Field Hockey: pre match pass

I am the Skipper of an under-achieving 2XI. Individually most of my players could play 1XI but opted for an easier life lower down the Club. I struggle to get them to training on-mass and so I'm limited to pre-match warm ups to get them all together. We tend to do well against strong oppo but take far too long to get going against weaker teams. Any suggestions to help us start with the correct momentum?

Hi, I´m just looking for new ideas for the first training of the season, any fun ideas so everybody can learn each others names, including the coach %3A)???? age%3A around 11/12 years old. Cheers!

Anybody any ideas on a conditioned game to encourage receiving the ball in a forward facing position?

Hello all, im coaching a ladies first team and im trying to motivate them to take it a lot more seriously then they currently do. They want to train hard but are afraid of making mistakes defensively. Instead of getting back behind the ball when they make a mistake they almost seem embarrassed and stand there with their arm up. I give them as much encouragement as possible without following them round with a pillow!! Also only 2/3 of the squad come to training which is frustrating as both forwards never attend training but the captain wont drop them and come saturday, they have no clue as to what we have been working on. So im having to take 15 minutes out of my pre-game warm up with the rest of the ladies to explain whats going to happen. I get paid to coach them on Tuesday nights but i do saturdays for free. It is frustrating to say the least and i would love any help you can give pleeeaaasseee!!! Mike

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

I coach our local school's girls' first hockey team (16 and 17 year olds). What is the best way to mentally motivate them before an important game?

I really have a big problem with my u/15 girls.  They just can't play as a team. Any advice please. There's always a fight between someone. Mariette

Recently been working hard developing the use of the dish around the back to create space. Working great but would now like to develop this with more drills.We have discussed decision making, leading runs and movement but I'm now looking for ideas of exercises that will develop these thoughts amongst the guys. All ideas for exercises we could use at training gratefully received

I coach aged 7 children and I don't know how to teach them how to play a proper hockey match without all of them going for the ball and not staying in their positions. Do I put lines where they are not allowed to pass? or what?

What fun warm ups can I use with a group of 7-11 year olds with and without hockey sticks? Many thanks xx

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

I am doing A level PE and I need to find a coaching plan that includes a number of drills that get progressively harder. The plan has to be game based, I was thinking of doing one on possession but I cannot find drills that link together and get harder. Please help, Thanks

could someone comment on the 5 yard rule when entering the scoring area? There always seams to be a lot of wrong information regarding this rule.