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Bournemouth star Adam Smith welcomes new heading guidelines and calls for greater care to be taken for youngsters, as ex-Tottenham captain Michael Dawson sheds light on injuries he suffered
Bournemouth star Adam Smith has welcomed the new heading guidance issued to professional footballers and wants greater care to be taken for future generations.
Former Tottenham captain Michael Dawson also praised the new rules, as he revealed the extent of the injuries he suffered from constantly heading the ball in training.
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Professionals in England will be limited to ten 'higher force headers' a week in training under new guidelines for the upcoming season.
It comes after a number of studies were conducted into the long-term effects of heading the ball. In 2019, a study found professional footballers were more likely to suffer from neurodegenerative brain disease.
Smith said it wouldn't change training at his club too much, as sessions are usually based around passing rather than heading.
However, he's happy with the decision and revealed Bournemouth have protocols in place where youngsters are not allowed to head the ball until they reach a certain age.
He also said he wouldn't want his son to be heading a football at a young age.
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On how the ruling will affect Bournemouth training sessions, Smith told talkSPORT: "I don't think it'll change too much to be honest. We're very much a passing team and we don't really head that much in training.
"I think it's a brilliant idea, it's something that's been going on for a while and my friend Ryan had that accident with his head and I've had a few concussions as well.
"I don't think protocols have been brilliant but in the past year or so I think it's going in the right direction and this is another positive.
"It's probably a bit late for me now but for the younger lads it's a great idea, they do need to look into it more and it's a good idea to restrict it and not do too much heading.
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"In the games, especially in the Championship, all you do is go up for headers and if you're doing that in training I don't see how that's going to help after you retire.
"In the games I don't think it'll ever stop because that's football but in training it could go that way.
"The academy here, to a certain age they're not allowed to head balls, that's been going on for a few seasons and I think that's a great idea from the club.
"I've got a son and if he ever wanted to get into football I wouldn't want him to head the ball when he was that young so it's a great idea from the club and more needs to be looked into it for sure."
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Ex-Tottenham skipper Dawson also believes this is a positive step, as he revealed he was left with neck problems and was even left knocked out after training drills throughout his career.
Dawson added that he never gave it much thought in the pas, but hearing about cases like Jeff Astle, whose death in 2002 was put down to repeated minor traumas to the brain as a result of heading a football, made him change his mind.
The 37-year-old - a free agent after leaving Nottingham Forest earlier this summer - told talkSPORT Breakfast: "You need to practice, you do need to practice, but consistently heading the ball for 20 minutes is not good.
"That was a massive part of my game. It probably helped give me the career I have now because I was good at it... but constantly heading the ball for 20 minutes is going to have an effect.
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"I got knocked out, I spent nights in hospital from playing, you'd never change that... but I just think the younger generation, when I was 18/19, you doing heading bang, bang, bang, bang...
"When I was younger I never, ever gave it a thought. Then Dawn Astle came on the show and told us what her dad [ex-footballer Jeff Astle] has been through.
"I've got two beautiful kids of my own and an amazing wife and it's only been in the latter stages of my career where I've actually thought about it.
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"The ball gets whipped in, you head it once, no problem. But you do that for 10-15 minutes and by the end you've got a splitting headache, your neck's hurting and I look back and think I used to do that all the time.
"I didn't enjoy practicing heading. Come Saturday, when you maybe head the ball 10-15 times a game it doesn't hurt, it's the consistency of doing it."
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