiation, in air, landing) and contested header (heading duel elbow position, body contact). Only 48% of technique descriptors were defined. 20 studies identified 11 different heading performance descriptors, 10 (91%) with an accompanying definition. There was lack of standardisation and considerable variance in reporting methods for both heading technique and performance descriptors, with none of the studies including a validated heading performance assessment. Match-based assessment of heading performance was present in seven studies in total.
Conclusions:
Multiple heading descriptors and definitions were identified but variability in descriptors, definitions and reporting methods limits the interpretation, comparability, and aggregation of data between studies as well as limiting the ability to replicate studies in different cohorts of players. This limits the capacity of research to inform coaching frameworks and head injury prevention programmes.
