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Field hockey

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A game of field hockey in progressField hockey is a popular sport for men and women in many countries around the world. In most countries, especially those in which ice hockey is not very prominent, it is simply known as hockey.

Field hockey has several regular and prestigious international tournaments for both men and women such as the Olympic Games, the quadrennial World Hockey Cups, the annual Champions Trophies, and World Cups for juniors.

Pakistani and Indian national teams dominated men's hockey until the early 1980's, winning four of the first five world cups, but have become less prominent recently, with The Netherlands, Germany and Australia gaining importance in the late 1980s (though Pakistan won the world cup in 1994, came second in 1990, and gained a bronze Olympic medal in 1992). Other strong hockey playing nations include Spain, Argentina and South Korea. The Netherlands was the predominant international women's team before hockey was added to Olympic events. In the early 1990s Australia emerged as the strongest women's country, though retirement of a number of key players has weakened the team. Other important women teams are China, Korea, Argentina and Germany.

Many countries have extensive club competitions for both junior and senior players. Despite the large numbers of participants, club hockey is not a particularly large spectator sport and few players can afford to play professionally.

In the United States and Canada field hockey is widely regarded as a girls' sport, but there are some men's leagues as well.

In those countries where winter conditions prevent play on outdoor fields, field hockey is played indoors during the off-season. This indoor variant, known as indoor field hockey differs from its outdoor parent in a number of respects. For example, the players may not raise the ball outside the shooting circle, nor hit it.

History

Games played with curved sticks and a ball have been found throughout history and the world; for example, there are 4,000 year old drawings in Egypt of the game being played, hurling dates back to before 1272 B.C., and there is a depiction from 500B.C. in Ancient Greece. There were various hockey-like games throughout Europe during the Middle Ages, and the word 'hockey' was recorded in the Galway Statutes of 1527. The modern game of hockey grew from the game played in English public schools in the early 19th century. The first club was created in 1849 at Blackheath in south-east London, but the modern rules grew out of a version of hockey played by members of Middlesex cricket clubs for winter sport. The Hockey Association was founded in 1886, the first international took place in 1895 (Ireland 3, Wales 0), and the International Rules Board was founded in 1900.

Hockey was played at the Olympic Games in 1908 and 1920. It was dropped in 1924, leading to the foundation of the Fédération Internationale de Hockey sur Gazon, or FIH as an international governing body by seven continental European nations, and hockey was reinstated in 1928. Men's hockey united under the FIH in 1970.

The game had been taken to India by British servicemen, and the first clubs formed there in Calcutta in 1885. The Beighton Cup and the Aga Khan tournament had commenced within ten years. Entering the Olympic Games in 1928, India won all five of its games without conceding a goal, and went on to win in 1932 until 1956, and then in 1964 and 1980. Pakistan won in 1960, 1968, and 1984.

Women's field hockey, played on grass. Universal until the 1970's, this is now quite rare for competitive hockey in many countriesIn the early 1970's, artificial turf fields began to be used in competition. The introduction of synthetic pitches instead of grass ones has completely changed most aspects of hockey. The game, as well as the material used to play, has taken a definitive turn, gaining mainly in speed. In order to take into account the specificities of this surface, new tactics and new techniques have been developed, often followed by the establishment of new rules to take account of these techniques. The switch to synthetic surfaces essentially ended Indian and Pakistani domination of the sport, because artificial turf was far more expensive than grass; too expensive for the two countries to implement widely in comparison to the wealthier European countries, and since the 1970's Australia, The Netherlands, and Germany have dominated the sport at the Olympics.

Women do not seem to have played hockey widely before the modern era. Women's hockey was first played at British Universities and schools, and the first club, Molesey Ladies Hockey Club, was founded in 1887. The first national association was the Irish Ladies Hockey Union in 1894, and though rebuffed by the Hockey Association, women's hockey grew rapidly around the world. This led to the formation of the International Federation of Women's Hockey Associations (IFWHA) in 1927, though this did not include initially many continental European countries where women played as sections of men's associations and were affiliated to the FIH. The IFWHA held conferences every three years, and the tournaments associated with these were the primary IFWHA competitions. These tournaments were non-competitive until 1975.

