Field Hockey Coaching Tips

If you are coaching field hockey but have no idea what you are doing, then you need to know some field hockey coaching tips. If you follow all of these tips, you will have definitely have a successful experience coaching a field hockey team, and will probably be surprise at how well your team shows improvement.

1. Know the basics of field hockey before trying to coach it. Field hockey is played with regular hockey sticks and a ball. Each team consists of eleven players on the field, ten of which are on the field as forwards, centers, etc. and one player being the field hockey goalie.
2. Get some plays made for your field hockey team. This is something that you really want to do if you intend to win any games, because it will give your team a sense of direction on the field while playing hockey instead just running around and waiting for something to be done.  Get your teams input on these plays and take their ideas, but once again, don’t let them run everything! A good play to run with your team is the breakout. To do this play, your team has to steal the ball while it is in their defensive zone and then rapidly move up the field while the other teams offense is still on your side of the court. You then have an easier time making your way to the net.
3. Know how to practice with your team. Field hockey requires a lot of running, so that is what you want your team’s main focus to be. Laps are the best way to get your teams legs strong and lung capacity bigger. You also need to do some do some ball handling drills by setting up cones and have your team dribble around them using the figure eight design by going in and out of each cone. Also do some shooting drills by doing the obvious and setting up a goal and have your players shoot towards the goal while your goalie is in it; also good practice for the goal keeper!
4. Don't forget the defensive practice. The best way to practice is to run a scrimmage game, because it will be more realistic for all of your players and also it will keep them from getting in habit of doing something a certain way, such as always running to cover one spot on the field when they may be needed somewhere else.