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Field Hockey Drills You Would Want to Try

Shashank Nakate
















The hockey drills presented here help in strengthening defense, sharpening attack and building endurance in the players.
Hockey is the second most popular sport with respect to participating countries. In hockey, players try to push, flick and hit balls in order to score a goal. The size of field used for playing hockey is 91.40 m x 55 m.
The opposing teams have 11 players each, including 5 substitutes. There player positions in hockey is similar to that of football. The ball and stick are the basic equipment required for drills and the game.
Here are few drills that would prove to be useful in training.

Preparation Station Drill

The preparation station can be a small, 5 ft. x 5 ft. area marked with plastic cones. Players step into the area one by one and receive 10 passes each from other players. Those who step into the preparation station can touch the ball being passed just twice. The first touch helps in preparing them for a shot and the next for pushing or shooting the ball.

Triangle Drill

In this drill, players should be divided in groups of three. Warming up involves passing the ball to one another. After the warm up, players should try practicing passes, while on the move. The player who passes the ball should move in the direction of the ball.
Receivers of the ball need to step up and catch the ball.Pace of passing the ball should be increased gradually. This drill provides players with a real life scenario of a hockey game. It helps in improving the passing and receiving skills considerably.

Pressing Drills

In the pressing drill, both the teams have 5 players each. Till the first goal is scored by any team, game continues like a regular match. As soon as the first goal is scored by a team, that team now concentrates its efforts on defense and stops attacking. Until the opposing team levels the score, regular game cannot be started.
The leading team plays possession hockey while the opposing team tries to grab opportunities of scoring goals. This type of drill provides enough pressing practice to both teams.

Loose Ball Scramble

The loose ball scramble is a simple but effective way of improving the dribbling skills of players. To carry out this drill, the players need to be paired and made to face each other. Two parallel lines with a distance of 15 feet between them need to be drawn on the field. Players should stand on these lines and face each other.
A ball should be placed in between each pair of players.Players should scramble for the ball once they are shown the visual sign; dropping of a flag can serve as a visual sign for the drill to begin. The player who takes possession of the ball and puts it behind him is the winner.

3v2 Drill with Counter Attack

This drill involves 3 players each from opposite teams. A 40 x 30 yard field is enough to conduct this drill. In this drill, the players have to score goals within a 6 m distance. Attacking team or the team which has possession of ball advances with 3 players.
The defending team always plays with 2 players. As soon as they gain possession of the ball, the third player comes into play. Until the defending team gains possession of the ball, the third player stays inside the 6 m line.
It is necessary to bring innovations in the drills being introduced for training hockey players. The drills presented here will help in developing all-round skills.