Explained: Why Ronaldo’s header is a cut above the rest

Ronaldo's soaring leap, his hang time and the power that he generates make him a massive threat for defenders when he is in the right position for his headers.

Even as Cristiano Ronaldo has moved past his glory days, new records keep following him. On July 31, the Portuguese striker added another feather to his already feather-laden cap as he soared above the defence of the Tunisian club Monastir to score his 145th-headed goal.

The goal helped him get to the top of the list of players with the most goals through headers in football history. The five-time Ballon d’Or winner went past legendary German striker Gerd Muler with his record-breaking header and helped his team Al Nassr gain a 4-1 victory in the Arab Club Championship Cup match.

While Ronaldo was seen as a prodigy from a young age with his lightning-fast speed and superb agility, his heading ability was not something that stood apart. Gifted with a 6’1” frame, the now 38-year-old worked hard as a youngster to ensure that no one in the world could take on him when it came to aerial battles.

Why Cristiano Ronaldo is so good with his headers

There are three things that make Ronaldo such a massive threat to defenders when he is in the right position for his headers. His soaring leap, his out-of-this-world hang time and the power that he generates.

The leap

When Cristiano Ronaldo jumps in the box, he just towers around everyone else. His highest jump was measured at a mind-boggling 2.93m when he netted a header for Real Madrid in the UEFA Champions League 2012-13 against his former club Manchester United.

Even in the latter parts of his career, his fitness levels allowed him to leap above everyone else.

The University of Chichester did some biomechanical tests on the footballer and the results revealed that he could jump 7 cm higher than an average basketball player.

The test results showed that Ronaldo could reach heights of 44 cm from a standing start and on the back of a run up he could leap as much as 78 cm in the air. The study attributed the reason for this to his powerful thighs.

The 'hang time'

Collins English Dictionary explains hang time as the time for which an athlete remains in the air.

Ronaldo regularly blows away the minds of football fans with his gravity-defying jumps. As per a report in the Telegraph, Ronaldo’s goal against Sampdoria in the 2019 Serie A saw him remain suspended in the air for about 1.5 seconds. He has on several occasions hung in the air for about one second.

For context, the average hang time for a human, as per the report, is 0.53 seconds. The fact that the longest hang time for a basketball athlete is 0.92 seconds, makes Ronaldo’s numbers even more unbelievable.

Dr Neal Smith, lecturer at the University of Chichester analysed Ronaldo’s superhuman jump.

As per a report published in the Daily Mail, Smith stated that Ronaldo's suspension in the air after a jump is longer than any other football player's. One reason Smith gave for this was that the Portuguese striker tucks his feet up during a jump subsequently delaying his descent and thereby giving him a longer suspension in the air.

The power

As per the University of Chichester study quoted above, Ronaldo generates 5G of G-force during his take-off. This power comes through the hours the legendary footballer spends in the gym to train his muscles. The circumference of his thighs is 62cm, as per a Daily Mail report.