Hitting fundamentals

The Art of Hitting:
Hitting Fundamentals in
Field Hockey
Derek Pappas

Derek E. Pappas Copyright © 2015
The questions
• Ever wonder why international teams hitting the
ball during a shooting warmup can’t consistently
put the ball into the goal corners?
• Ever wonder why at the end of the game when a
team needs a goal they lift the ball into the D
when they hit it?
• Why payers can’t hit the ball on the ground,
without spin at a target consistently?

Fundamentals
• The are fundamentals that must be followed in
order to hit a ball correctly
• The hitting fundamentals are not written down or
coached on a regular basis
• Players are told to hit the ball at practice with little
regard to the fundamentals
• Why?

Argentina WNT 2000-2008
• Who taught the hitting fundamentals to the ARG WNT?
• Why was Soledad Garcia such a lethal forward?
• Why were Magdalena’s hits so accurate?
• Who taught Aymar the biomechanics?
• It is obvious that these players were coached to hit the
ball correctly. Their hitting skills were not developed
accidentally

The course
• This presentation attempts to cover the
fundamentals of the field hockey hit, hitting faults
and the drills that can be practiced to learn the hit

Ball position relative to the
feet
• The ball must be between the feet
• Players who rotate their hands to the right hit the
ball outside of their left foot or if the ball is
between the feet hit the top of the ball and raise
the ball

Alignment to the target
• The heels of the feet should be parallel to the
target or the right foot should be pulled back. The
back is flat, the hips, knees, and ankles are bent
substantially.

Ball position
• The ball should be positioned a few inches inside
of the left foot.

The grip
• The hands face one another. The top of the grip is
covered by the right hand and is not visible.
• The bottom pad next to the wrist of the right hand
is on top of the stick.
• This can be checked by holding the stick with one
hand and ensuring that there is an angle formed
between the stick and the right arm.
• That angle must be maintained during the swing.

The grip (cont.)
• The two v’s formed by the thumb and forefinger
are aligned with one another
• The bottom of the left hand is touching the top of
the right hand
• The back of the left hand faces the target

Bad habits
• Bending the left arm during the back swing
• Pushing the right elbow away from the body
• Not maintaining the front view shoulder/hands triangle
• Not maintaining the back view shoulder/hands/end of stick triangle
• Arching the back
• Swinging the right foot behind the left foot on the follow through
• Collapsing the arms/wrists during the follow through
• Straightening the left leg during the follow through
• Lifting the head up on the downswing/follow through
• collapsing/twisting/raising/lowering/rotating the wrists/stick at any point in the swing

Hitting alignment
• During practice place a stick behind the shoes
and another stick on the outside of the ball
• Align the sticks parallel to the path of the ball

The palm of the right hand
• The muscular part of the bottom part of the right
hand next to the wrist is placed on top of the stick
first
• Then the hand and fingers wrap around the stick

Right hand
• The right hand during the backswing. Make sure
that the right hand does not rotate around the
stick into a :"baseball grip" or that the right palm
does not come off of the grip during the
backswing. The right hand should be relaxed
during the backswing.

Palms facing each other
• Definition: vertical hands mean that the palms are facing
each other, palm to pam (touching), and that the palms
are 90 degrees to the ground. The forearm and the
palms are in a line.
• Why do the palms face each other at 90 degrees to the
ground?
• so the hands work together during the swing
• So that when the big forearm muscles tighten during
the downswing the hands and forearms for a line

No head movements
• The head should not move right or left or up
during the swing. The head should be moving
down at impact.
• The eyes should be focused on the ball until
impact and then at the spot where the ball is
located after impact until the stick is horizontal.

The active position
• The player should be up on the front of the right
foot with the right heel a quarter inch off of the
ground in an active position. It is very difficult to
initiate a hockey swing with the correct weight
transfer and foot work standing flat footed.

