Reducing risk of head injury in youth soccer: An extension of behavioral skills training for heading
A 15-minute BST package at soccer practice teaches youth players safer heading form that lasts.
01Research in Context
What this study did
The researchers worked with eight youth soccer players .
They used Behavioral Skills Training (BST) to teach safe heading form.
Each player got instruction, modeling, practice, and feedback during regular practice time.
What they found
All eight players learned the correct heading steps after BST.
The coach and players said the training was helpful and easy to use.
Skills stayed strong when checked weeks later.
How this fits with other research
This study extends the work of Schenk et al. (2019). Their big review listed 101 sport studies but had no soccer heading examples. Quintero fills that gap.
Wearden et al. (1983) used the same BST package for street-crossing safety. Both studies show one short BST session can teach safety skills to kids in real-world settings.
Petit-Frere et al. (2021) added prompts to BST for autistic children learning poison safety. Quintero used standard BST without extra prompts, showing the basic package works for neurotypical youth too.
Why it matters
You can run this exact BST package at your next soccer practice. It takes 15 minutes and needs no special gear. Players learn safer heading form that could prevent concussions. The coach in the study liked it so much he kept using it all season.
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Join Free →Pick one player who heads the ball often. Run the four BST steps: explain safe form, show the correct motion, let them practice with a soft ball, give immediate feedback on neck position.
02At a glance
03Original abstract
Recently, concerns regarding sport-related concussions have increased within the research literature, the media, and popular culture. One potential source of soccer-related concussions involves the purposeful striking of the ball with one's head (i.e., heading). There is currently limited research on an effective teaching method to improve safe heading technique. In the current study, Behavior Skills Training (BST) was evaluated as a method to teach correct heading techniques to youth soccer players. BST increased the percentage of correct steps for each player based on a task analysis of heading. Based on social validity questionnaires administered to players and the coach, BST was rated as an acceptable form of training. After the final training session, experienced coaches rated each player as having improved from baseline to training.
Journal of applied behavior analysis, 2020 · doi:10.1002/jaba.557