Field Hockey Games Part I
FLIP AND TURN
- Coloured cones (approximately 10 of each colour in three different colours)
- One hockey ball and stick each (approximately 10 mini-hurdles
This activity develops dribbling techniques and can be used as a skills practice or as part of a progressive warm-up. The whole group can be involved in the same area, or smaller groups can be set up using smaller areas. Using one of the sets of coloured cones, mark out your working area. Scatter the remaining cones and hurtles inside this area. You might use white cones to mark out the boundary, with red and blue cones scattered inside. Participants each have a hockey stick that they use to dribble a ball around the area. If participants dribble to a blue cone, they must move their ball around it clockwise before continuing. If they dribble to a red cone then they must go around anti-clockwise before moving off again. When participants come across a hurdle, they attempt to flick their ball over the hurdle before dribbling off again.
- Warn participants to be careful of collisions.
- Advise participants to keep looking up between touches.
- Participants must not try to lift their ball over the hurdle if there is another player on the other side of it. The ball should just pass over the hurdle and not go too high.
- Ensure there is plenty of space in the area so that cones and hurdles are not close together.
- To flick the ball, participants need to stop the ball and roll it back toward themselves so that they can get their hockey stick underneath.
- Change the size of the hurdles to be suitable for the age and ability of the group. Taller hurdles are more difficult to flick the ball over.
EASIER/HARDER: Change the commands when encountering the obstacles. Examples could be turning away from the obstacle or pushing the ball round one side of an obstacle while running round the other side.
INVASION GAMES: This can be adapted for use in other sports that involve dribbling such as soccer and basketball. For example, participants could dribble soccer balls.
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HORSES AND JOCKEYS
- One hockey ball between two
- One hockey stick each
This activity develops dribbling skills. Arrange the participants into pairs. Participants stand in a large circle. Each participant should have a hockey stick and each pair should have a hockey ball. Instruct the pairs to 'saddle up'. This is where one participant acts as the 'horse' while their partner acts as the 'jockey'. The horses get onto their hands and knees (with their head towards the centre of the circle). The jockeys stand over the horses, again facing the centre. The balls should be placed to the side of each pair. Call out either 'horse' or 'jockey'. If 'horse' is called, all horses stand up, then race around the circle dribbling their ball. They should all go anticlockwise around the outside and should finish in the saddle up position. If 'jockey' is called, then the jockeys race in the same way. Award points for the first three pairs back in the saddle up position (e.g., 3,2 and 1 points for the 1st, 2nd and 3rd pairs, respectively). After each participan has raced five times, the pair with the most points wins the game.
- Ensure the jockey does not sit on the horse as this may cause back injuries.
- Ensure participants dribbling the ball do not trip over or dribble into those who are left standing in the circle.
- The surface should not be slippery as participants are likely to slide if they are moving fast.
- There are a number of variations of this activity as detailed here, so try to change the game frequently to maintain interest.
- Allow rest periods so that participants have a chance to recover.
- If the ground is wet and chilly , get the horse to crouch without putting their hands down to avoid getting cold.
- Advise participants to stay close to the circle when dribbling. The further out they go, the further they rub, which takes longer.
GAME VARIATION: Participants can dribble round the circle in a clockwise direction.
GAME VARIATION: Participants must crawl through their partner's legs before dribbling.
GAME VARIATION: Participants must run around their partner before dribbling.
GAME VARIATION: Place the balls in the centre. Participants must collect a hockey ball and dribble it through the space to their partner's right before doing a lap of the circle.
INVASION GAMES: This game can be adapted for use in other sports that involve dribbling such as soccer and basketball. For example, participants dribble a soccer ball round the circle.
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TRAFFIC CONTROL
- Cones
- One hockey ball and hockey stick each
Use this activity as part of a progressive warm-up and to help develop dribbling skills. Cone out your working area. Participants each have a hockey stick and ball. They dribble their ball round the area in different directions, slowly building up speed.
