Field hockey play book hitting

Field Hockey Playbook
The Hit
Derek E. Pappas

Objectives

Hit a pass that your teammate can receive-make your
teammates job easier
Hit the ball at a target-goal, teammate, gap between
the defense-direction
Hit the ball so that it arrives at a point on the ﬁeld at the
right time-space and time

Derek E. Pappas Copyright © 2010

The analysis of the golf swing is much more advanced than the analysis
of ﬁeld hockey hitting.

I have been studying the golf swing for
40+ years and the hockey hit for 33.
The fundamentals in golf are well
understood. Not so in hockey.

Al Pacino said in the movie Any Given Sunday "it is a game of inches".

Bad technique results in bad hits. I have watched a lot of games and I
think that hitting can determine the outcome of some games.

Missed shots on goal

Raised crosses that result in a foul

Bad outlet passes that are intercepted

Bad passes directly into the top of the D that are off target that would
have resulted in goal scoring chances


Why hit the ball

Shoot on goal
Make a long pass across the ﬁeld at speed
Relieve pressure by hitting the ball through the defense
up the ﬁeld


Objectives

Hit the ball smoothly on the ground
Hit the ball at the target
Hit the ball at the right pace
Hit the ball without any spin
Hit the ball at the right time


Ever wonder about your hit?

Ball is 1 foot off of the
ground
WHY?????

“Good Technique is Not
Enough” Lang Wedemeye
The coach’s responsibility is to create the
environment in which players are placed under
immediate pressure. The role of the coach is to
help players understand the cues that allow them
to apply the proper technique in game-like
situations. We always hear there are no tactics
without technique. Well, there is no technique
without tactics. The use of the proper technique
comes from decision-making ability in pressure
situations.

Playing under pressure
Lang Wedemeye
On several occasions I have heard U.S. National
Team coaches Bruce Arena and April Heinrichs
mention that one of the biggest problems with our
rising youth players, boys and girls alike, is that
they do not have the ability to play effectively
under pressure. The players’ technique breaks
down when under pressure and their speed of
play is not fast or accurate enough to create a
flow in high-level games.

Defining technique and skill
Lang Wedemeye
Technique is the mechanism with
which the body maneuvers itself to be
able to complete an objective. If the
objective is to pass the ball 15 yards to
a teammate, the brain informs the body
to maneuver itself in order to kick the
ball in that direction.


Defining technique and skill
(cont.) Lang Wedemeye
How well the body adjusts to the
demand determines how good the
technique is, while how quickly the brain
interprets the cues and the message
sent to the muscles determines the
speed of play. The better the technique,
the greater the likelihood that the ball
will go where we want it and how we
want it played.

What is the difference between
technique and skill?
Lang Wedemeye
As taught to me by the late Mike Berticelli in
my first NSCAA National Course, technique
is the mechanics behind solving a problem
and skill is being able to solve the problem
regardless of the mechanics. Skill is
basically getting the job done no matter how
it looks. But with better technique, the
player’s success rate is heightened.

Hitting “Do not’s”
Under normal situations

Do not hit a bouncing ball
Do not hit an off target pass/shot
Do not hit the ball too fast or slowly
Do not hit the ball with side spin


Hitting “Do’s”

Hit the back of the back
Position the ball in the correct position relative to your
feet
Release/Sweep the stick through the ball


Don’ts-under normal
situations

Do not hit the top or bottom of the ball
Do not get the ball outside of your shoulders
Do not chop down on the ball uless it is deliberate to
raise the ball for a shot on goal


Fundamentals and pressure

The relative orientation of the stick should be
maintained throughout the swing.
If the relative position of the stick is changed during the
swing then the player will have to make a correction
during the swing
Corrections are easier to make when there is no
pressure on the player


Fundamentals hold up under pressure
Bad fundamentals cause bad hits under pressure
If you have good fundamentals then under pressure
when the adrenalin is ﬂowing you will hit the ball better
Under pressure bad fundamentals result in hits which
are bouncing, miss the target, have side spin, are the
incorrect speed


(cont.)
Corrections are not easy to make when the match is on
the line and a smooth hit is required
The orientation will be changed if any of the following
occurs
Rolling the hands
Swaying the body
Lifting the head up
Many other causes (see later slides)


Players with good fundamentals can deliver a proper hit
under extreme pressure in match situations
on the ground, at the target, no/top spin, correct
speed
Players with poor fundamentals will miss hit the ball
under extreme pressure in match situations


