Field Hockey: confidence on the ball

confidence on the ball DRILLS
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confidence on the ball ANSWERS
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how do you coach indoor penaulty corners defensively

how do you coach indoor penaulty corners defensively

Archived User Coach

Rotating positions experiences

Hello all, I would like to have some reflection on following please%3A As a coach of a 8 team of juniors age 9-10 years old i tend to rotated the positions of players every other game.The reasons for this is that I believe it helps them understand the importance and difficulties from each separate position in the field and so creating a better understanding of the game. Furthermore it gives a positive influence on their learning curve from a technical point of few. Of course I am taking care that everyone stays happy in playing hockey. What are your opinions?

coachj8D1 Coach, Netherlands

Please tell me about strong pass

My team's players don't have strong pass. So our pass is hard to arrive for FW. Please tell me way to pass (push, sweep, hit) strong.

Archived User Coach

What is your best advice to a boy playing sweeper in a team with a poor defense

My son has been given the role of sweeper in a team that has only won  twice in two years.  He is probably the weakest player in the team.  What advice can I give him to think about when playing, so that he can improve and enjoy a personal sense of achievement. In training sessions I have never seen any drills designed to organise the defence which is amazing since the teams ambition is usually to keep the goals against to single figures! Are there standard apporoaches as to how close to be  to the player you are marking or which side to stand to stop the attacker getting free with the ball on his open stick?.

Archived User Coach

What drills can I use to help my right post

What drills can I use to help my right post, she keeps missing the ball

Archived User Coach

Best method to teach junior aside players positions and responsibilities?

What are the best methods to teach Junior 8 aside hockey players their positional roles and responsibilities?

Archived User Coach

Looking for a 6-a good side hockey formation?

I am looking for 6 a side hockey formations. We have been playing 3-1-1-1. Worked very well, however sweeper was so good, goalie never touched the ball. I want to move sweeper to goalie/ sweeper but our mid field player is too good to just play right. What to do? 2-2-1-1 or 1-3-1-1?     

Archived User Coach

How to encourage positional play (spreading out) to U9 players?

How do you encourage positional play and spreading out on hockey field U9 girls level?

Archived User Coach

How to bring a team together?

I coach a team of U18 Boys. The team consists of the typical skill level variations but we manage that by modifying the formation to support those that need support. The team has performed well and they are on the top of the ladder. We are half way through the season and there seems to be more individualism in the team than I would have liked. Some of our more skilled players are failing to utilise the entire team which has a negative impact on the game plan. What strategies do you suggest we engage to bring the team together for the run to the finals?

Archived User Coach

How to improve the ball transfer from midfield to forwards?

Dear colleagues, I am coaching a 1st women team (Argentina) and the system that is working for us very well is 3-1-3-3. Given the quality players we've got in the midfield and attack we try to emphasize our offensive game all the time. The problem I am struggling to resolve is that the forwards do not get involved in chances to score inside the circle very often. The few chances the forwards have they are able to score but it is our midfielders who most of the time get to the circle in possession with the ball. I would like to see a quick transfer of the ball from the midfielders to the forwards who need to be in touch with the ball more often during the game and have the midfielders supporting the attack rather than being the leaders of the attack.Is there any drill or way to improve this aspect of the game? Thanks for your time. Martin

Martin Vila-Aiub Coach, Argentina

drills for backpassing

Have a team of older group of ladies who need to learn to pass the ball back, any good drills for this?

trudy adamson Coach, New Zealand

Coaching plan (season outline) for coming season?

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

David Smith Coach, New Zealand

How to coach school team with novices and experienced players?

