Field hockey drills helpful to learn the different game strategies: Part 1
Field hockey, also referred as ground hockey, is an outdoor sport that comprises of eleven active players with seven in stand-by, according to the International Hockey Federation (FIH) rules of play.
FIH is the international body that is solely responsible for the hockey events all across the globe. This sport is very amusing when it comes to playing seventy minutes with two halves equally divided into 35 minutes.
Before learning the game, there are few basics steps that need to be excelled in order to have a total understanding of how to play. Most importantly, these drills will help the athlete or trainer in observing what he/she is best in, whether attack or defence,
which will allow the trainer to deploy the player accordingly.
Few of these drills are general for both offenders and defenders whereas the others are specially designed to polish their techniques and finish.
In general, there are quite many drills that I have fragmented into three groups, basic, attack and defence. In defence, the special goal-keeper drills have also been counted in.
In the basic drills, the easily recognisable practices are dribbling, rolling and passing of ball. These help determine how active the player is regarding holding and controlling the ball with his/her hockey stick.
These basics require such perfection that the player can move the ball wherever and however he/she wants to.
Dribbling means how the player can turn and twist the stick with total control over the ball. Firstly, one is made to practice this drill while standing and then later asked to dribble while running.
This tactic safeguards the ball from being snatched by the player possessing the ball, both in case of defender or striker. This is because the stick keeps on moving over the ball from both left and right in a quick rhythmic manner. This may be a disadvantage
for a player that loses control over the ball while dribbling.
The next drill is rolling of the ball in a sleek and swift manner. This may also be considered as the crucial drill for the attacking front because if they rush for an attack, they need to have both speed and control over the ball, either rolling or dribbling
it towards the opponent’s circle for a goal.
In the first step, rolling is taught while standing when the learner is asked to roll the ball from his/her left to right and vice versa and stopping the ball from going out of reach from the other end by turning the hockey stick for a stop. This drill also
helps determine how good the player is in terms of controlling the ball.
In the next step, the trainer asks the player to roll the ball while running and stop both the running and rolling as soon as the whistle is blown. Those who miss to stop the ball successfully, fail in the basic skills of hockey.
The third and one of the most important drills is hitting. First, the learners are asked to do wall-hitting by standing not farther than two feet from the wall. First, hitting is done from the stick-side, which is usually the right side, and then the wall-hitting
is done while keeping the stick between both his/her feet. Lastly, the wall-hitting drill is practiced with a reverse-stick, usually the left side.
With improvement in this drill, the trainees are asked to increase their distance from the wall and continue with the drill. Later, this drill is then converted into short passes and long passes which shall be discussed in the next part of the article.
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