BACK TO HOCKEY
Coaching Information Pack
WELCOME!
We are sure that you will find the players at your Back to
Hockey sessions a sociable and engaging group. On
our travels across the country we have met lots of Back
to Hockey players and time and time again we’ve heard
individual stories of how hockey has had a positive
impact for players. You can read some of them on
www.englandhockey.co.uk/backtohockey
As the coach of the Back to Hockey sessions we believe
that you are key to enhancing the player experience.
Your ability to create an enjoyable environment and
tailor your sessions towards the individuals attending will
ultimately be what keeps people coming back week after
week.
Within this pack you’ll find lots of helpful information
from our coaching team to support you with the delivery
of your Back to Hockey sessions.
WHY RUN BACK TO HOCKEY SESSIONS?
There are thousands of women across the country who
may have played hockey previously; at school or college
perhaps but for one reason or another stopped playing.
49% of current Back to Hockey players last played 10+
years ago.
For others, Back to Hockey sessions may be the first
time they have picked up a hockey stick. With this in
mind it is likely that for many women even attending the
first session is big achievement.
Back to Hockey sessions aim to break down perceptions
and barriers and provide women with the confidence to
try hockey in a relaxed environment with players who
are also returning or new to the sport.
PLAYERS WANT THE SESSIONS TO BE ABOUT...
We spent time asking Back to Hockey players what they most want from sessions. The most common
themes were...
Meeting
people/
socialising
Inclusive
environment
Being active
Fun
Friendly and
welcoming
Motivating
atmosphere
Playing /
taking part
ENHANCING THE PLAYER EXPERIENCE
Back to Hockey players are eager to learn new skills
and play games but socialising and having the
opportunity to catch up with friends is equally as
important.
How can you as a coach give a Back to Hockey player
the tools, motivation and most importantly fun to carry
on playing hockey for a lifetime?
Within the participation environment the challenge is not
necessarily to accelerate the player to the top of their
game.
During your sessions get to know what individuals what
they are looking to get from their sessions and beyond:
•Does the player want to become part of a Saturday
team?
•Do they want to attend more regular coached
sessions?
•Or perhaps do they want to play informally during the
week?
THE C SYSTEM
The ‘C’ system is a framework has been developed by
Richard Lerner and Colleagues. The system uses five
words which begin with the letter ‘C’ and are linked with
players having positive experience and increased
personal development.
The next few pages will take you through what the C
system is likely to look like in practice within Back to
Hockey sessions.
Connection
Confidence
C
system
Character
Competence
Creativity
C’S OF COACHING
Connection
In sport players and coaches can build positive bonds through the chance to work with and
help others, be part of a group and understanding the intrinsic benefits of participating in
sport.
In your role as a Back to Hockey coach you will be able to help players connect with each
other and the benefits of Back to Hockey and your club.
Character or
Caring
Creativity
Based on exercising respect for societal and cultural rules, possessing standards for
correct behaviours, a sense of right and wrong and a sense of sympathy and empathy for
others.
In essence it’s respecting the codes of hockey and having standards for correct behaviour
and a sense of integrity about what is right and wrong.
It’s all about individuals finding the solutions to problems. Encourage players to find their
own ways to practice, play and perform through methods such as:
-Teaching games for understanding
-Rules and game making
-Scenarios
-Goal setting
C’S OF COACHING
Competence
Supporting the player in the development a positive view of their actions and their ability to
do things by evoking a sense of achievement. Coaches understand the player’s current
ability level and plan appropriate activities which take into account a player’s physical
health and social motives.
This hinges on a player having an internal sense over overall self-work (‘I am OK) and
self – efficacy (‘I can do things’).
Confidence
This is promoted in sport through exposure to success (internally referenced) and
individual and/or group challenges that are realistic, and build resilience, coping with
failure and learning strategies.
All this should be in an environment that stresses personal improvement and values
effort and persistence over outcomes and results. Coaches can use methods such as
differentiation and STEP – Space, Task, Equipment and People to build confidence
WITHIN BACK TO HOCKEY SESSIONS
During sessions the game should be a real focus. Players
will develop through fun, game like activities by ‘playing the
game’ rather than through traditional drills.
You may need to tech novice players initial techniques such
as how to push and receive the ball but aim to get players
into game like activities as quickly as possible.
Coach as a facilitator
Within Back to Hockey sessions the coaches play more of
a facilitator role than a directors role. Rather than
instructing players how to perform, coaches provide key
coaching points and set the players a challenge they solve
through activity.
This method of coaching enables players to learn through
self discovery rather than coach direction. For example, the
coach may ask:
• How can you work together to stop the opponents
scoring?
• How can you include everyone?
Facilitator
Change it
Role models
Great
player
experience
Fun
Questioning
Discrete
coaching
WITHIN BACK TO HOCKEY SESSIONS
Discrete coaching
Coach instructions and demonstrations are kept to a
minimum. Allow play to continue and support player
understanding by having a quick chat with individuals in
an unobtrusive way whilst the activity continues.
This enables the player to have one-on-one coach
support when required whilst other players are able to
maximise playing time.
