Category: Playing Tips

Whether it is the New Year, the holidays, or just the opportunity to look back, life presents us with a chance to take stock of all we have.  One of my all-time favorite books (and movies) is Pay It Forward.  The story revolves around a boy’s class project, the concept of what we can realize if we pass on the good that comes to us.  Many of us have been given a great many gifts.  I’ll speak for myself and say many of my greatest gifts have come through sport.  In the spirit of passing on what we have and the chance to give back, I offer a list of how we can play it forward.  In no particular order:

1. Shake your opponents’ hands after every game.

2. Encourage your teammates (even after they’ve screwed up and especially if it resulted in a goal).

3. Coach a youth team.

4. Train hard when you don’t feel like it.

5. Let your teammates know when they’ve done something good in training (even when it’s scoring on you).

6. Take a younger keeper under your wing.  Train with them.  Go to their games, encourage them.

7. Pass on your old equipment.

8. If you’ve got equipment that you’re going to throw out, salvage what’s usable, buckles, straps, bolts, screws, etc.  Give it to a youth program.

9. If you’re handy, offer to help them repair their gear.

10. Show a younger keeper how to take care of their equipment.

11. Support your country’s national team.

12. Umpire.

13. Don’t yell at umpires.

14. Thank an umpire for their time and efforts.

15. Thank your coach.

16. Live with passion.

17. Add to this list.

I’m indebted to a number of people through hockey who’ve helped me along the way as a coach, a player and a person.  Now there are too many to list here, but thank you all.  Special thanks to Simon and Mike and all the folks at OBO.  Not only do they work to make better hockey players with their equipment, they make hockey better through their work.

All the best in 2008,

Jon

Goalkeepers are amazing people!!!

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Please note that OBO together with Jon O’Haire hold copyright over any material appearing on tips pages. We welcome the printing and distribution of these tips, provided that they are not sold, or used for financial gain. This paragraph must appear on all printed or distributed copies. Any photographs above must not be used in any form without express permission from Jon O’Haire.

There was a day when any lifted shot at goal had to be controlled and cleared by the keeper. Control meant stopping the ball and dropping it straight down to clear. Keepers were required to wear gloves and essentially had to catch the shot without closing their hand on the ball and drop it down. Opposing forwards knew exactly where the first save had to go and were quick to pounce on the dropped shot. If the equipment made the job difficult enough, the consequences of bad technique made the lifted shot brutal. If your save caused the ball to be pushed or deflected you were rewarded with a penalty stroke against you. If you think that was ancient history, those rules were on the books in the 1980's.

As we've moved in to the 21st century, hockey has experienced increased exposure to larger global audiences through television and the spectacle of Olympic Games and World Cups. Marketing research has shown that the new or casual spectator enjoys scoring and hockey has progressively changed the sport to open the flow for offense. Starting with the elimination of offsides, the advent of chip shots, drag flicks, reverse sweeps (or Argentinean backhands) and carbon fiber sticks, scoring and offense ruled the day. 

In the interest of safety, the game's rule-makers have become more sympathetic to the plight of today's keeper. It started with high density foam and continued with hand protectors and increased latitude in how the keeper can play the aerial shot. This year, the Hockey Rules Board put in to effect a change that can have a significant impact on the position. To better understand the potential of this rule change, let's take a look at how the rule is worded. The following comes from 2007 FIH Rules for Hockey:

Conduct of Play: Goalkeepers

10.2 When the ball is inside the circle, they are defending and they have their stick in their hand, goalkeepers are permitted to:

A. use their stick, protective equipment or any part of their body to push the ball away, deflect the ball in any direction (including over the back-line) or stop the ball.

This permits a goalkeeper to use their hands, arms or any part of their body to move the ball way, but only as apart of a goal saving action and not to propel the ball forcefully so that it travels a long distance.

Further explanation comes in the Briefings and Guidance to Umpires from the FIH:

Umpires Briefing

Goalkeepers are permitted to move the ball away with their hand/hand protector/arm/body, as part of a goal saving action

This action is permitted in ALL situations where attackers have an opportunity to score or attempt to score a goal, so it can also be used to deny attackers the possibility of possession of the ball or another shot at goal.