The orientation in one or more axis will be changed if
any of the following occurs
If the stick rotated around the axis of the stick
If the end of the stick is pulled in or pushed away
from the player
If the stick moves above or below the plane at
address


Fundamentals
Head moves towards ground for hard hits
Shoulders parallel to target and ball between shoulders
Take away-stick behind ball, sweep stick back along
the ground and don’t change wrist position
Turn stick back with shoulders not the arms
Hips lead pulling torso and arms
Stay on plane and watch the spot where the ball was
after the shot with a limited follow through

Fundamentals
Grip
Footwork/body posture
Take away
turn
Pivot point/plane
weight shift
release

Grip
2 v’s formed by thumb and for ﬁnger face right chin
Hands facing each other to work together
Right Hand coves top of grip
Hands are two ﬁsts holding the stick
Relax the hands when holding the stick
Right hand faces down the line towards the target


Grip- don’t do this

Do not use a baseball grip where the hands are not
facing each other
Do not hold the stick in fingers only
Do not wrap fingers aginst palm-wrap the fingers
around the stick


Triangle
Hands and shoulders form a triangle
The triangle is maintained at the take away to waist
high
The triangle compacts above the waist on the back
swing, impact and follow through
If the triangle shape is maintained and the orientation of
the triangle is not changed then the toe of the stick will
point up at address, when the stick is pointing away

Triangle (cont.)
If the triangle shape is maintained and the orientation of
the triangle is not changed then the toe of the stick will:
point up at address
when the stick is pointing away from the target on
the back swing
at impact
on the follow through when the stick is pointing at
the target

Toe of stick

The toe of the stick stays up the entire time
The toe of the stick should not change its orientation
Do not twist the stick around the handle


Angles

End of stick is a pivot point-this is the point that should
form the angle between the wrists and stick.
Do not use the point between the hands or the right for
ﬁnger to form the angle. You will push the stick down
and change the plane of attack


Ball position relative to the
feet

The ball is positioned somewhere between the middle
of the feet and the left foot


Shoulder turn

The shoulders rotate around the spinal column
The shoulders should turn as far as is possible
physically and given the amount of time/space that the
player has


Hands
Hands stay a constant distance away from the body on
take away because the triangle is maintained
Do not
pull hands towards the body
push hands away from the body
push hands down/up
twist hands

Stick position

Toe up
Address-between feet
Back swing pointing away from target
Follow through-pointing towards the target


Feet

In a natural position-same as when you are running


Footwork
Stationary hit
step into ball off of the right foot
pivot off of left foot and hit left
pivot off of left foot and pull ball to the right
Cross over moving left to right
Hit on the run off of left, right feet, optionally turning
shoulders

Footwork

Footwork really refers to the relative position of the feet
and ball
You adjust your feet and the ball to move your body
into the correct position relative to the ball


Footwork

The body can be in motion running in a straight line,
curl, forwards, backwards, cross over step, and in this
case the player probably has to position the ball by
placing the stick on the side of the ball opposite from
the player to slow the ball down/”tee it up” or the player
has to carry the ball by their right foot to allow the ball
to travel forwards to the correct position at impact


Footwork

You do not want to position the ball outside your feet in
normal sitations
This means when running down the ﬁeld position the
ball relative to your right foot so that at impact the ball
is between your feet


Cross over
step
Used for moving
sideways and hitting the
ball


Footwork-exceptions

If you are running with the ball and want to hit it
backwards to the left the ball will be outside your left
foot and your shoulders will face to the left and you will
hit to right center of the ball ont he equator
If you want to hit the ball to the right relative to the
orientation of your feet you must rotate your shoulders
and hands to hit the left center of the ball on the
equator


Hips and right elbow

Hips turn to generate power on the down swing
Right elbow is touching right side on down swing
Players who used this technique:
Berman. Delme, Michael Peters, Fabragas


Hitting basics
Grip
pads of right hand on top of stick (cover the grip so
you cannot see it)
bottom of left hand on top of right hand
stick at less than 45 degrees to ground
bend back into ground as ﬂat as possible as you hit
bend left knee 90 degrees

Hitting basics (cont.)
Angle of attack of stick
sweep the stick back and though
point the stick at the target on the follow through
the end of the stick points at the center of your body
at address, back swing prior to cocking wrists, and
at follow through
Clip the ground-do not “chop wood”


