"This is stupid, Mark," he panted, rubbing the top of his head. The ball had just bounced off it and gone sideways.
"No," Mark said, his voice flat and annoyed. "You are stupid. You jump wrong. You are scared of the ball."
"I am not scared of the ball!" Alex shot back. "I am scared of you throwing it at me like you are trying to break my nose!"
This was their new routine. After the extra work on passing, after their partnership was solid, Mark had decided to fix Alexs biggest weakness.
His heading.
Coach Steve was right. Alex really did jump like a stunned duck.
His analyst brain understood the physics. Force. Trajectory. Timing.
But his body... his body just did not want to do it. He closed his eyes. He jumped too early. Or he missed the ball completely.
For thirty minutes, Mark had been crossing the ball into the box, and Alex had not won a single header against the imaginary defender.
"Again," Mark commanded.
