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Field hockey · Basic · b5

Dribble both sides and curves

At home 8 min 1 to 2 players Yard or lane, hall or court

Ready when: Grip and tapping the ball close (b1) and Dribble and stop (b2) done.

Start a session

What you are learning

Moving the ball from side to side by turning the stick over with the left hand (the side-to-side dribble), and carrying it round a cone in a curve. This lets a player move the ball away from a defender's stick.

Words on this card Stick, Flat side, Tap, Dribble, Indian dribble, Reverse side
Stick
The hockey stick, with a curved hook at the bottom called the head.
Flat side
The head of the stick has a flat side, which is the only side allowed to play the ball, and a rounded back.
Tap
A small touch of the ball with the stick.
Dribble
Moving with the ball kept close to the stick with small taps.
Indian dribble
Moving the ball from side to side in front of you by turning the stick over.
Reverse side
Playing the ball on the left side by turning the stick over so the flat side faces left.

Set up

A stick, a ball, 5 cones in a row 2 m apart, a cone 12 m away.

Weather: dry ground

The base setup for field hockey

Show it first for the one teaching

  1. Standing still, push the ball from right to left with the flat side.
  2. Turn the stick over with the left hand so the flat side faces left, and bring the ball back to the right. The right hand stays loose.
  3. Walk forward doing the same, then weave through the cones.
  4. Carry the ball round the far cone, slowing down before it.

Your part while they practise

Watch the hands: the left hand turns the stick, the right hand stays loose.

Step by step

  1. Standing, move the ball from right to left with the flat side.
  2. Turn the stick over with the left hand and bring it back on the reverse side.
  3. Walk forward doing it.
  4. Weave through the cones.
  5. Carry round the far cone both ways.

How much: 5 runs each way 8 min a session 3 days a week

Say one thing Pick one line from "What you will see" for today and say only that.

The game: Cone race

Through the cones, round the far cone and back.

Who plays: 2 children against each other, or the child against their own best.

How to play, turn by turn
Turns
  1. Set two lines of cones side by side, one for each player
  2. On "go", weave through the 5 cones, round the far cone and back through the 5
  3. A touched cone or a lost ball means going back to that cone
  4. 5 races
Fair play
A grown-up must do the whole run on the reverse side.
Points
1 point for each cone passed with the ball on the stick (10 a run); 2 bonus points for winning the race.
Fouls
Go back to the last cone
  • The right hand turns the stick
  • The ball touches a cone
  • The ball is played with the rounded side
Winning
The most points after 5 races.
Stars
  1. 20 points for 1 star
  2. 40 points for 2 stars
  3. 55 points for 3 stars

Easier or harder

Easier

Standing only.

Harder

Run, and call "look up" now and then.

What you will see, and what to say

  • the right hand turns too Right hand loose, left hand turnsThe stick spins in the right hand.
  • the ball runs away in the curve Slow down before the coneSmall taps round it.
  • the arms bend in Arms long, ball away from feetRoom for the stick to move.

Self-check

5

Through 5 cones and back without losing the ball.

Fitness for this

Warm up first: how to warm up, at workonfitness.com. For strength and stretching, its exercise library shows each exercise step by step, with an easier version.

This card trains forehand and reverse-side dribble, curves.

Basic is done when the child meets the self-checks on b1 to b3 and b5.

awiseathlete.com/sports/field-hockey/field-hockey-b5