Train your hockey gaze: shooting more goals on target with the ‘quiet eye’ technique

Sports psychologists are researching elite athletes' vision on the ball. They are finding that apparently the better athletes are at making the ball go where they want it too, the better they are at something called 'quiet eye' tracking. Scientists at Calgary University and Essex University are using eye trackers to establish the best place to …

How to defend a drag flick

The latest issue of Planet Hockey (issue 3, see link below to download) is well worth a look and has an interesting feature on defending a drag flick. It suggests... #1 Prepare early and decide on a defensive set up. Many teams have set running patterns for a penalty corner. For example first runner pressures drag …

How to score a deflection goal

Deflections and tip-ins are one of the most common ways to score a goal - redirecting the course of a ball hit by a team mate into the goal. Become skilled at it and you'll be popular with your team. Deflections are unpredictable for goalies. They pop up, fly wide, spin sideways and are difficult …

Here’s what a top hockey coach observed at the 2014 world cup…

Tasmanian Institute of Sport Hockey Coach Andrew McDonald (pictured below) attended the World Cup for a HA Coach education study tour.Here are some of his fascinating observations about what he saw there. His notes identify trends in play - and training implications for this. For example, the increasing use of shave tackles and what this means for where and how …

Defending penalty short corners

Tips and information on how to defend a penalty corner... This is Dutch international Tjerk's powerpoint on offensive and defensive corners This post has a great video with captions about defending a short corners https://playbetterfieldhockey.wordpress.com/2015/01/05/how-to-play-left-back-defender-in-field-hockey/ This is a short but easy follow video that looks a bit more like club hockey might. In the higher level Olympic …

Gadget that helps you learn to dragflick. Does it work?

There's a machine available to help you learn to dragflick. It's what amounts to an elevated platform. It's called the Sleeppush - and looks like a mini ski slope. But does it work - and can you buy one? From the image above, I'm also thinking could you make your own improvised one with a …