Arm position
• First of all the arms and hand must be in a neutral
position. When the palms of the hands are facing
up and touching a triangle is formed between the
shoulders, arms and hands.

The address
• The player should place the stick on the ball prior
to hitting it.
• The left foot is turned out 20 degrees. The right
foot 10 degrees. Do not stand with the feet 90
degrees to the target line or turned in.

Left arm
• The left arm should remain straight during the
backswing.

Take away
• Maintain the two triangles
• The triangle formed by the arms and grip when
viewed from the front of the player
• The triangle formed by the arms and stick and
imaginary line from the end of the stick to the
shoulders when viewed from the rear of the
player

Take away (cont.)
• The hands and arms
• Sweep the stick back
• Do not rotate the hands
• Pivot off of the end of the stick
• don’t push the hands down, up or away from the body
• Do not twist the hands

The weight shift
• 80 percent of the player's weight starts onthe
player's right foot. The weight distribution is
retained during the backswing. During the
downswing the weight shifts to the left foot.

Pivot point
• The pivot point is the left little finger.
• -watch that the right little finger or the right
forefinger do not become the pivot piont

The toe of the stick
• The toe of the stick is 90 degrees to the ground
@
• setup
• When the stick is horizontal in the backswing
• When the stick is horizontal in the follow
through

The backswing
• The player should sweep the stick back along the
ground.
• The face of the stick should be in the same
relative position as at address at all positions
during the back swing.

The backswing (cont.)
• Grip Hands vertical/together
• Take away straight back
• Right elbow relaxed
• Triangle (maintain the relationships between the
shoulders, arms and hands

Turn the shoulders around
the spine on the backswing
• The body is a barrel
• Turn the barrel

Downswing
• The downswing is initiated by stepping down the
line past the ball. The hips turn and the body
uncoils into the ball. Power is generated with the
torso and not with the upper body. The mistake
the players make is that the left foot ends up right
of the ball and not left of the ball. Set up a T on
the ground. Place the ball on the line which meets
the other line. The left heel should be on the line
and left of the line pointing at the ball. The right
foot should be on the line or behind it.

The right elbow on the
backswing and downswing
• The right elbow Must touch the right side when
the stick is around horizontal on the backswing
• The right elbow Must touch the right side when
the right arm is around horizontal on the
downswing
• The right elbow should be 45 degrees to the line
of the ball path and not 90 when the stick is waist
high on the downswing

The right elbow.
• The shoulders/arms/hands swing back in a triangle.
• The right elbow then moved into the right side which
creates the angle between the stick and the arm.
• Note: a big mistake is to put the elbow on the side
and then to cock the wrists.
• This results in pushing the left hand down and alters
the backswing

Weight distribution
• At address the weight is evenly distributed
• The weight on the back swing is on the right foot
• The weight shifts to the left at the top of the
downswing
• 90% of the weight is evenly distributed on the left
foot at impact

Keep the head down
• The eyes are focused on the ball and the spot the
ball occupies
• Looking up causes the ball to go right. Why? As
the player looks up the hands are pulled away
from the ball and the player adjusts by pushing
the hands out to block the hit.

The lunge position
• Unlike the golf swing which uses an upright position the
hockey hit is best executed using a lunge position. The
lunge position is used during Olympic weight lifting
exercises. Top cricketers also use the lunge position
when hitting the ball. Top golfers use a more upright
lunge position. The lunge position at impact involves
putting 90% of the weight ont he left foot and 10% on the
right foot. The right knee is driven into the ground to a
point 4"'s above the ground and the left knee is bent to
the middle of the right foot (drop an imaginary 90 degree
line down from the front of the left knee to the player's
foot).

prior to impact
• The eyes are focused on back of the ball
• The right knee is flexed
• The right knee is driving into the ground
• Hit the ball with the right quad and hip rotation
• Just before impact the left foot is planted and the left knee is flexed
• The player is in a powerful lunge position
• The left arm is straight and the right arm is straightening (releasing
through the ball)

The bottom of the swing
Sweep the stick
through the ball at the
bottom of the swing

Releasing the right arm
through the ball
• Releasing means that the right hand remains
vertical and moves through the ball so that the
angle formed between the right hand and arm at
the wrist straightens out.

