What are the main principles of pressing to gain possession?

Bram van Asselt, England

Players in the front line of the press not to commit a foul win the ball as a team and not as an individual make the player in possession give a bad pass try to step in front of the attackers behind the first line of the press. Try to intercept the bad passes. these are some of the key points Let me know if this answers your question Bram

angie boranCoach, Ireland

Thanks alot , that sums the question up very well. Full press and half press...how can you exlain the difference and summarise each?

Hockey CoachCoach

I've always seen it as the following (though it might not be 100% accurate). Half court press = start from the half way line. Everyone drops to the half way line, and then begin the press from there. 3/4 press = start around the opposition's 25, maybe a bit deeper, and then Full press = across the whole pitch...

angie boranCoach, Ireland

Great, thanks alot!

Hockey CoachCoach

Tony Burton is right, but please be aware of the fact that if you play full press, you will be far forward. This means that you will have 3 attackers against 4 defenders in modern hockey. You will have to solve this by shifting one of your midfielders more forward. Doing so you are shifting the risk to your midfield. To solve this you should play one-one in the back and move one of the central defenders to the midfield. To do it with the right timing it takes a lot of practice, failures and a sound communication between the players!