Height & Soccer – Does Soccer Make You Taller? (2022 Study)


Height and soccer are very connected, and there is much to know about soccer influencing height and vice versa.

We know, for example, that height is primarily determined by DNA, although tall children can be born from short parents. 

But environmental factors like hormones, nutrition, sleep, and exercise can also affect growth during development. 

Does playing soccer make you taller? What factors influence height, how and when we grow? How to reach our maximum height?

Playing soccer causes both an increase in growth hormone and bone mineralization due to muscle contraction, which can lead to an individual’s genes reaching their maximal growth potential if they are still developing.

In this article, I’ll tell you all you need to know about the connection between height and soccer and present some new studies. Shall we?

Does Soccer Make You Taller?

Regular exercise is just as important as nutrition and sleep for normal development. 

The habit of exercise also stimulates the body to produce growth hormones naturally, improves sleep quality, and enhances the ability to absorb nutrients.

Playing soccer can make bones healthier, denser, and more robust.

As in other sports, in soccer, you need to complete more than a few tasks to develop your performance and reach your peak. 

To retain the pace of a soccer game, these tasks require great speed and strength, fast movements, bursts, and stamina. 

These activities take a lot of skill, but practicing them when you’re young can help you grow taller.

Performing high-intensity exercises regularly boosts growth hormone (GH) production, allowing your body to become stronger and taller. 

However, bone mineralization, which strengthens your bones, also occurs when muscular contractions are triggered during exercise.

Playing soccer does not guarantee height growth. After all, the increase makes you a better complete athlete yet does not affect your DNA. 

Instead, look at it this way: exercising will help your body reach its full height and health potential.

Don’t let this dampen your spirits; with hard work and devotion, you can become the best soccer player in the world, regardless of your height.

Why Soccer Just “Kinda” Affects the Height

Our bodies steadily grow in height until we are around 18, at the end of adolescence. After that, babies and children grow thanks to steady changes in the long bones’ growth plates of the arms and legs. 

These plates produce new bone, the long bones stretch, and you grow in height.

The phase of life in which we grow fastest is the nine months we spend in the mother’s womb. 

How much do you grow as a child?

Growth slows down after birth but continues. 

The other moment of significant height growth is after eight-year, when we grow 5-6 cm per year.

Once born, babies need good nutrition and plenty of exercises to develop to their full potential because this helps their body make the hormones it needs to grow.

Up to what age do you grow?

We grow primarily during adolescence when a growth spurt occurs during puberty. 

We still earn a few inches until we’re around 18 years old.

After that, the growth plates stop producing new bone – they fuse, and we stop growing.

Hands and feet stop growing first, then arms and legs. Finally, the last part of the body that stops growing is the spine.

DNA and height

The main factor affecting a person’s height is DNA. Science believes that genetic makeup is responsible for about 80% of a person’s height. 

This is why tall people tend to have tall children. And that is why it is tough to intervene to help the height development.

Over 700 genes that determine height have been identified: some affect growth plates, and others affect growth hormone production.

Certain genetic conditions can also affect an adult’s height, including Down syndrome and Marfan syndrome.

Can Soccer Help You Grow Taller?

Before the age of 18 or reaching ‘natural’ height, in addition to DNA, several environmental factors can influence our height. 

They can contribute to promoting or reducing growth during childhood and puberty. 

It is impossible to grow more than what DNA and environmental factors allow, but you can try to reach the maximum possible height as an adult. 

To do this, some measures can be taken for growing children and adolescents. Such as feeding, sleeping properly, and – exercising. As soccer is some sort of exercise, the answer is clear.

How Important is Height in Soccer?

Being a tall soccer player is significant since there are several advantages over short people. 

However, it doesn’t determine if you’re a good or bad player. Of course, it’s always crucial to keep the profile of the function you want to execute on the field in mind, but there are other things to think about.

Tall and more muscular players are typically chosen to play defense roles due to how big guys perform well in this position. The same is true for goalkeepers.

The goalkeeper has to be tall, as it is the only way for the goalkeeper to get a chance at distant balls. 

However, goalkeepers generally have had no “growth” in recent years. The change to the concept of the ball-oriented goalkeeper has led to the fact that today’s goalkeepers are even smaller.

But height also has advantages in regular play in midfield. Taller people have longer legs. Longer legs are often an advantage, especially in duels and preventing passing.

However, certain players can excel even when they are outside of their comfort zones. For example, there are excellent tall strikers and little guys that play good defense. Is height really so crucial in soccer?

Being the tallest guy isn’t as significant as work and dedication, but practicing every day, studying the game, listening to your coach, and being more experienced players will always be more important.

I guarantee you that you will forget about height when playing high-level soccer. 

Lionel Messi earned six world’s best player awards despite not being tall and competing at the same level as Cristiano Ronaldo, who is nearly 7 inches taller.

When is Being Tall a Disadvantage in Soccer?

Agility is the quality that describes how quickly I can change direction. This is important anywhere I need to play in tight spaces. 

If you have to dribble many players, it will be easier if you are smaller and, therefore, more agile.

When it comes to maneuverability, height is more of a disadvantage. 

When you are tall, you have a high center of gravity. A high center of gravity means you need a lot of power to change direction. 

Furthermore, the lever ratios are less favorable for taller players, so a taller player has to go deeper to gain maneuverability. 

However, lying down is more strenuous than an upright position. 

The height leads to poorer maneuverability, which can only be partially compensated for by tiring more quickly.

A low position also makes the player more assessable and predictable. This means that a smaller player can usually outpace a larger one with just a few hooks.

What Are the Sports That Most Help Growth?

Soccer is not the preeminent sport chosen for promoting height growth. 

Some sports involve better stretching exercises and help us gain height if we practice them in our growth stage. 

Basketball

It is one of the most popular sports in the world, and it is famous, among other things, for the excessive height of many of its players.

Practicing it in the growth stage is recommended because it favors the lengthening of the bones. 

Executing jumps repeatedly encourage the bones to stretch constantly, so they gain length. 

It is clear that practicing basketball will not make you go from 5’5” to 6’0”, but if you practice it from a young age, you may get surprising rewards.

In addition to stretching your bones, basketball is great for boosting your agility and responsiveness.

Another of its advantages is that large infrastructures are not needed to be able to practice basketball. 

Instead, you can place your basket on the patio of your house, and most schools and institutes have a field for students to play.

Volleyball

It works similarly to basketball: repeated attempts to reach the ball cause your body to stretch and straighten while simultaneously contracting the muscles. 

Volleyball is one of the most beneficial sports to help growth. In addition, it is also excellent for the cardiovascular system.

Swimming

Although learning to swim correctly can be difficult for an adult, it is not impossible. Swimming is undoubtedly one of the most complete sports since arms, legs, back, and abdominals are exercised at the same time. 

In addition, water helps model and exert pressure on the entire body, helps regulate body temperature, and, at the same time, you learn to control your breathing and increase your lung capacity.

Dance

Although dancing seems more like a way of having fun that helps us relate to other people, it is an excellent exercise that promotes growth. 

This sport, which can be practiced alone or with a partner, can help you harden your muscles, stretch your bones and improve coordination of movements and body balance.

Cycling

Cycling helps a lot in the development of the legs since it encourages stretching all the bones that form them and prevents problems in the joints, such as the knees or ankles, by keeping them in constant movement. 

Also, to increase its ability to make you grow, you can raise the saddle a little so that the movements are broader.

Professionals HQ

Hi, my name is Jim. I'm a hardcore sports enthusiast and also the founder of ProfessionalsHQ, where my team and I will share our knowledge and provide you with the best and up-to-date information about professional sport.

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