One the participants are moving round, call out one of the following 'traffic controls' and players must respond accordingly:
- RED: Participants stop with their ball;
- AMBER: Participants tap their ball from left to right while standing still;
- GREEN: Participants dribble their ball round the area;
- HIGHWAY: Participants speed up;
- REVERSE: Participants dribble their ball backwards;
- DANGEROURS DRIVER: You run into the area with a hockey stick and try to hit the participants' balls out of the coned area. If a ball is hit out, the participant performs a fun challenge before rejoining the game.
- If used as part of a progressive warm-up, ensure movements are progressive. Begin with less intense movements, adding more vigorous actions toward the end.
- Warn participants to be careful of collisions.
- Ensure the size of the area is large enough for the participants to move around in.
- Add one command at a time, as the participants may not remember all of the actions if you say them all at the start.
- Encourage participants to keep close control of their ball and to frequently look up so that they do not dribble into other players.
- HARDER: Hold up a red, yellow, or green cone for the red, amber or green commands, respectively.
- INVASION GAMES: This game can be adapted for use in other sports which involve dribbling, such as soccer and basketball.
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ZIG-ZAG PASS
- Cones
- One hockey ball per threee to five participants
- One hockey stick each
Use this activity as part of a progressive warm-up, a skills practice or as a competitive race to develop passing skills. Arrange the participants into teams of three to five. All the participants need a hockey stick and each team should have a ball. Each team works in their own lane, which is approximately 40 to 50m long and 5m wide. Each team forms 'mini-gates' down the sides of their lane by placing two cones 1m apart on the floor. Between each mini-gate there should be a 4-metre gap. On one side, place the first mini-gate at the beginning of the lane. On the other side, place the first mini-gate after a 3m gap. Participants should stand in the first few mini-gates, with the person at the start having the ball. Start the activity by calling "Go". The participants pass the ball across their lane to each mini-gate in a zig-zag pattern. After passing the ball, participants must move to the next free mini-gate so that this sequence can continue. The team that gets their ball to the end of the lane first wins.
- Ensure there is a gap between each group.
- Ensure participants who have played a pass do not run in front of the other team members when running to the next available mini-gate.
- If there are three or five in each team, ensure participants run behind the person they have passed to in other to get the next available mini-gate. If there are four in the team, participants should run along the same side of the lane.
EASIER/HARDER: Change the distance between the passer and receiver.
HARDER: The ball must travel up and down the lane before the game is won.
HARDER: Two or more balls can be introduced. With more added, the team sizes need to be bigger.
HARDER: Try reverse-stick passes.
STRIKING/FIELDING/INVASION GAMES: This game can be adapted to various other sports which involve throwing and catching or passing.
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ZONE ATTACK
- One bib between two
- One hockey stick each
- One hockey ball per 10 participants
- Cones
Use this activity to develop passing and support, as well as defending skills. It is played using similar rules to a normal hockey match but instead of scoring into goals, participants must pass the ball into the 'target zones' to score. Arrange the participants into groups of 10, and separate each group into two teams of five. One team in each group puts bibs on. For each group, cone out a large rectangular pitch. At the end of the two shorter sides, set out target zones. These are the scoring areas. The target zones should be about 5m in length. Teams attack the opposite target zones, and members nominate which areas they are attacking. A "target player" from each team stands in their target zone. No other players are allowed to enter this zone, whereas the target player must stay inside it.
One of the teams starts with the ball in front of the target zone they are defending (containing their opponents' target player). When the game begins the team in possession must try to pass the ball up to their own target player. If this is achieved and the target player controls the ball, stopping it within the target zone, a point is scored. The opposing team tries to stop the ball being passed through to the target zone it is defending. If defending team takes the ball from the other, it can try to score by passing to its own target player. After a point has been scored, both target players should be changed. Participants all move back to their defending half of the pitch and the team that has conceded the point restarts with possession of the ball. Play for a set time (e.g., 5 to 10 minutes) or until one team has scored a set number of points, such as 10.
- Warn participants to be careful of collisions.
