Sometimes it pays to dig in your parent’s basement when you’re home for the holidays.
The final drill for the 2021 season comes to you from The Coach’s Collection of Field Hockey Drills published in 1982 and edited by Donna Fong! We’ve adapted a great small-sided attacking drill created by Judith Davidson for you to try at your next #ThrowbackThursday practice.
Objective: For attack — to cross the opposite line by utilizing give-and-gos with the sideline passing options. For defense — to dispossess attacker and cross the opposite line with the ball.
Set Up:
- Create a dribbling grid 15-25 yards long and 10-15 yards wide with two passing lanes outside of the grid
- Place two ball piles at either end of the grid
- Split team into two lines on either end of the grid with two passers (P) in the passing lanes
The Drill:
- Player A starts with the ball, passes to Player B who is 5 yards away
- Player B passes back to Player A to start the 1v1
- Player A and Player B play a 1v1 within the grid, Player A can utilize either passer (P) to create a give-and-go
- Player A works to cross the opposite line with the ball, under control
- Passers cannot enter the grid and cannot dribble the ball
- As soon as Player A successfully crosses the line, Player C starts the next ball with Player D playing defense
- If Player B comes up with the ball, they automatically become the attacker and work to cross the opposite line, they may also use the passers in give-and-gos, once Player B successfully crosses the line, Player D starts the next ball with Player C playing defense
Points of Emphasis:
- For defenders — approaching the ball in the line of one pass, marking the attacker to intercept the go pass (of the give-and-go)
- For attackers — playing fast and creating space to receive the go pass, attacking on angles, reading the stick of the defender
- For passers — positioning themselves to be available for a pass, giving the ball quickly after reception
Recommendations:
- If you have a large team, create several grids so that everyone gets a lot of repetitions
- For beginners, make it directional (players only attack from Player A’s side) rather than continuous to focus on 1v1 skills and give-and-go opportunities