Field Hockey Drills – The Key To Making A Match Rather Interesting
Field hockey might be a non-contact sport, but that does not mean there are not drills that can make the
game rather interesting or those who could actually keep your adversaries on their toes. It is not like the
attacker gets the ball and runs from point A to point B on the field. In fact, a lot of drills are used to trick
your opponent team, while managing to get the ball closer to their net in order to score. However, learning
how to pass down the ball, dribble or any other sort of drill, requires attention, careful study and also a
lot of practice. But first, you need to learn about these field hockey drills in order to put them into practice.
Field Hockey Drills That Can Help You Get Better At The Game
One of the simplest and easiest ways to actually help newbies participate in the game for a better
understanding is to teach them how to hit and pass the ball down to a teammate. It is known as the push
pass. The key factor in this drill is the way a player actually holds the stick. The proper grip of the stick can
differentiate between a good pass and a poor one. Your left hand should be placed at the top of the stick,
as that would always have to be your top hand. The right hand is placed lower on the stick, making sure
you have a good hold of the stick. Keep the right hand loose, because, with this one, you will be directing
the ball. Your feet should be slightly bent, the ball placed on the right side and your right foot should alight
with it. The feet should be facing the target. Now, using your stick, simply push the ball towards the target
with one strong move. You do not want to hit it, but rather place the stick next to the ball and shove it.
Next on our field hockey drills list, is the hit pass, which requires a bit more attention and practice. In
order to be able to pass the ball down the field by hitting it, which comes really in handy when somebody
is chasing you, you need to move your right hand under your left hand and have a solid grip on the stick.
Your left shoulder and left foot should be pointing at the target. Once the ball reached you, use the stick
to stop it, then take a swing with the stick – imagine you are playing golf – and then take a swing at the
ball, sending it down the field. Make sure you do not hit the ball too hard or it might end up hurting one
of the other players.
Learning how to stop or trap the ball can be very important during a game, so here is how you achieve it.
Hold the stick just like you do it for the push technique and ask a teammate to pass the ball to you. Let
the ball reach you and the flat side of the stick. Going forward for the ball before it reached you or holding
the stick way too tight, will result in the ball bouncing away or actually ending up protecting the ball with
your own body, which is forbidden.
Field hockey dribbling drills can be quite hard to get a grip of, but not impossible. One of the main keys in
dribbling is to make sure the ball never breaks contact with your stick. If you are intermediate in this area,
you can spice things up by actually pushing the ball ahead of you and running behind it. You can slightly
push it or if you got a wide field and no opponents running towards you, you can push it a few inches and
run towards it and so on. The „Indian Dribbling” method teaches you to dribble the ball from the right to
your left, trap it using the back stick, push the ball again to the right and trap it using the forestick. Sounds
interactive enough, but it can be a bit difficult to catch on.
One of the most pressuring drills – for the opposite team, obviously – is the poke/jab drill. The goal of
this tactic is to put a lot of pressure on the other player, but also on the ball or to change the direction of
the ball. You can jab directly at the ball or you can always do it next to the ball and force the opponent to
go in a certain direction.
The 3D Skills are the hardest to actually defend, so if you really want to play a trick on the defender's
minds, you can always opt for this drill. When a defender has you cornered, use your stick to slightly lift
the ball in the air, stop the ball and continue on your way towards the goal.
If you want to learn how to shoot, which is a drill each player should learn, as it includes motion and a lot
of power, it is all about the practice. You might notice that the angle you use can actually impact the way
the ball moves by a lot. Squeezing or undercutting is when you hit the down back of the ball. A tomahawk
move literally implies that the player should hit the ball using an axe-chopping movement while being low
on the group. Great move if you manage to master it.
Some field hockey drills are harder than others and most of them require a lot of practice, but keep in
mind that there are also quite a few variations of each drill. The best thing you can do is to make sure you
learn a new thing each day. The form, the way you hold your stick and the angle the movement needs to
be executed, will come to you with time. Nobody was born with a field hockey degree and you mustn't
forget that!