Practice sweeping the stick back and forth across the
same spot between your feet.
position the ball between your feet to hit it
if the ball is outside of your left foot you should hit it left
not straight with a block out (no wrist release)


Hitting footwork
free hit step past ball and hit it
side ways cross over and hit
run around ball and hit (Craig Davies)
pull to right across body, rotate 90 degrees and hit
hit off of right foot



Keep left arm against rib cage (put a sock underneath
your left arm and hold it in place during the swing)
do not roll hands on the back swing (end of stick will
point at target after a 1/4 swing which is wrong)
Little ﬁnger on left hand is a pivot point (not the index
ﬁnger on the right hand)


Toe of stick is always pointing up
Right hand is always vertical
Angle of wrists does not drop down on back swing
Hit against the left tricept
Hit the ball on the straight part of the stick


Hitting

Grip
Footwork
Posture
Weight shift
Sweep
Half way
Upright


Hitting-cont.

Stationary
Normal
Off of right foot
On the run
Left foot
Right foot
Choke up on Stick
Argie reverse stick hit


Stationary hits


Hitting fundamentals
turn shoulders on back swing
maintain triangle between shoulders and hands
hands face each other
top of left wrist touches bottom of right wrist
right elbow into side
hands by knees


cover the top of the stick with the pad of your right
hand
shoulders, hips, feet square
ball between feet-not outside left foot
back is ﬂat not arched
right wrist is cupped
sweep stick back-don’t pick it up


Left arm straight
Hands close to body


Do’s
Smeets has the ball
behind/even with the
right foot-knees bent
Hands are close to the
body-eyes on the ball


Footwork
Footwork adjusted to
the position of the ball
Ball even with the right
foot
Ball will roll forward to
the correct position on
the downswing


Right elbow
Right elbow touching
the right side of the
body


Downswing
Right elbow still
touching right side
Toe up
Wrist angle maintained
Left knee bent
Left arm straight
Push off of right foot!
Right knee bent
Hips turning

Follow
through
What happened?


Dont’s
Helicopter
Elbow points straight
back-ﬂying elbow
Player has to loop stick
Ball outside of feet
Right hand in baseball
position

Right elbow
faces target
Right elbow is facing 90
degrees to the target line
because of the grip and
helicopter swing
Right elbow is too close to
left elbow
Hands roll over through the
ball to release the stick

Analysis
Good: Elbow in side,
hips turing, ball between
feet, left arm straight,
wrist ﬂat.
Bad: stick off plane
(dropped), left knee
straightening, where is
the weight (left or right
foot)?

World class
player
Good: Low position,
right knee very close to
the ground-lunge
postion, eye on spot
where ball was hit.
Ball position at impact?
Baseball grip?
Weight on toes?

Right hand seems to
stay under the stick
Not pointing at the
target line on release


Compensation
Toe of stick at 45 degrees
on follow through
Right side of body twisting
down towards the ball
instead of releasing
through it-right hip should
follow through towards the
target
Hands roll over the ball.

Don’t lift the
stick up on the
backswing
Everything bent
Eyes on the ball
Why pull the stick in towards the
body. Requires an adjustment on the
downswing
Ball to far forward towards outside of
left foot. Player will compensate in
the next photo.

Compensation
Too upright-hands far away from
body
Right foot swings in the opposite
direction of the hips/stick to
compensate for the ball being
outside of the left foot.
Leaning back away from the ball.
Right leg twisting in the opposite
direction NOT good for your left
hipit band/knee in the long run
Left foot facing target-not 45

Hitting
Elbow in side
But shoulders have
rotated faster than the
arms


Toe pointing to the left of
the target.


As a consequence the
hands roll over the ball.


Hitting follow
through
Point the stick at the
target
Key arms straight
Keep the triangle intact
Let the arms overlap
Weight on left knee/foot
(not your toes)

Common hitting mistakes
moving head, body, left wrist left/right or up/down
back curved-no vision-can see ground-not ﬁeld
curve on ball
rotating wrists instead of maintaining triangle between
shoulders and hands
right hand rotated counter clockwise-can see top of
stick
Hit ground not back of ball

Common hitting mistakes-
rotating wrists on back swing
picking stick up
pivot point is not left little ﬁnger
bottom of right wrist not connected to top of left wrist
ball to left of left foot and not between feet
no weight transfer
weight on right foot not left


Bad right
hand grip
Ball is bouncing


Out of plane
Flying right elbow causes
the stick to be out of plane
(pointing straight up
instead of at the ball)
Player must make an
adjustment on the
downswing


Baseball grip


Flying elbow
Stick pointing up and
away from body.