Role models
Use role models during activities to demonstrate and
emphasise good technique or strategies. Be aware of
social considerations when adopting this strategy.
Ask the players questions
Questioning is a valuable strategy to engage the players
themselves in changing the activity to increase
participation and to make the activity more or less
challenging.
BACK TO HOCKEY OUTLINE PROGRAMME
The following is a suggested outline programme themes
you may wish to use for session delivery. You may wish
to change or amend activities based on your groups
individual needs.
Session 1 – “Getting to know you”, moving with the ball,
self pass and push pass.
Session 2 – Moving with the ball, push pass, receiving
and space awareness.
Session 3 – Passing options, receiving and space
awareness.
Session 4 – Teamwork and defending
Session 5 – Teamwork and goal scoring
Session 6 – Team work
SESSION 1 EXAMPLE
Session Content
Working On
Time
Review
Introduction & warm up
Fun start, getting to know you
and basic movements
10 minutes
NB. Light jogging, include
lunging and squatting. Relay
Activity 1
1v1 head to head – moving
with the ball and defending.
8 minutes, 2 minute break
Start with a ball each to go for
rather than the challenge of
being first
Activity 2
Push pass and/or slap.
Introduction to passing
10 minutes, 5 minute break
Ensure success, differentiate
abilities, change distances
Activity 3
3v1 cone knock down.
Passing and defending
3 minutes, 2 minute break x 3
Sticks on the ground at all
times
Activity 4
4v2 jail break, passing and
moving with the ball
10 minutes
Start the next session with a
competitive game like this?
Cool down
Recovery via walking
10 minutes
Slow and long stretched on
major muscles required
Overall comments:
Got to know each players names. Session flowed well and was
pitched at the right level.
Player feedback:
Longer breaks required after those activities that involved
everyone
1V1 FIND THE SPACE – MOVING WITH THE BALL
How:
•Divide the group into teams of three
•Set up a 23m x 23m pitch for each game.
•Place one cone in the middle of the pitch
•Place the ball in the centre of the pitch.
•The first player for each team starts at their base and
waits for the call of ‘Go!’ from one of the other waiting
players.
•On the ‘Go!’ the players are released to sprint round the
cones and through their goal.
•The first player to the ball becomes the attacker.
•Using normal rules play continues until a goal is scored.
•The team with the most points wins.
•This exercise can be used to rehearse moving with the
ball, defensive techniques and tackling back/counter
attacks if the ball is lost or won.
1V1 FIND THE SPACE – MOVING WITH THE
BALL/DEFENDING
How:
•Divide the group into teams of three
•Set up a 23m x 23m pitch for each game.
•Place one cone in the middle of the pitch
•Teams start behind one of the goals they are defending.
•The first defender starts the exercise by running from
their goal to the middle cone. As soon as the defender
touches the cone the attacker is released.
•The attached aims to carry the ball their either set of
cones on opposite sides of the pitch (start using a self
pass).
•Play using normal rules until at least a point is scored
or the ball goes out of play.
•After each 1v1 game the teams switch between
attacking and defending.
•In attack players can practice moving with the ball and
in defence players can practice techniques such as the
block tackle and channelling.
PUSH PASS INTRODUCTION - PASSING
How:
•Working in pairs players set up three gates which are
increasingly closer together in size.
•This exercise can be used to introduce players to the
push pass and receiving the ball.
•Players stand opposite each other on either side of the
gate they are working on.
•Using the ball the players aim to complete a certain
amount of passes before moving onto the next gate. You
may wish to ask players to decide their target number of
passes on each cone within an allotted time limit.
•To give initial accuracy the players could start the
exercise a few meters apart. As players become more
confident with the exercise the distance between them
can be increased to make the exercise harder.
HITTING INTRODUCTION - PASSING
How:
•Players work with a partner and set up five cones
approximately one stick length apart. Set the cones so
players are hitting towards a fence.
•Each player receives ten push passes from their
partner. They control the pass and aim to hit the ball at
the red cone or through the gates keeping track of their
score.
•Before the exercise starts ask players to come up with
an individual number of points they would like to get to.
•Make it competitive – Two teams compete head to
head. Who can score the most points from twenty hits?
1pt
5 pts
10 pts
5 pts
1pt
DANGER ZONE – MOVING WITH THE BALL / PASSING
How:
•Divide the group up into teams of five.
•Set up a 23m by 23m pitch for each game.
•Four players (attackers) start on the outside of the large
box with one player (defender) starting inside the small
box.
•One attacker starts by carrying the ball into the small
box. As soon as they are inside the small box they can
look to pass to a team mate on the outside box. The
attacker then follows their pass outside the box to
replace the new attacker.
•The defender must stay inside the small box and aims
to win the ball if they make a clean tackle. If successful
the defender and attacker swap roles and the challenge
continues.
•This exercise supports to introduce attacking players to
2v1 scenarios where they look to engage with the
defender and then pass to a team mate who is in space.
MOVE AND FIRE - PASSING
How:
•Divide the group into small groups depending on
numbers.
•Set up a pitch which is 23m by 30m.
•The first player in each line leads towards the player
from the opposite team with the ball.
