Cuban 'Dominator' Erick Hernández Sets New World Record With 5,501 Head Touches on a Baseball 5

August 19, 2026

Cuban ball-control specialist Erick Hernández, known across the island as "El Dominador," set a new world record on August 17, 2026, keeping a Baseball 5 ball aloft with 5,501 consecutive touches of his head over 45 minutes and 30 seconds. The attempt took place in the lobby of the Hotel Copacabana in Havana, a venue Hernández has used for several of his previous records.

The new mark surpasses his own previous record of 5,222 touches in the same category, set with the smaller, faster-bouncing ball used in Baseball 5, the five-a-side variant of baseball and softball that has grown in popularity internationally. Hernández has said the switch from a traditional soccer ball to the baseball is far more demanding than it appears, since the smaller striking surface and the ball's unpredictable bounce force him to hold his neck at a more inclined angle throughout the attempt, adding to the physical strain.

Now 60 years old, Hernández is a former footballer who turned to ball mastery in 1994, following the path of his older brother Douglas Hernández, considered a pioneer of the discipline in Cuba. Over three decades he has assembled a collection of more than 30 world records, many of them certified by Guinness World Records, using nearly every part of his body — feet, thighs, knees and head — in positions ranging from standing and seated to running.

The August feat is Hernández's latest milestone in a busy 2026: in March he juggled a soccer ball with his head for one hour, 24 minutes and 33 seconds while seated with weights strapped to his ankles, and in May he set a separate world record of 11,942 touches in one hour combining feet, thighs and head, breaking a mark previously held by Mexico's Abraham Muñoz. Hernández has said his next challenge will be attempting a thigh-only record with the Baseball 5 ball.