Field Hockey: game situations

They just started with the pass and receive of the ball but i would like them to practice it even more. Most of the players are new to hockey and i don't want to give them a drill that is to hard for them to understand.

I really struggle to make practice fun and useful for the GKs. My attention is naturally focussed on the outfield players, meaning most of the time I simply have drills finishing with a shot on goal to keep the GK involved. Pretty boring for them. Any ideas how I can involve them more? Thanks, Charlie

how do you stop your team over crowding in the circle? what drills or game situations could i use at training?

Can you recommend a good practice girls junior players, preferably game situations, fifths outwitting opponent

how to plan training for high school to achieve the current goal championship ?

How to train the movement of the attackers in the D zone

I am helping a good, strong goalie in east mids prem at the moment. Can you suggest the best drills for the pre season please?

Hi, Does anyone have a smart way for giving all your players a number when they are taking part in a trial. Was trying to avoid having to print and laminate and pin numbers onto their backs. How do others manage this when you might have up to 50 kids at a trial and you don't know them all. Any suggestions appreciated. Cheers Tracey

Why wont this session open for me when i log in its not there ??

EH have just launched their Golden Thread objectives for the single system (& above) - will some activities be created to reflect these? It is more gameplay & less directive / closed "drills". Cheers Alex.

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

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

We practice weekly about staying in position, widening the field and using outletting to move the ball up field. They execute in practice, but when it comes time to play most players do not stay disciplined and crowd the ball on one side or another.............How do I fix this Players are U19

Sometimes it's hard for me to motivate everyone during a practige or game. Some girls are saying 'i don't like this practice' and they are not motivating the team. And sometimes the girls think that they now it better than me, how can you handle that?

Hi, I have a complicated set of questions which shows my limited understanding of field hockey. I’m coaching a U13 team of 22 girls in the U.S., and each player has at least one year of experience. I’ve played FH only with my kids though I have a basic understanding of the game and its concepts from playing soccer and basketball, and watching games for many years. I've coached kids in other sports, this is my first year coaching field hockey. (If you’re wondering why I’m coaching, no parent in my community with playing experience would step up and my daughter loves the game.)A warming: This is a long set of interrelated questions but your taking the time will be greatly appreciated. Problem: The core problem is responsibility conflicts on defense. My players understand concepts of zone and marking separately. I don’t know enough to explain how they should manage the two responsibilities in field hockey. I “get it” by playing other sports for so long and therefore am able to see how they aren’t “getting it.” For clarity, I have in mind two kinds of offense players: OP1 (has the ball); OP2 (doesn’t). The girls understand that zone means each has a certain area to protect; and marking, how to position themselves in relation to offensive player without the ball (OP2), and when to mark tight vs. loose, and to what it means to follow her mark. Situation 1 (Off-ball play): if one OP2 (OP2-A) enter zone of Left Midfield (LM), for example, how LM apply marking principles (a) when OP2-A enters zone; (b) a second OP2 (OP-B) enters zone; (c) if OP2-A leaves zone, LM should (i) release OP2-A and stay on OP2-B or (ii) follow OP1-A and leave OP2-B. How resolve these zone/marking conflicts for other positions: CM/RM? For RD/LD/CD? (We play a basic 3-3-1-3.)Situation 2 (Support teammate pressuring ball (D1). The girls understand basics of channeling, approaching OP1 to tackle, and how D2 should support D1 (e.g., D2 is cover for D2). We’ve done drills (1v2), but transferring into game situations is difficult. How explain D2 maintain zone responsibilities (a) if supporting D1 means D2 (a) vacates assigned zone and/or (b) or OP2 in zone). Situation 3 (Forwards). They are having trouble with changing defensive responsibilities from within the opposing team’s quarter of the field, the middle quarters, and our quarter of the field nearest to our goal. I’ve thought about just making the defense solely marking but that creates its own chaos and tires out the girls. Without these basic concepts, the result is a joyless scrum: players are bunched up on defense, so if there’s a turnover, the players are too close together for a counterattack. This is unfortunate because the speed of field hockey games should appeal to kids in the U.S. Thanks

Hi! Im Martina, I am 25 years old and I am in charge of a weekly training session for a Mens Seniors team. They are a mixed group, from 17-60 years old. Im finding it a bit hard to find a balance for all the players as there are young but also experienced ones. I want to make the trainings fun and dynamic, so any help with drills is appreciated!Thank you

Can you recommend a good practice girls junior players, preferably game situations, fifths outwitting opponent

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

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

how do you stop your team over crowding in the circle? what drills or game situations could i use at training?