Field Hockey

Field hockey, commonly known as hockey, is a popular sport for men and women in many countries. It is played in open field. Two opposing teams try to drive the ball into the opponents' net with the help of curved sticks. The team putting the ball in opponents' net maximum scores the most. DO YOU KNOW Hockey is the national game of India and Pakistan Indian and Pakistani national teams dominated men's hockey until the early 1980s. India and Pakistan won four of the first five Hockey World Cups. After 1980, Netherlands, Germany and Australia gained importance. Other strong hockey playing nations are Spain, Argentina and South Korea. HISTORY OF FIELD HOCKEY It is not known when and where hockey began. Historical records show that hockey type game was played in various antique civilizations. 4,000-year-old drawings found in the Beni-Hasen tombs, in the Nile Valley (Egypt) depicted men playing this sport. Some other traces show that the Arabs, the Persians, the Romans (a version called paganica) , the Ethiopians and the Aztecs were playing a variation of hockey. The first ever evidence of a a team sport was found on bases of statues, which were part of the wall built by Themistocles in 478 B.C. The European settlers in Argentina in the 16th century described a somewhat hockey-like game of the Araucaño Indians known as cheuca or 'the twisted one' from the twisted end of the stick used by players. In the Middle Ages, games like hockey were played throughout Europe. It was known as cambuca (or comocke or cammock; compare modern camogie) in England, shinty in Scotland, jeu de mail in France, and het kolven in The Netherlands. Modern hockey was developed in the British Isles. It became firmly established by the first half of the 19th century.

HOCKEY FIELD

• 100 × 60 yard (91.4 m × 55 m) rectangular field.
• The goal is 7 feet (2.14 m) high and 12 feet (3.66 m) wide.
• The semi-circle is of 16 yards (14.63 m) from the goal known as the shooting circle (or D or arc)
• The dotted line is 5 yards (5 m) from the semi-circle
• The lines across the field is 25 yards (22.9 m) from each end-line and in the center of the field.
• The penalty spot or stroke mark is placed 7 yards (6.4 m) from the center of each goal.

HOCKEY TIPS

• A "push" shot is played when the player uses wrists to push at the ball.
• "Flick" or "scoop" shot is similar to push but it requires an additional wrist action to force the stick through at an angle to lift the ball off the ground.
• A "hit" is a shot where a backlift is taken and contact with the ball is made quite forcefully.
• To produce much stronter hit, the stick is raised higher and swung at the ball, known as a "drive."
• A term "tackle" is the placing of stick into the path of the ball. To increase tackles effectiveness, players place the entire stick close to the ground horizontally.
• "Flat" (also known as square) signifies a pass made to either the right or left of the player with the ball at a 90 degree angle.