Passing accuracy in field hockey

1. Passing and shooting accuracy
The Accuracy of passes is often measured by the completion rate. The reason for the misses is often
measured during competitive games. The interceptions are measured. The misses to the left, right, and
fouls caused by the pass (e.g. lifts into players) are not measured. These types of misses are due to bad
technique more often than not. Misses to the left are due to the ball being to far forward in the stance or
to far to the left relative to the feet. Lifts are due to many reasons which are not the subject of this
paper.
Misses to the right occur less than ones to the left.
Typical misses to the left include the following:
• ball too far in front of the right mid or right wing
• shot at goal missing to the left
• pass to the left wing behind the player
• cross from the right behind the player
The ball should start near the right foot on most passes. Some passes such as the push off of the right
foot should even start behind the right foot.
When the push starts with the ball closer to the left foot the release point (when the ball leaves the
stick) tends to be outside of the left foot. Players tend to rotate their shoulders in order to assist the ball.
If you watch the Dutch and German men pass while running with the ball the stick barely moves when
they are running with the ball and make a pass. There is very little follow through. Perhaps 1 foot.
When shooting from the top of the circle players often hit the ball at the keeper. Some times this is due
to pulling the ball left when they meant to shot at the right corner.
The position of the ball relative to the feet causes the ball to go straight, left or right.
The grip used can cause the ball to go straight or left.
A typical miss while shooting on goal is due to the ball being too far in front of the player that is
shooting. The player is off balance and is leaning too far forward. The player will compensate for
leaning too far forward by rotating their hands arms and shoulders left and will pull the ball
Other reasons for the ball going left include but are limited to closing the face of the stick at impact due
to improper technique such as a baseball grip or an outside in swing.
The solution when running into the top right part of the circle from the center is to have the ball next to
or even slightly behind the right foot to protect it from the defender. The stick is raised to hit the ball
and as the player plants their left or right foot the ball will roll forwards slightly from their feet to the
correct position to hit it. This is well understood by Australian forwards. Contrast this with the typical
way that the ball is carried into the circle. The player will have the ball in front of them and will raise
the stick up while the ball continues to roll forward. The result is a less than optimal hit. Power and
direction control are lost.

2. If the ball is too far in front of the player then the player needs to “tee” up, borrowing the golfing term,
the ball by using their reverse stick to slow down the ball. The reverse stick is placed on the front of the
ball. The balls position is adjusted relative to the players feet.
The player that runs from the right side at a 45 degree angle to the goal and wants to pull the ball to the
right to shoot needs to pull the ball at a 90 degree angle to the line of the run. Typically players will be
lazy and will pull the ball forwards of the 90 degree line which puts the ball to far to the left of their
feet and they shoot wide to the left.
Misses to the right from skills performed off of the right foot are due to leaning to the right too much
and the ball spinning off of the stick.