Field Hockey: 5 3 2 1 formation

When playing 1 2 3 5 formation, the opposition choose to play 2 fwds high, how do you defend against it...

My child is learning to play hockey. What are the field posotions and thier roles.

I am coaching 1,2,3,5 formation in an U16 Girls team but I am having trouble getting my Halfbacks connecting with my Inside Forwards - Any suggestions

hi allI'm currently coaching 12 and 13 yr olds and the team has a massive problem with shape and being disciplined positionally.Any tips, ideas, drills etc for helping with / teaching this?many thanks,Gary

To John Royce: Formations Hey John just wondered your thoughts have taken over ane A1 Womens Side was trying to think a bit outside the box thought of trying a 1-1-3-4-2 formation or 1-1-3-3-3. had any success or heartache with either. Have varying degrees of age in this team which make it a little for younger ones to comprehend. Regards Ian Manhire Newtown A1 Womens Coach

Hi all, after "volunteering" at the last minute to coach last season, I'm looking forward to coaching again this season but would like to be a bit more organised starting the season. Last season I used drills from here (thank you contributors) and put together a practice plan each week addressing what I thought were our weakness from the game just played. This got us through the season, we were promoted after grading and finished the season in the top 4 playoffs for our grade.I wonder if there is some kind of guide to putting a more coherent training plan together for the season.I'm coaching a boys secondary school team, aged 12-18. What kind of skills should they have mastered?What should they be attempting, working towards mastering (individually and as a team)?I last played as a collage boy on grass fields, the change to turf pitches has obviously obsoleted (along with age) much of what I knew as a player.Any pointers appreciated.David

Have some questions about two inners. Also anyone running it. Do you like it?

Hi all, after "volunteering" at the last minute to coach last season, I'm looking forward to coaching again this season but would like to be a bit more organised starting the season. Last season I used drills from here (thank you contributors) and put together a practice plan each week addressing what I thought were our weakness from the game just played. This got us through the season, we were promoted after grading and finished the season in the top 4 playoffs for our grade.I wonder if there is some kind of guide to putting a more coherent training plan together for the season.I'm coaching a boys secondary school team, aged 12-18. What kind of skills should they have mastered?What should they be attempting, working towards mastering (individually and as a team)?I last played as a collage boy on grass fields, the change to turf pitches has obviously obsoleted (along with age) much of what I knew as a player.Any pointers appreciated.David

Suggestions on how to play this system. I have very young 1st team so feel i must play defensive hockey. Thanks

hi there I'm using 4-4-2 and on sometimes 3-1-4-2 with a lower level hockey team.I've chosen this over other formations, simply because the hockey experience and ability of my players is not of a high level (and most people have an approximate understanding of 442). Also, I believe that one must choose a formation based on players traits and what they can deliver. For example, I'd ideally prefer to have 3 forwards, to help with more height and width but then would have to either play 3 in the middle or 3 at the back... and my player strengths don't permit this. In short, I simply don't believe I have a strong enough CH / CM to handle 3 in the middle and I'm not convinced that the off-the-ball support from other players is strong enough to allow 3 in the middle. OFFENSIVE PLAYS Anyway, I'm not 100% where to get my centre mids to stand when we have a 16 yd hit to take (i.e. our possession). Obviously one of the CMs comes deep to offer a potential direct outlet from the centre backs or offer an overload option if the ball goes out to the sides (which is more likely, since I've pretty much banned the high risk play of releasing up the middle - we've had far too many turnovers in our final third or quarter because we tried to play up the middle). My players are 'aware' of posting up and leading runs. However, I'm not sure about the 2nd CM. On the one hand I'd ideally like the 2nd CM to come deep as well, in order to potentially help break up the opposition press but by doing so, I distort the midfield and if we do manage to get the ball to one of the CMs, he won't have the 2nd CM in a higher position to release to, etc. DEFENSIVE POSITIONING Can someone suggest, again, about midfield positioning using 4-4-2 or 3-1-4-2, when we are setting up a general press? I have traditionally encouraged man marking, simply because our general positional awareness is weak (which makes zonal play a no-no IMO) + our tracking and attitude to committed defending (i.e. you don’t give up if one tackle fails) could be better! However, looking at suggested presses on Sportplan, some zonal positioning seems a necessity and I think if I can help my players make the step, success will come because they've been forced to become more aware of their pitch positioning, etc. Also, looking at some of the presses, it looks like the midfield can go 'flat' to create a barrier... and as I encourage a diamond shape in midfield, I need to explain to my players what to do and when. Sorry for the wordy question. I hope this all makes sense. Regards, Gary

I am coaching 1,2,3,5 formation in an U16 Girls team but I am having trouble getting my Halfbacks connecting with my Inside Forwards - Any suggestions

Hi,I perhaps naively, expected to have most of our team from last year carry over and only have a few new comers to integrate and get up to speed with the rest. However meeting the team at our first practice last night i find I have five players still at school from last year and the rest all new comers, most of whom had not held a hockey stick at all till practice.This being only my second season coaching (year 9 to year 13 boys) has left me feeling a little blindsided, and feeling quite unsure how to prepare practices that target both groups of boys. Do i lump them both groups together, keep them separate? What drills/exercises to best bring the new comers up to speed.I don't want to neglect either group, keep practice worthwhile for the experienced boys, but also bringing the new comers up to a level were they can mix in with the others and learn organically from them while practicing as a team. David

hi allI'm currently coaching 12 and 13 yr olds and the team has a massive problem with shape and being disciplined positionally.Any tips, ideas, drills etc for helping with / teaching this?many thanks,Gary

The two 'lessons' on formation, don't expand. they don't actually go into what the roles and responsibilities are.Also, a while ago Im sure that there was something on differnt types of 'press', FULL and HALF COURT....? Cant find them on the web site....Also don't quite understand being a paying member and the 'free' aspect of thge website, what do I get by paying, I am slightly confused.I do like the website, but it doesnt appear to be as good as it eas last season?Hope you can help me,Regards,Alistair

I've been using a 3 4 3. It worked very well with the players I had but a majority of them have graduated and I'm not sure it's a good fit for my new squad......suggestions... this new group is young, not quite as fast overall or powerful on attack

Hi can you help me setting a defence against a team playing 2 centre halves. My team plays conventional style 5321 . Thanks

information on 1442 and 11333 systems. I am fairly new to sportplan so hopefully someone can point me in the right direction. I am from Australia so know the GK-2-3-5 set up well. I would like to possibly employ a GK-4-4-2 / GK -1-3-4-2 set up or a GK-1-3-3-3. What I need is information on How players are set up, Forward press set ups, defencive zone set ups and attacking methods. For a bonus it would be great to know how they set up against a GK-2-3-5 as most of our oposition teams play this or a gk-2-3-3-2 Cheers 

Hi all,I would like to ask what is the best formation to play a 7-a-side match(under-18) when u have strong defence(key player in defence) but unexperienced midfield. I had in mind 3-2-1 while defending and 2-3-1 while attacking. Any suggestions please?

we started the season 5-1 and now mid-way it seems we are fading? we have lost our last 3 games - what are some good drills to get them focused again and pumped for the rest of the season and to get them over the hump -to the next level. thanks

I am preparing a team of boys for a six-a-side outdoor tournament. Any advice on a good training programme and the core skills to be worked on? Suggestions on set pieces and team formation would be helpful indeed.