There is no requirement that the ball is going towards the goal when using this action, so a goalkeeper may intercept a pass across the face of the goal or sweep the ball away from in front of an attacker's stick — there only needs to be the threat of an attacker being able to play the ball.

Umpires Guidance

Allow goalkeepers to move the ball away with their hand/hand protector/arm/body, as part of a goal saving action

Permit this action in situations where attackers have an opportunity to score or attempt to score a goal, so it can be used to deny attackers the possibility of possession of the ball or another shot at goal

Be aware that goalkeepers who intentionally propel the ball over a long distance should be penalized with a penalty corner

In the realm of the aerial shot, this rule allows the keeper to bat or propel the shot. Whereas before the keeper could only deflect the ball, he/she can now use a more active skill in playing a shot in to safe areas. Slower paced flicks and difficult knee high shots can now be swatted away with hands or arms as long as they're kept in the field of play and not over a long-distance. Even the "long distance" wording to the rule gives the keeper an element of flexibility as long as he/she uses common sense in saving the scoring opportunity. An umpire is not going to allow a keeper to propel a medium paced lofted shot 40 meters, but the good news is where as before the punishment was a penalty stroke it's now a penalty corner.

The rule change has an even greater impact on how the grounded keeper can defend goal scoring opportunities. Remember the old days of 2006 and logging on corners. The keeper would lie down on the corner and the striker would hit a moderately paced shot right at his/her midsection. The initial shot wasn't a threat to score. The real scoring opportunity came as the keeper was helpless to clear the ball off his/her body and had to rely on teammates to get to the rebound before some forward came crashing in to smash the ball in to the keeper in a "best case situation." Today the keeper can sweep that rebound to safety with his/her left hand.

The Umpire's Briefing makes it very clear that the keeper can propel the ball away in any goal scoring opportunity and that goal scoring opportunities are not limited to shots on goal. Think about another situation from last year. You have a one on one with a forward, he pulls to his right and you make a great reverse stick tackle. The ball is a half a meter away from your left hand, but you can't do a thing because you can't reach it with your stick and last year's rules prohibit you from pushing the rebound away with your arms or left hand. The ball is collected and deposited in to your goal. Now you can push it out of harm's way with your left arm/hand.

Goal mouth passes outside the keeper's left foot used to present a similar problem. The keeper may have intercepted the pass diving hand first to his/her left, but he/she wasn't out of danger until the ball was cleared. Now the keeper can push/parry the ball away from the opponent.

These same rules and privileges for the keeper apply to indoor hockey with the difference being that the keeper can not raise the ball when propelling it. 

I'll admit as keeper who has played through the "good old days" there's a part of me that wants younger keepers to appreciate the older skills and experience the pressure that those situations required. Perspective tells me that doesn't have to be the case. As a coach and an advocate of the position, I see a far greater benefit to the rule change. As Richard Aggiss of the rules board noted when discussing the change, "We don't want to make life too easy for goalkeepers but we also don't want to restrict them in petty ways." Field hockey is a fast, athletic game and from a player and spectator's vantage point it's exciting to see and imagine the ways goals can be scored. With this new rule change it's equally exciting to imagine the way goal scoring opportunities can be saved.

Good luck,

Jon

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Please note that OBO together with Jon O’Haire hold copyright over any material appearing on tips pages. We welcome the printing and distribution of these tips, provided that they are not sold, or used for financial gain. This paragraph must appear on all printed or distributed copies. The photographs above must not be used in any form without express permission from Jon O’Haire.

Recently I’ve received some questions from people having problems with bonded foam separating in kickers and leg guards. First off, if your leg guards or kickers are under one year from time of purchase they should be under warranty. If that fits your situation, you should take the matter up with the agent who sold you your gear. If the pads are older than a year, than try this…

For kickers:

Most splits I see with kickers are around the strap slots between the inner and outer face of the kicker. I know there are a couple of different glues that have been used successfully to bond the surfaces together. I’ve used Shoe Goo, Sports Goop and Gorilla Glue (brand name adhesives in the US) and know that OBO recommends using a hot glue gun. You can check at a hardware or home repair store for similar types of glue where you are. Clean the section you want to clean as much as possible by running hot water in the affected areas and then allow to completely dry. My experience has been that glue alone won’t hold. I use heavy duty landscape zip ties to reinforce then split areas. I’ll apply the glue (try to avoid getting glue in the strap slots) and then use an awl to punch a hole through the inner and out face of the kikcer as close to the strap slot as possible. Run the zip tie through the kicker so the notch where the tie is secured is on the inner face of the kicker. Pull the zip tie securely (the ties are self-tightening) and then cut the excess tail. You might have to use a couple of zip ties if you have a big split. Allow 24 hours for the glue to cure and keep the kicker straps loose until the glue is set.

