Field Hockey: speed drill

drills to switch sides of field

I have been intrigued by some anecdotes of a coach using tennis balls in a session “that did not pick up a stick for an hour”. It developed hand brain and eye co-ordination and went on to give the feel of the movement of shoulders and hips for the Indian dribble, or at least moving a ball in a figure of 8…anyone heard of this or am I the victim of a wind up? It sounded great and a novel way to ring some changes in a junior session.

I have a u16 womens team. They are starting to get a little lazy in their passes, moving to the ball. I would a drill where they have to constantally move with speed. I want them to get a good hard cardio workout. suggestions?

This is my first year coaching field hockey and I am coaching beginners, a U8 team. Any drills geared towards beginners?

need info on training the goal keeper.

How do you encourage positional play and spreading out on hockey field U9 girls level?

I help coach around 30 players, they are of completely differing abilities and ages. For a while I have been using the same first drill/warm up of getting into groups of 4/5 players and having cones in a line in front of them which they have to use different methods of getting the ball to and then passing back to the rest of the team from the 1st cone, then next time from the 2nd cone (and so on) I find this works ok but would like a new/more fun way to get them ready after our run and dynamic stretches. Any help/suggestions gratefully received.

How do I improve ball skills in s small space indoors? Are there any drills or practice plans that you feel are helpful?

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

hi. i recently started playing hockey again after 7 years and looking for drills me and my brother can do to help get my technique back. like first touch and shooting dribbling etc. i am a striker

is there a drill where i can allow the team to learn about leads and running of the ball and that switching is vital for wings as well as bursting speed to receive the ball

Does anyone have good drills for players to progress their individual ball skills and stickwork from medium to advanced

Have any other coaches got tips, advice or drill ideas on how i can improve my team's ability to counter attack?

easy drill ideas that are fun

I need something for indoor pcd

15 minutes of dynamic field hocky warmup, with goal to improve hockey skill under pressure

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 have a ladies team with slow defenders who insist on playing 5-10 yards (sometimes more) off of their attacker. They do this as they say they are much slower and therefore need the space to catch up to them and as a 'buffer'. This is an argument I have heard used by a lot of slower players.I however have been arguing that they'd have more success if they marked closer and tried to prevent them from turning and gathering speed/or being within range to make the interception in the first place. They may get beaten on occasion if the player has the wherewithal to turn with skill and beat their marker, but I feel for a lot of players, the mere pressure of having a defender in close proximity may discourage them from attempting to turn and force them to play the ball backwards.My argument is that if you give a player with speed 10 yards to build up speed against you then it will be harder to stop them/catch them, especially in a wide space. The way I think about it is, if two cars are in a race, but the first one is allowed to get up to 30 mph before the start line AND is the faster vehicle, it's a no-brainer as to who will win. I'm interested to see what everyone else thinks - am I thinking about this incorrectly or does my thinking make sense?