Soccer moms can rest assured that when soccer players use a technique called “heading” to pass or control the ball off their heads, they are not hurting their brains.

Donald T. Kirkendall, clinical assistant professor of orthopaedics, has reviewed over 50 studies dating back to 1943 on heading, head injury, and cognitive function. He concludes that when soccer players head the ball, the impact is spread over the whole body because the head is fixed to the body by a tense neck. There is a difference between purposeful heading and accidental heading, though. “If a player is not paying attention and the ball strikes him in the head, then that’s a different story,” Kirkendall says.