For Leg Guards:

You’ll need to bond the face of the leg guard to the channel that your leg fits (the outer to the inner). You can either use a hot glue gun or an adhesive. Whether you use Shoe Goo or a hot glue gun, apply adhesive liberally between the sections of foam (try to avoid getting glue in the slots where the straps run. Once the glue is applied you’ll want to reinforce the glued area with zip ties. Punch two holes through the face and channel of the leg guard about an inch apart and run the tie through the pad and pull tight. You’ll probably need more than one zip tie to securely fasten the glued area.

Good luck,

Jon

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Please note that OBO together with Jon O’Haire hold copyright over any material appearing on tips pages. We welcome the printing and distribution of these tips, provided that they are not sold, or used for financial gain. This paragraph must appear on all printed or distributed copies. The photographs above must not be used in any form without express permission from Jon O’Haire.

Drag flicks present a huge problem for keepers in that they increase the variables that a keeper must deal with on penalty corners. Previously, the straight hit was the primary option and logging became the popular technique for dealing with the well struck shot.

In my previous tip on logging, I talked about a corner set up for defense and touched on the positioning of the post player and the keeper. In that set up the post player is even with the keeper and to his left when the shot is taken which requires the keeper to effectively cover the three yards to the right of the post player (facing out). Most keepers are looking to get low and extend to their right when dropping to log and that presents a problem with balance for options and especially the drag flick.

Drag flicks require the keeper to play in a more upright and balanced stance. No longer is goalkeeper's responsibility the three yards to the right of the post player and the height of the backboard. Now he has to cover that three yards and the height of the crossbar. You need to remember that you still have a post player and he is still responsible for shots at him. If you're area of responsibility is the right side of the goal you're not going to set up on an angle to cover the whole goal, you're going to set up slightly to the right.

As I mentioned, balance is key. Your weight needs to be evenly balanced on both feet. When keepers are anticipating a shot to a side (like their right) they tend to load their weight on the opposite leg (left foot) to get full extension. That's fine if the shot is going to the right, but you're stuck if the ball goes to your left. Make sure you keep your shoulders over or between your feet. That will help keep your weight evenly distributed.

A keeper must be able to get to high and low corners on drag flicks and that requires a more explosive, bigger stance. At the top levels you see keepers keeping their hands up and out to reduce the distance they need to react to make saves to the upper corners. This also adds the illusion of size.

The width of your stance will also impact whether you can use your legs or hands to make a save on low flicks. The wider you are in your stance, the harder it's going to be to save low flicks with your legs. That typically results in the keeper diving with his hand on shots to the left.

Because of the mechanics of the drag flick, it is a deceptive shot. A strike is fairly straightforward because the ball comes off the stick head. A drag flick starts on the stick shaft and the shot location will depend on the release point. It's a hard shot to read and keepers typically have problems because as soon as they see flick, they think aerial shot. Track the ball from the pushout to the stop and react to the shot. Focus on the ball, not the striker.

The reality of corners is that when they are well executed they're lethal. Even when you know what the corner is and where the shot is going, there is a high success rate for scoring. Having said that, don't eliminate yourself by getting caught up in reacting to dummy hits and motion at the top of the circle. Successful penalty corner defense is a team effort. Your rusher has to be fearless and have the courage and confidence to limit or block the shot at the top. Your post player has got to be able to cover his area. You can't cover everything by yourself. The most realistic expectation is for you to save the saveable.

Good luck,

Jon

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Please note that OBO together with Jon O’Haire hold copyright over any material appearing on tips pages. We welcome the printing and distribution of these tips, provided that they are not sold, or used for financial gain. This paragraph must appear on all printed or distributed copies. The photographs above must not be used in any form without express permission from Jon O’Haire.