If you want to improve your jump and header we have good news for you: you can do it with a little training.
With this exercise that we will show you, you will be able to improve the explosiveness of your jump, thereby making your header more effective. To do this, you will have to get some elements and ask for collaboration from your teammates to be able to put it into practice.
Exercise preparation
The exercise begins by placing yourself in front of the arch, in the center, close to the line corresponding to the small area.
For its execution, you must put on a viper belt type. This belt will serve as a tie for 3 elastic cords of 4 meters each. One rope should be tied to your right, another to your left and the rest behind.
Subsequently, you must call 3 teammates to firmly grasp the ends of each of the ropes. In this way you will have three of your teammates located 4 meters from you (one on your right, one on your left, one behind you), holding each of the ropes.
Execution of the exercise
Once you and your teammates are ready, your coach will throw you at the ball repeatedly, at different heights. You must jump and head to the goal (which will be empty in principle). Your colleagues should never let go of the ropes, so the ropes will be in tension when you jump.
Some variants can be incorporated for this exercise, such as involving a defender competing with you to connect the ball with a head or including the goalkeeper in practice so that getting the ball into the goal is more complex.
Why is this exercise useful?
The bungee cords attached to your belt will make your muscles do more work than usual when jumping, as they will resist the jumping motion necessary to head the ball. Therefore, when you rise, you will not only have against the usual force of gravity, but also the tension of the ropes .
When you no longer wear the belt during the matches, you will see how you can jump more easily and higher and thanks to this you will be able to connect balls to those that you did not reach before.
References
• Ben Welch, Rise above the rest. For FourFourTwo [Revised October 2015].