The stick release

Impact and the next 3 feet
beyond impact
• The player should be in a balanced lunge position
at impact. The left arm is staright. The upper part
of the left arm is braced against the upper left
side of the body. The right arm is releasing
through the ball. The palms are veritical. The left
wrist is firm. The left wrist does not collapse.

Impact and the next 3 feet
beyond impact (cont.)
• The stick should be pointing at the target.

After impact
• The right knee is still flexed
• The shoulders do NOT rotate
• The arms point to the ground
• The arms are straight and pointing at the ground
• The hands do not rotate unless the player is disguising
the hit (advanced skill)
• The eyes remain on the spot where the ball was

Follow through
The players should follow through the ball
and hold the lunge position with the stick
pointing at the target. Any number of things
may happen during the follow through.
Remember the follow through is a result of
everything that happened during the swing.
The follow through shows the symptom(s)
and not the cause.

Arm/wrist/stick angles
• When viewed from behind the angle between the
arm and the stick should be maintained. When
the player returns the stick to the ball on the
downswing the same relative angle should be
present.
• When viewed from the front the angle between
the right arm and the stick should be maintained.
If the angle is lost and the left wrist cups the
player will lose a lot of power.

Deception
• Using the wrist roll to control the direction of the
ball (the stick still hits the back of the ball), at
waist high on the follow through
• Hit right the toe is slightly facing up
• Hit straight the toe is 90 degrees to the ground
• Hit left the toe is slightly facing down
• Using the feet to position the ball forwards to hit
the ball left
• Using the feet to position the ball backwards to
hit the ball right

Compensation
• Compensation is a result of adjustments or
changes to the relative position of the stick,
hands, arms, body, legs and feet during the
backswing.
• Compensation during the downswing means
making adjustments to the hands, arms, body,
legs and feet in an attempt to get the triangale
back to the neutral position.

Blocking out
• Blocking means that the hands are not released
through the ball.

Arm position
• The arms are hanging down naturally. The right elbow
is relaxed and the left arm is straight. The players arms
are not rotated in either direction from the natural
position.
• The right elbow in the relaxed position is below the left
elbow when viewed form the back. This position is
neither natural or comfortable for the player when they
first try it.
• Ensure that the right hand is vertical and still on the
stick after relaxing the right elbow.

Awareness
• Repetition trains the body's nervous system to
know where the ball is in relationship to the feet
and stick.

Rythm
• The player should have a fluid swing. There
should be no pauses , interruptions or unnatural
movements during the swing.

Doing “nothing”
• The objective of the following exercises is to "do
nothing".
• Doing nothing means no changes to the triangle
throughout the swing. the objective of the swing is
hit the back of the ball with the stick traveling in a
straight line through the ball.

Spins
• The best spin is over spin
• Side spin and under spin makes the receiver’s job
more difficult
• Try not to put spin on the ball

The different releases
through the ball
• The following figure shows the stick in three
different follow through positions
• Unless the player is using a wrist roll to disguise
their hit’s direction (an advanced skill) then any
follow through resulting in the stick not being
vertical at horizontal is a fault

Hitting biomechanics

Problems with the hit
• Players make adjustments on their backswing
• using the wrong pivot point in the hands
• rotating the hands clockwise/counter clockwise during the swing
• lifting the arms up during the back swing instead of sweeping the arms back
• moving the arms away from the body during the backswing
• failing to get the right elbow into the right side during the backswing
• reverse weight shift from left foot to right foot during the downswing
• standing up during the downswing
• collapsing the wrists through the ball
• swinging the right leg behind the left during the follow through,

Baseball grip fault
• Rotating the hands to the right is a huge hitting fault?
• Why?
• To compensate the ball must be placed outside the left foot.
• No wrist rolling is allowed with this grip, so no deceptive
hitting
• The forearms tighten during the downswing and want to
eliminate the cupped wrists and create a straight line with the
arm and hand. This can cause the stick to hit the top fo the
ball.

