Adding the flick-on (back header) to your repertoire of heading skills enables you to play the ball in any direction off the head. The flick-on technique is often used in front of the near post when the ball is crossed from the wing, or on corner kicks. The ball is helped on its way into the danger zone, and it is very difficult for the goalkeeper to cut out this type of cross.

The flick-on does not require a lot of power; the idea is to use the speed of the ball. We simply flick the head back to deflect the ball behind us off the centre of the forehead. Don't use the side or top of the head. When you finish the flick, you should be looking directly at the sky.

When learning the flick-on, the ball must be thrown or kicked with reasonable force so that the player can use the speed of the ball. In the drill illustrated here, the ball is flicked over a defender, who is allowed to jump to try to intercept the ball, but does not directly challenge for the ball.

The player on the far right chips the ball to the black player in the middle who uses a flick-on to head the ball to the black player behind him over the white player.

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