- Ensure participants are not trying to power shots through areas where opponents are standing to get the ball to the target player. Team members should dribble around opponents or pass through the gaps left by them to score points.
- Ensure there is a space left between pitches so that participants do not run onto other pitches while moving down the side of their own.
- Advise the target player that they are allowed to move around inside the target zone. This should assist movement into space and help them to receive passes from teammates.
- As the participants become more able, make the target area smaller to increase the difficulty.
EASIER/HARDER: Change the numbers of outfield players or target players on each team.
GAME VARIATION: Do not have a target player. To score, any participant can run into the target zone to receive a pass.
GAME VARIATION: Do not have a target player. Participants score by dribbling the ball into the target zone and stopping the ball. This switches the emphasis from a passing to dribbling game.
HARDER: To make the game more difficult, team members must all have received a pass before the ball is played through to the target player.
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BALL SWAP
- One hockey ball and hockey stick per participant
- Cones
This is a good activity for use as part of a progressive warm-up. Cone out your playing area. Each participant has a hockey stick and a ball. Moving in various directions, the participants should dribble their ball around the inside of the area, slowly building up the speed of their movements. As the group is moving around the area, have the participants practice a variety of dribbling skills.
As one of the participants dribbles past you, call "ball swap". The participants must leave their balls and quickly find one that was being dribbled by someone else. At this point try to pick up one of the balls. Ideally, a participant dribbling past you will leave her ball to get another one, so the ball will be right in front of you to pick up before another participant can get in. The participant who does not get a ball performs a fun challenge, such as saying something funny or performing an animal impression. Give the participant who performed the fun challenge the ball you picked up then start the fun again.
- Make the area big enough for all participants to move around in easily.
- Warn participants to be careful of collisions. They can do this by looking around and ahead of them between touches of the ball.
- Warn participants to be cautious if they are competing to get the same ball once you call "ball swap". They should be careful not to run into each other and not to hit anyone else with their stick.
- Try to vary the skills and movements the participants have to perform when they are dribbling their balls around the area.
- Participants must not dribble around next to another participant. They must move in different directions.
- Once you call out 'ball swap', if you are unable to quickly pick up one of the balls before all of the participants get one, the participant who is last to get a new ball has to perform a fun challenge.
- Here are some key coaching points for dribbling:
a) Keep close control of the ball.
b) Keep looking around for spaces between touches.
c) Maintain the correct grip when changing directions. (when changing directions, rotate the stick in the bottom hand before gripping the stick again. The grip with the top hand does not change, but the stick is rotated by turning the forearm and wrist.)
GAME VARIATION: Once all the participants except one have balls, count down from 10 to zero. The participant who does not have a ball has 10 seconds to try to knock another participant's ball out of the area. If she manage to do this, the participant who had her ball knocked out of the area performs the fun challenge. Alternatively, the participant who does not have a ball must take one from one of the other participants. Whichever participant doesn't have a ball has to perform the fun challenge.
GAME VARIATION: Use cones to separate the area into two halves. Half of the participants dribble around inside one of the areas, and the other half dribble around inside the other. When you call "ball swap", participants must switch areas and get a ball from the other area. When the game starts again, participants dribble around the area they have just moved into. The last participant to get a ball performs a fun challenge.
HARDER: When you have called 'ball swap', participants must run around one of the cones on the side of the area before getting a new ball.
SMALL GROUPS: Use this variation when you have fewer than 8 participants in your group. Participants who do not get a ball are out. After each call of "ball swap", take one ball away. The two participants who are left with a ball at the end are the winners. Once a participant is out, she is given a ball, which she must dribble around the outside of the area working on the skills until the winners are decided and a new game is started.
SPORT-SPECIFIC: This game can be adapted for use in other sports that involve dribbling, such as soccer and basketball.
From the books:
- Fun and Games : 100 Sport-Related Activities for Ages 5-16 (Anthony Dowson-Keith Morris)
- More Fun and Games: !00 new sport-related activites (Anthony Dowson)