Stick ball impact
View from the front

Stick path when viewed from
the front of the player
Ball impact point
Correct: sweeping motion
Incorrect: chopping down
(except when executing a
chop hit on goal)
Incorrect: not driving down
through the ball.
Usually due collapsing the
wrists

Stick path at the bottom of the hit
when viewed from behind the player
Ball impact point
Correct: straight line
Incorrect: inside out
Incorrect: inside then straight
Incorrect: outside in
Incorrect: outside then straight

When to hit the ball

how hard to hit the ball to a
receiver
• The ball should be hit at a speed that delivers the
ball to the receiver at the right time and in the
right place.
• Learning how to hit the ball at the right pace
requires practice.

Exercises
• Hit with one arm: right only and left only
• Hit with the left foot or right foot forwards
• Sweep back and forth and hit spot
• 10 Shots from the baseline at an acute angle
• 30 meter drive down a white line on the field
• Drive into the corners of the goal from the top
of the circle, hit the sidebars, use an obstacle
to block the center
• Drive from the right and left wing positions

hitting a bouncing ball
• -cricket style

the different hits off of
different feet

Craig Davies curl hit
• Put both hands on the stick in the hitting grip
• Both arms straight
• Wrist bent 45 degrees
• Ball behind the feet
• Facing 90 degrees to the left of the target
• Run/curl right towards the target in this position
• Stay low
• Sweep the stick back
• Hit the ball at the target.

Practice positioning the ball
• Train your nervous system so it knows where the
ball is in relationship to your feet.
• Stand with both feet together and in the above
position. Feet aligned to the target. Roll the ball
with the face of the stick 90 degrees to ground to
the right of the target, Stop rolling the ball when it
is in the position you want at impact relative to the
right foot.

Understanding the triangle by
moving the arms without a stick.
• The player should maintain the triangle throught the swing.
• 1. At address the arms hang down and the palms are
vertical and touching.
• 2. The player should turn the arms to the right the hands
should be parallel to the target line and the palms should
be vertical.
• 3. At this point the right elbow bends into the side until the
upper right arm is 90 degrees to the grand and touching the
right side. The hands are still vertical

Understanding the triangle by moving
the arms without a stick. (cont.)
• 4. The right arm straightens and the arms move
back towards the ball. The hands are still vertical.
• 5. The hands are returned to the ball in a vertical
position.
• 6. The arms swing along the body (down the line)

Hitting at goal.
• 1. The ball must be positioned correctly at impact relative to
the line that the player will hit it along. Note that the player
can hit the ball in an arc that spans left and right from the
ball position if the ball is positioned right of the left foot. The
player should hit the ball as the ball rolls over the D line. The
ball should be between the players two feet.
• 2. Run straight at the goal from the 25 yard line
• 3. As the player approaches the top of the D the player
should run in an arc to the right so that they end up facing
right at the top of the circle.

the different follow throughs

Different drills for shooting

Understanding the triangle by moving
the arms without a stick. (cont.)
• 7. The arms are straight and point down at the
ground 3-4 feet from where the ball was
positioned at address
• 8. The arms are straight and end up pointing to
the target and the hands are still vertical.

Understanding the release of the right
hand/keeping the right hand vertical during
the release through the ball.
• Choke up on the stick.
• Place the hands just above the right knee.
• Point the stick at the target parallel to the heels.
• Move the hands/stick towards the ball while
keeping the hands vertical.
• This should be rythmic.

Checking the movement of
the head
• Have the player address the ball.
• Tell them to watch the spot where the ball is after the stick impacts the
ball
• Tell them not to move their head right or up or back
• stand in front of the player
• hold the hook part of the stick and extend the stick so that the handle is
near the left side of the player's head.
• have the hit the ball
• make sure that they understand that there head should not move left
into the stick handle.

