Field Hockey: turnover

I train a school team in India, it is under-16 team. My forwards are good in skills and defenders are good at tackling. But at the last 15 mins of match(35-5-35 mins.), my whole team gets tired and starts making unforced errors. Even skills are as good as other Indian players but when it comes to strength and stamina they lack. Please suggest something that my players are capable fast matches? We play hockey on grass only.

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

When the PC shot is identified as a drag, it seems the defenders should veer away, else suffer the penalty shot if they get a body hit high? Whereas if it is instead identified as a hit, run straight, then if it hits feet, another PC, or if it is higher then it is turnover and maybe pain? If so, I guess the expert defenders are used to quickly deciding whether it is a drag or a hit, so whether to veer off for the drag, or to stay on track for the hit, protect feet, or if the hit is higher then take some pain for the benefit of the team? I am coaching young girls at present, where the penalty shot is not used yet. I dont play hockey myself, but the Olympics shows these events. Although the replays, sunlight reflection and the angles were a bit dissapointing.

How do you present to defenders how they must defend the baseline from the right

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

How can I help my u/12 girls to attack? At the moment they are running beside the opponent but not attacking the players.

So I'm having trouble getting my young and inexperienced group of midfielders to flip the switch from defense to offense, and back, as we move up and down the field. They will often hang back and leave my forwards stranded rather than rush in to attack. Naturally, we are not scoring. Advice and drill ideas would be most welcome! J.G. Coach, Maryland USA

I would like some drills for the new long corner rules and the free hits outside the D. Thanks

How do I get young hockey players to learn to play in their positions? I often tell them what their position details are but they never seem to stick to their positions and end up bunching Asked using Sportplan Mobile App

Hi all, thank you for taking the time to read my question. I was hoping for some clarity around 'presses'Pressing oppositions 16- Full press3/4 pressHalf courtWhat are the pro's and cons offensively of each and in what situation would you suggest using each?

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

How does a midfielder control a counterattack in hockey?

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?

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

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

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

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

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'm in the U.S., coaching a team of 11-12 year olds, with 1-2 years of experience. Defending the circle, when the ball is loose, my players are not getting control of the ball to hit out of the circle. It's congested with opponent and my team's players. If my players get control, they lose it quickly. If the opponent has control, my players aren't very good at taking the ball or stopping the opponent from taking a shot. Luckily we have a good goalie but she can only do so much. (Full disclosure: I didn't play FH but have a decent understanding of the game. No one else in my community would step up to coach so it's fallen to me.)