Thursday 13 July 2017

Future Hockey Coaching Direction: Part 1

Since the introduction of quarters to International level hockey in 2015, I have felt that know one coach has really found a way to harness this to its full potential and maximize the benefits for their team over all the others.

Before the introduction of quarters we saw the Australian Kookaburras Men's team transform the game with a fast, free flowing running, attack through the top of the circle game which was built on momentum, but once quarters were introduced the Australian coaching staff, in my opinion, failed to adjust this plan and as a result they slipped out of the medal in Rio two years after their triumphant World Cup. Why did this happen, in part it was quarters hockey, it changes that game of momentum hockey as there are breaks which stop the momentum of teams.

So what am I thinking, well I believe the key is your rotations, I don't think anyone has really used the rotations in a way that works well, the closest I have seen to anyone doing this wasn't even at International level, it was in Hobart in 2016 at the Australian Women's Masters when WA Over 40's seemed to be doing something very different with their bench running rotations at a constant rate through the midfield, this seemed to allow them to keep the momentum from quarter to quarter much better.

So my thoughts are that you virtually carry only midfielders, and forwards on your bench and constant rotate every quarter at high levels through this lines, and try to create a sense in the opposition of being overwhelmed and allow for fresh legs late in the final quarter which will allow your team to have the momentum when it counts.


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