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

David Smith Coach, New Zealand

I'm a new Varsity head coach and don't know what I'm doing

Hi all- I am 37 years old. I played field hockey for 3 years only (in high school). As you can imagine, I'm not very good/experienced. I was a competitive soccer player which made me good enough athletically to play field hockey but anyway, the point is: I never played field hockey at a high level.I now find myself in a head coaching position. (Long story-I did coach some field hockey some years ago and had a blast but it was a while back). Anyway, I have three assistant coaches who aren't much more experienced than I am. Our high school program is VERY weak and so nobody really steps up to coach there.Basically, my question is: what do I do? I have some girls who have played but not much. Then I have girls who literally don't know how to hold their stick and are quite I athletic. We barely have enough girls to field a team. As for drills, I'm trying to use this site but if you were in my position, what specifically would you be doing with these girls so they don't lose 7-0 every game? Right now, I'm focusing on body control and comfort with the ball- (we are playing possession and they are so uncomfortable they just hit the ball away because they don't have the skills to hold). Any help you can give is greatly appreciated!Brooke Asked using Sportplan Mobile App

Archived User Coach

direct shots on corners

how can I help my goalkeeper to stop a direct shot froma corner hit

karen judge Coach, United States of America

Goal shooting

Can I please have drills to help with shooting goals? We actually play on grass fields (u/13A girls)

Annelie Smith Coach, South Africa

I'm a new Varsity head coach a...

Hi all- I am 37 years old. I played field hockey for 3 years only (in high school). As you can imagine, I'm not very good/experienced. I was a competitive soccer player which made me good enough athletically to play field hockey but anyway, the point is: I never played field hockey at a high level.I now find myself in a head coaching position. (Long story-I did coach some field hockey some years ago and had a blast but it was a while back). Anyway, I have three assistant coaches who aren't much more experienced than I am. Our high school program is VERY weak and so nobody really steps up to coach there.Basically, my question is: what do I do? I have some girls who have played but not much. Then I have girls who literally don't know how to hold their stick and are quite I athletic. We barely have enough girls to field a team. As for drills, I'm trying to use this site but if you were in my position, what specifically would you be doing with these girls so they don't lose 7-0 every game? Right now, I'm focusing on body control and comfort with the ball- (we are playing possession and they are so uncomfortable they just hit the ball away because they don't have the skills to hold). Any help you can give is greatly appreciated!Brooke Asked using Sportplan Mobile App

Archived User Coach

What is your best advice to a ...

My son has been given the role of sweeper in a team that has only won  twice in two years.  He is probably the weakest player in the team.  What advice can I give him to think about when playing, so that he can improve and enjoy a personal sense of achievement. In training sessions I have never seen any drills designed to organise the defence which is amazing since the teams ambition is usually to keep the goals against to single figures! Are there standard apporoaches as to how close to be  to the player you are marking or which side to stand to stop the attacker getting free with the ball on his open stick?.

Archived User Coach

How to coach school team with ...

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

David Smith Coach, New Zealand

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Coaches from around the world look to Sportplan for coaching confidence.

Excellent drills, very detailed videos. Useful site for my U15 boys team.

Parry U15 boys Hockey Coach, Australia

I love using Sportplan. It's been a great help for co-ordinating hockey practice and being able to help tweak skills and getting the most out of my players!

Laura Swezey Hockey Coach, United States

Great site. An absolute must for coaches who are willing to change and learn new drills. Superb, simply superb.

Ignatius D'souza India

Wow what a great website, I have found sportplan an important tool for me when planning my netball sessions with my netball team. There are alot of very helpful tips/ideas/skills that I can learn and teach to my team. Thank you sportplan I hope to continue to use your helpful tips and to learn more about improving my teams netball skills. Thanks again....keep it up....

Monique New Zealand

I have been using Sportplan now for 3 years and can honestly say that I have never repeated the same session twice. My girls are always focused and are improving every year. Thanks Sportplan.

Debbie Cross Australia

What a fantastic tool. The Chalkboard and session tools make an unbelievable difference in making training plans in both time and organization. I will be instructing all of my assistant coaches that this tool must be used for all sessions during the season, so that we may build a club coaching resource library.

Wes Campbell Rugby Coach Canada

I can't get enough of the Sportplan, It has given me back the enthusiasm i was starting to lose. My girls are so keen and are ready at 14 to take the next up in their game. Sportplan will help no end.

Cornel Basketball Coach, South Africa

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