By the early 1970's there were 22 associations with women's sections in the FIH and 36 associations in the IFWHA. Discussions were started about a common rule book. The FIH introduced competitive tournaments in 1974, forcing the acceptance of the principle of competitive hockey by the IFWHA in 1973. It took until 1982 for the two bodies to merge, but this allowed the introduction of women's hockey to the Olympic games from 1980 where, as in the men's game, The Netherlands, Germany, and Australia have been consistently strong.

The field of play

Diagram of a hockey fieldMost hockey field dimensions were originally fixed using whole numbers of imperial measures and are expressed as such in this article. It is, nevertheless, the metric measurements shown in parenthesis which are the current official dimensions of the field of play as laid down by the International Hockey Federation (FIH) in the "Rules of Hockey 2005".

The game is played between two teams of eleven players on a 100 × 60 yard (91.4 m × 55 m) rectangular field. At each end there is a goal 7 feet (2.14 m) high and 12 feet (3.66 m) wide, and a semi-circle 16 yards (14.63 m) from the goal known as the "arc", or "shooting circle", with a dotted line 5 yards (5 m) from the semi-circle, as well as lines across the field 25 yards (22.9 m) from each end-line and in the center of the field. A spot, called the penalty spot, is placed 7 yards (6.4 m) from the center of each goal.

Traditional grass pitches are far less common in modern hockey with most hockey being played on synthetic surfaces. Since the 1970's sand based pitches were favoured as they dramatically speed up the pace of the game. However, in recent years there has been a massive increase in the number of 'water based' astro turfs. Indeed, international hockey is now predominantly played on this surface as it requires a greater level of ball control due to the less predicatble nature of the surface.

Rules and play
Players are permitted to play the ball with any part of the stick other than the rounded side (back). The flat side is always on the "natural" side for a right-handed person — there are no "left-handed" hockey sticks. If the ball is raised off the ground in a manner that is, in the umpire's opinion, dangerous, the ball is turned over to the other team and they receive a free hit from the point of contact. The definition of a "dangerous ball" is a matter of interpretation by the umpires. Guidance in the rules states "a ball is considered dangerous when it causes legitimate evasive action by players" — but it also depends on the speed of the ball, the height at which it is raised, and the number of players near its path. A ball travelling at high speed, propelled from short range may not give a player chance to take evasive action, but is likely to be considered dangerous. Balls travelling at head height near players are almost always regarded as dangerous, whereas a flick at knee height landing into space would very rarely be so. When shooting at goal any height is permitted as it is a shot on goal; although an umpire may still rule that a shot is dangerous. For shots on goal it is also legitimate to raise the ball using a hit, elsewhere on the pitch deliberately using a hit to raise the ball is prohibited; even if such a hit is not dangerous it should still be penalised.

For the purposes of the rules, all players on the team in possession of the ball are "attackers", and those on the team without the ball are "defenders".

One player from each team is designated the "goalkeeper". The Goalkeeper is permitted to deflect or stop the ball with any part of his or her body or stick (the same stick rules apply to goalies as to outfield players) whilst within their defensive circle (the arc or "D"). They are also allowed to propel the ball away using their kickers or their leg guards whilst within their defensive circle, but a ball propelled with the hand is considered a foul. The Goalkeeper may also act as a field player outside of the "D" but is only allowed to take part in play within the half of the field their team is defending.

If a defender commits one of the many fouls (kicking the ball, obstruction, lifting in a dangerous area, back side of the stick, etc.) inside their defensive shooting circle, or commits a deliberate or particularly serious foul outside the circle but within their defensive quarter of the field, then a complicated and indirect penalty shot is taken, called a "penalty corner". A deliberate breach by defenders within the circle, or a rule breach that directly prevents a goal being scored, results in the award of a "penalty stroke", approximately equivalent to a penalty kick in association football.