Falling away
from the ball
As a result the players
weight is on their right
side instead of the left
side at impact.


Making space
Put the ball in a position
away form the defender.
Here the ball is outside
of the players right foot.
He will lean to the right
to hit it.

Right hand
position
Slide the right hand up
the stick to get ready for
the hit


Problems
Keep eyes on ball even after follow through
Follow through is too long
Twisting hands
Pivoting off of the end of the right hand (picking it up)
Pushing the left hand down on the back swing or follow
through
Not bending ankles, back, knees

Problems (cont.)
Holding the stick with a baseball grip
Cannot release right hand through the ball
If the ball is between the feet the stick will hit the top
of the ball
If the ball is to the left of the body the sholders must
turn on the follow through.


Hitting drills
Hit the ball with one hand (left and right)
Hit the ball with feet together
Hit the ball off of left and right feet
Hit the ball and hit the ball left and right by changing
hand position on the down swing
Hit the ball on the run
Cross by wing, shot on goal, pass forward

Hitting drills
Swing stick backwards and forwards and sweep the
stick across the same spot on the ground-Bulbir Singh
4 Oympic gold medals
Wall hitting-cement is ideal
Stand 1,5,10.20 yards from the wall
Right hand only on stick (maintain angle between
stick and forearm)
Play tennis-hit ball against wall and stop it

Hitting drills (cont.)

Move left, right, forwards, backwards and hit ball
against wall
Hit off of left foot and right foot
Face wall
Stand 90 degrees to the wall


Excercise 1

Bulbir Singh 4 time Olympic gold medalist for India
Swing stick back and forth and sweep over the turf
on the same spot.


Excercise 2

Marshall Page Rhodesia-one of the best fullbacks in
the world in 1974
Position the ball half way between your feet and hit it
against the wall-repeat


Excercise 3

Moin Iqbal full back Pakistan 1952
Foot work-rotate right foot forwards and hit the ball
to the left. Popular in the Netherlands and Germany.
Stephan Blocher used this move.
Right hand pull and hit in one motion. Pul the ball to
the right and slide hand up as the body rotates to the
right, bend and hit the ball.


Excercise 4

Steven Davies Australia
Foot work-run around the left of the ball and hit it
laterally to the right. Choke up on the stick.


Excercise 5

Gavin Featherstone GB 1970’s
While carrying the ball forwards look one direction
and hit it in the other direction


Excercise 6

Toen De Noor Nederlands
While carrying the ball forwards look use a very short
quick hit with no follow through to pass the ball to a
team mate. Hands make the action.


Excercise 7

move the stick in a T
from address
to back swing pointing away from target
to impact position
to follow through pointing at target


Excercise 8
Neville Berman captain of South Africa 1974
put the ball 1 yard from the end line and shoot it in
the goal. repeat with 10 balls
Move the ball in 1 foot - repeat
Move the ball to 1 foot from the end line - repeat
Put the balls on the 10 yard line
run and shoot from 3 feet, 2 feet, 1 foot from the
end line


Excercise 9

Neville Berman
Put 10 balls on the 25 yard line.
Dribble one ball to the top of the D and shoot
run back to the 25 and repeat


Baseball grip

Ball is bouncing
Toe of stick is pointing sideways on follow through


Slap shot


Cross over step and hit


Forearms touch on follow
through


Curl to the right and hit


Preparation

Eyes on target
Feet close together so that adjustments in aligntment
to target can be made
Right hand is sliding up stick


Back swing

Toe straight up
left arm straight


Folow through problem

Left arm collapses
Stick is pointing way left of the target on the follow
through


Preparation

When moving forwards in preparation of hitting the ball
correct footwork is vital
Position the ball at or behind the right foot
The stick is angled over the ball


Back swing

Feet are positioned together ball is between feet and
rolling forwards
hands are close to the body
eyes on the ball


Down swing

On the down swing the upper right arm is parallel to
the upper body which is leaning forwards
The right arm against the right side retains the angle of
the stick and wrists which delays the release of the
stick
The delayed wrist release results in the maximum stick
speed when hitting the ball


Follow through

Left knee is still bent
hips turn
still bent-stay down


Leaning backwards


Leaning to the right

Right foot swinging behind left
The ball was outside of the shoulders and left foot.


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