•Players ‘post up’ (lead at pace into a position where
they can receive the ball in front of their right foot)
•The receive a push pass, secure the ball and turn to hit
the ball into the goal.
•Once the player has taken their shot they join the back
of their original line.
•The two teams can play head-to-head to see who can
score the most goals in a certain amount of time.
1V1 JAB TACKLE – DEFENDING
How:
•Divide the group into teams of four.
•Set up a 23m x 10m pitch for each game.
•One player from each team lines up on opposite ends
of the middle box with a ball positioned midway in
between them.
•On the call of ‘Go!’ from one of the resting players, both
players attempt to win the ball using a jab tackle.
•The player who gains possession from the start aims to
carry the ball through either end goal at the opposite end
of the pitch.
•The defender aims to gain possession and score in
either goal at the end they are attacking towards.
THE JOKER – GAME PLAY
How:
•Divide the players into two equal teams and allocate an
additional player the role of the ‘Joker’.
•Using normal rules teams aim to score into their
opponents goal.
•The ‘Joker’ always plays for the team in possession of
the ball, creating a one player advantage to the
attacking team at all times.
•This numerical advantage should enable the attacking
team to retain possession of the ball as they have an
additional passing option available to them.
TRAMLINE HOCKEY– GAME PLAY
How:
•Divide the group into teams of four and set up a playing
area with two goals and two attacking areas at each
end.
•Using normal rules team aim to score in either of the
goals on the opposite sides of the pitch.
•Attackers much be inside the attacking scoring zone to
score.
•Three players from each team start on the pitch. The
fourth player from both teams plays outside the sidelines
and can move anywhere along the side line. Both teams
can use wide players to maintain possession.
•This exercise encourages players to maintain
possession of the ball by using space and in particular
width.
•Swap the wide players after every goal scored.
ATTACKING THE SPACE – GAME PLAY
How:
•Divide the groups into team of three and set up a small
sided game.
•Set up goals using one stick length between each cone.
•Using normal rules teams aim to score in either of the
goals at opposite ends/sides of the pitch.
•Teams score 1 point when they score through the side
goals and 6 points when they score through the middle
goal.
•This team supports players with learning about
attacking the space. If the space ahead of them is
congested they can bring the ball back into space and
attack the opposite goal or retain possession as
opposed to being closed down by opposition players.
1pt
6pts
1pt
3V1 CONE KNOCKDOWN– GAME PLAY
How:
•Divide the group into teams of five and set up a small
playing area with cones in the middle.
•Number each member of the team from one to five.
•The challenge starts with one player resting and four
players working together to maintain possession of the
ball within the playing area.
•The resting player calls out a number from one to four.
The player whose number is called becomes the
defender and must stop the three attackers from
keeping possession of the ball or knocking over one of
the large cones in the middle of the box. The attackers
can knock down a cone by dribbling or passing through
the cones or hitting the cone directly.
•As soon as the defender wins the ball or a cone is
knocked down the challenge is over and re-starts.
CONTINUOUS 3V2– GAME PLAY
How:
•Divide groups into teams with a minimum of 6 players
in each. This exercise takes a lot of energy so larger
groups will give players more time to rest.
•Three attackers from one team (in this case blue) start
with the ball and aim to score within their oppositions
goal.
•Two defending players from the opposition team (in this
case orange) aim to gain possession of the ball or force
the opposition team to take difficult shots from wide
angles.
•If the defending team gain possession they aim to
score in the oppositions goal via a counter attack.
•Once play is completed the teams switch roles; the two
defending players stay in play and become attackers
and the team which were originally attacking drop out
and their two remaining team mates become defenders.
•To keep the game flowing it is worth having a stock pile
of balls with each team just outside of the playing area.
4V2 JAIL BREAK– GAME PLAY
How:
•Divide the group into teams of four and set up a playing
area.
•Two players from each team start inside the box with
the remaining two players on each team or ‘prisoners’
starting in ‘jail’ (on their allotted cone/corner).
•The team that starts in possession of the ball must
complete one pass before they can look to pass to their
team mates and release them.
•Once released the player is then free to join their team
mates within the game.
•If the defending team win the ball then they become the
attackers and try and release their team mates.
•The team which achieves the most jail breaks wins the
game.
UP THE PRESSURE – GAME PLAY
How:
•Divide the group into teams of four and set up a small
game play area.
•Team A starts in possession of the ball with all four
players inside the box.
•Team B starts outside of the box with one player within
the playing area.
•Team A aims to maintain possession for as long as
possible. Their task is made increasingly difficult as an
extra defender is added into the box every 20 seconds
or alternatively every 4 passes.
•Defenders aim to gain possession of the ball or force
the attackers to pass the ball over the side line of the
box. As soon as this happens the teams swap roles and
repeat the exercise.
INTERACTING WITH ENGLAND HOCKEY
We want to know how your sessions go!
You and your players can find us at facebook.com/englandhockey
to post on our wall.
On Twitter remember to mention @EnglandHockey with the
#BacktoHockey. It would be great for you to tweet us your photo’s.
Alternatively send any great Back to Hockey stories, photos, videos
or press clippings to [email protected]