Heading for ball, supple and cheerful (6)
I believe the answer is:
blithe
'cheerful' is the definition.
('blithe' can be similar in meaning to 'cheerful')
'heading for ball supple' is the wordplay.
'heading for' says to take the initial letters.
'supple' becomes 'lithe' ('lithe' can be a synonym of 'supple').
The initial letter of 'ball' is 'b'.
'b'+'lithe'='BLITHE'
'and' is the link.
(Other definitions for blithe that I've seen before include "Uncaring" , "Happy, without worries or cares" , "Careless" , "Heedless" , "light" .)