Cross over step
• Use a cross over step prior to hitting the ball from
right to left

the different drills for
defenders
• hitting under pressure as a defender
• first hit out of defense
• counter attack hits

the different drills for
attacking

Drills
• Drills must be used to relate the fundamentals to
performing the skill. Drills must be used to
reinforce the skill.

Lunge position
• Assume a lunge position. The right knee should
be 6 inches off of the ground and the right upper
leg should be vertical, and the left knee is bent.
Hit the ball without moving the lower body.

Sweeping the same spot
• The player swings the stick back and forth
sweeping the stick across the same spot in each
direction (from Bulbir Singh multiple Olympic gold
medalist). The player should not collapse the
wrists on the follow through.

Top of swing check
• The player swings the stick back and freezes
their position, the coach then checks their
alignment, grabs the end of the stick and tells the
player to pull the stick down like they would in
their normal backswing so they can feel what the
swing should be like instead of the fishing/casting
motion that most use which releases the angle
between the arm/wrist prematurely.

Moving the toe at 90 degrees
through the range of motion
• The player holds the stick out in front of them at
waist high with the toe pointing up. The coach
then grabs the end of the stick and moves the
stick around the player’s waist through the back
swing and follow through keeping the toe up. The
player then understands that they should not
rotate the stick

One “armed” hitting
• Hit the ball with the right arm only. Swing the stick
back so it is pointing at the sky and the right
elbow is touching the right hipbone. Stop the
swing at the top of the swing to control the stick.
Focus on releasing the right wrist and arm
through the ball.
• Hit the ball with the left arm only. Keep the left
arm straight.

Hitting from the "zero"
degree line
• Players shoot on goal stationary/moving 7 yards
from the goal/1 foot from the goal line (this also
tests the player psychologically because the goal
mouth is only 1 foot wide at that angle)
• Variation: Hit with the right foot in front of the left
(stationary)

Hitting off of one foot
• Hit the ball of the right and left feet while
stationary and on the run. Keep the head down
and watch the ball. Point the stick at the target on
the follow through and keep both arms straight.
Stop the follow through when the stick is waist
high (horizontal).

Mini hit from knees
• Two players stand 7 yards
apart.
• Choke up on the stick.
• Rest the stick on the right
knee.
• Point the stick down the line at
the target
• Hit the ball to the other
player’s stick with a short
swing.

Head down drill

Motion tests
• Players are passed the ball from either side/the back/the
front and then must change the position of the ball and hit it
at a target (this
• Tests their ability to position the ball and adjust their body
when rotating with the ball to hit it)
• The player hits off of the right foot on the run at a target
• Hit with the right foot in front of the left (running) at a target
• There are about 50+ tests which is the subject of another
paper

Physical breakdown
• 10 balls are placed on the ground in a line 1 foot
apart, the player hits one ball after another, the
player tires and the faults under pressure become
evident.

Repetitive hitting
Hit one ball per second

Hit to the opposite side of the
goal

Wall hitting
• The player hits the ball against the wall (the ball
should return the their stick if the ball is hit
correctly-self reinforcement)

Hit at a spot from different
angles

Wall hitting

Wall hitting error zones

End line and goal
hitting accuracy test

Hitting footwork
rotataions

Hitting footwork
Rotation left

Hitting footwork
rotations (cont.)

Hitting footwork

Hitting footwork
Rotation around the ball

Hitting footwork 6

The bouncing ball in the
circle
• When the ball is bouncing in the circle the player’s
tendency will be to take a full wind up and a big follow
through.
• The bouncing ball must be hit with a shorted backswing
and with no follow through much like a half volley in tennis
• The player must swing straight through the ball and not
swing outside in and slice the ball
• The player needs to lock their wrists at impact to control
the follow through

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