Core Skills - Coaching Notes & Videos

Hampshire Hockey is keen to emphasise that concentration on the basic skills and their competent execution is the key. ‘Basic skills’ does not mean they are easy and should be only practiced in the beginning phase of hockey.
Players need to constantly refine these skills and coaches need to provide opportunities within regular training for the basic fundamentals to be practised, refined and performed to a high level. The amount of pressure that a player is under while performing these skills can be increased as the level of the player increases.
If the basic skills of moving the ball (dribbling), receiving (trapping), passing and tackling are not competent, then more advanced skills such as goal scoring and elimination will suffer.
The skills videos below are taken from the EH National Development Themes video and have been captioned to illustrate the various foundation skills on view.
We would like to thank our Performance Director, Mike Keaveney, for his work preparing and captioning these videos.
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Receiving [1]

Wide base receive (some key points)
Step your right foot outside the line of the ball. Practice this without a stick to get the footwork correct.
Push left hand away from body to stop ball out in front of you
Cushion the ball to a stop using a soft grip of your right hand low down the stick.
Why?
The wide base protects the ball from a player (pressure) engaging from behind - see video

Post Up
The post up is not one fluid movement (it just looks that way with practice):
1. Accelerate towards the ball
2. Decelerate to stop
3. Secure the ball (received in wide base)
4. Accelerate off with the ball
Why?
The post up is a key skill to offer the ball carrier a pass to you and allows you to protect the ball from the defender who is tracking you.

Receive in flow
Your feet should be facing the intended direction of travel.
Why?
Not having to secure and then move the ball and turn your feet to carry the ball off makes for faster hockey and less time for the defender to engage you.

Posting Up | Wide Base Receive

Posting Up | Wide Base Receive

Pushing

The Push

Grip – left hand at top-
right hand further down shaft for control
Stick starts against lower part of ball
No back swing involved
Low posture and follow through to target
Transfer weight from right foot to left

The Stationary Push

The Stationary Push

The Slap Push

The Slap Push

Hitting

Low arc hit (The hit, upright hit)

The sweet spot on a hockey stick is not on the base but further up the shaft. This requires the ball to be well away from your left foot (almost a stick length). To hit the ball with the sweet spot the left hand will be close to level with your bent left knee. Try and keep the back swing below the shoulder. Avoid a golf swing which will mean that the ball was too close to your feet to start with.
Why?
Low arc hit doesn't lift as much (unless you want it to), is accurate if you set yourself up well and imparts more power to the ball as the stick is in contact longer.

The Hit

The Hit

The Simple Hit

The Simple Hit

Ball Carrying / Dribbling

Ball Carrying / Dribbling

COACHING POINTS
• Hands apart
• Low body position
• Ball out in front of body
• Ball outside right foot
• Head up, good vision
• Passing off right foot
• Identify different forms and their uses – closed, open, Indian

The 1 o'clock ball carry

The 1 o'clock ball carry

The Indian Dribble

The Indian Dribble

Running with the ball

Running with the ball

Sweeping

Sweep (Sweep Hit / Slap)

COACHING POINTS
  • Two hands together (as for hitting) at the top of the stick
  • Hit in front of the left foot
  • Back swing and follow through must be along the ground
  • Toe of the stick is always facing straight up(Right angles to the turf)
  • Follow through is a quick knocking motion of the wrists
  • The ball should be hit down the shaft of the stick (approx. 6”)
  • This style of hit uses mostly wrists to develop power
  • Knuckles need to be almost touching the ground

PROPER EXECUTION OF THIS SKILL ALLOWS
  • The full length of the stick to be used
  • Ball to be hit quickly along the ground
  • Good deception

The Sweep

The Sweep

The Slap Hit

The Slap Hit

Tackling [1]

Tackling

COACHING POINTS
  • Mobility
  • Patience
  • Footwork
  • Posture-
  • Head Up (ensure you stay down in correct position)
  • Versatility – Practice this tackling on both sides of your body
  • Reverse side tackles – players need to roll the stick over and try to smother the ball (not use the leading edge and hit the ball away)
  • Stay down on the ball until the dribbler has run on past
  • Practice good movement (footwork) after a successful tackle to ensure a quality pass

The Double Handed Block

The Double Handed Block

The Single Handed Block

The Single Handed Block

The Shave Tackle (forehand)

The Shave Tackle (forehand)

The Shave Tackle (backhand)

The Shave Tackle (backhand)

Timing is crucial. If you try and make a straight-on tackle too early, the opponent will easily be able to beat you. The best time to make a straight-on tackle is at the last possible moment, right before the opponent can make a move.

Lifting the ball [1]

The Forehand Lift

Jink left to right
  • You must drag the ball across your body from left to right.
  • At the point of jink you must rotate your stick above the ball to the reverse and allow the ball to get on top of your stick.
  • Finally, carry the ball forward and make it jump.

Forehand Lift on the run
  • Make sure the ball is out in front of you.
  • Angle the stick to get under the ball
  • As soon as the lift is completed, get the ball under control and lift your head to scan the area in front of you.

The Forehand Lift - jink left to right

The Forehand Lift - jink left to right

The Forehand Lift

The Forehand Lift

Good body position

We're grateful to Simon Hazlitt for allowing us to use this video

Good body position

Good body position

The Neutral Stick

We're grateful to Simon Hazlitt for allowing us to use this video

The Neutral Stick

The Neutral Stick



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