The match is officiated by two umpires. Traditionally each umpire generally controls half of the field, divided roughly diagonally, although now experiments are being made where either umpire can make any decision anywhere on the field.

The teams' object is to play the ball into their "shooting circle" and, from there, hit, push or flick the ball into the goal. The team with more goals after two 35-minute halves wins the game. If there is a draw in international tournaments the match can go to extra time and then to a penalty stroke competition.

Equipment
Each player carries a "stick", normally a little over 3 feet (90 centimetres) long and traditionally made of wood but now often made with fibreglass, kevlar and carbon fibre composites, with a rounded handle flattening out on one side and with a hook at the bottom. New rules (2006) limit the curve of the stick so as to limit the power with which the ball can be flicked. The stick is only allowed to have a bow smaller than or equal to 25mm otherwise this is deemed to be illegal. The flat side of the hook is used to push, dribble, or hit a hard plastic ball. This ball is often covered with indentations to reduce hydroplaning that can cause an inconsistent ball speed on wet surfaces. Each field player normally wears a mouth guard and shin guards. Although the only equipment required for Goalkeepers is a helmet and a stick, invariably they wear extensive protective equipment including chest guards, padded shorts, heavily padded hand protectors, leg guards, and foot guards (called "kickers").

Tactics
The main methods by which the ball is moved around the field by players are: the "dribble", where the player controls the ball with the stick and runs with the ball, pushing the ball along as they run; The "push", where the player uses their wrists to push at the ball; the "flick" or "scoop", similar to the push but with an additional wrist action to force the stick through at an angle and lift the ball off the ground; and the "hit", where a backlift is taken and contact with the ball is made quite forcefully. In order to produce a much stronger hit, usually for travel over long distances, the stick is raised higher and swung at the ball, known as a "drive". Tackles are made by placing the stick into the path of the ball. To increase the effectiveness of the tackle, players will often place the entire stick close to the ground horizontally, thus representing a wider barrier. To avoid the tackle, the ball carrier will either pass the ball to a teammate using any of the push, flick, or hit, or attempt to maneuver or "pull" the ball around the tackle, trying to deceive the tackler.

When passing and maneuvering between players, certain commands are used to ensure understanding of movements and plays among teammates. Although these vary depending on which country the game is in, there are a few standard calls. By calling "through" or "straight" the ball is passed straight ahead to another player. "Flat" or "square" signifies a pass made to the right or left of the player with the ball at a 90 degree angle. Passes made backward are occasionally signified by a call of "drop". A hit made forward at an angle is recognized as "up".

In recent years, the penalty corner has gained importance as a vital part of the game as a goal scoring opportunity. Particularly with the advent and popularisation of the drag flick, penalty corners are highly sought after. Some tactics or set plays used involve the aforementioned drag flick, the straight hit, deflections towards goal, and various, more complex plays, using passes before shots at goal.

At the highest level, hockey is a fast-moving, highly skilled sport, with players using fast moves with the stick, quick accurate passing, and hard hits, in attempts to keep possession and move the ball towards the goal. While physically tackling and otherwise obstructing players is not permitted, collisions are common, and the speed at which the ball travels along the ground (and sometimes through the air, which is legal if it is not judged dangerous by the umpire) requires the use of padded shin guards to prevent injury. Some of the tactics used resemble football (soccer), but with greater speed - the best players maneuver and score almost quicker than the eye can see.

Formations
Formations provide structure to a hockey team on the pitch. They help players understand and share the defensive and attacking responsibilities. Although higher level teams may select from a wide range of formations, teams containing inexperienced players or teams which see frequent changes to their players are likely to select from a more limited range of formations such as 4-3-3, 5-3-2 and 4-4-2. (The numbers refer to the number of players arrayed across the pitch, starting in front of the goalkeeper with the defenders, then midfield and then attack.) The 2-3-5 formation, though rarely used now, does provide common language for many players and helps explain why "centre half" is often a name used for a player in the centre of a defence with 4 or 5 players.

Because hockey teams have 1 goalkeeper plus 10 outfield players as does association football (soccer), there are many common formations between the two sports.

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