Unleash Pure Power

Great field hockey players are built through repetition, confidence, and understanding the game.

This page is designed to give Westford Youth Field Hockey players and families additional resources they can use outside of practice. You'll find skill demonstrations, simple drills players can practice at home, and explanations of some of the concepts and strategies we teach within WYFH.

Players do not need to master everything on this page. Choose a skill, practice it consistently, and have fun with it. Even 10–15 minutes of stick-and-ball work can make a big difference over the course of a season.

Stick Skills & Ball Control

Build confidence with the ball through dribbling, pulls, changes of direction, receiving, and elimination skills.

Videos & Drills to Look Up:

  • Beginner ball-control drill

  • Pulling left and right

  • Indian dribble

  • At-home stick-handling circuit

Passing & Receiving

Good teams move the ball. Work on accurate passing, soft receiving, and moving into space after you pass.

Videos & Drills to Look Up:

  • Push-pass technique

  • Receiving the ball

  • Passing while moving

  • Partner passing drills

Shooting & Attacking

Learn how to create scoring opportunities through movement, passing, rebounds, and confident finishing.

Videos & Drills to Look Up:

  • Shooting technique

  • Finishing inside the circle

  • Give-and-go

  • 2v1 attacking

Defending

Strong defense is about positioning, patience, communication, and protecting dangerous areas of the field.

Videos & Drills to Look Up:

  • Defensive stance

  • Channeling

  • Jab tackle

  • Flat-stick tackle

  • 1v1 defending

How We Play

Create Space

Spread out and make the field big when we have possession. Players without the ball are just as important as the player carrying it.

Pass and Move

After you pass the ball, move again. Find another open space and become an option for your teammate.

Support the Ball

Try to give the player with the ball more than one option. Good support can come from ahead of the ball, beside it, or behind it.

Flat Pass

A flat pass moves the ball across the field or to a nearby teammate. It helps us maintain possession and move the defense.

Through Pass

A through pass is played forward into open space for a teammate to run onto. We use it when the space is available—not simply because we want to move forward.

Use the Width of the Field

The sidelines are our friends. Moving the ball wide stretches the defense and creates more room in the middle.

Protect the Middle on Defense

When defending, we want to make it difficult for the opponent to attack directly toward our goal. Whenever possible, defenders should guide attackers toward the outside.

Don't Chase the Ball

Everyone has a job. Instead of crowding around the ball, trust your teammate and find the next useful space.

Communicate

Talk constantly. We emphasize knowing each other’s names and using them. Simple communication like "I'm here," "left," "right," "time," "turn," "your name," and "man on" helps teammates make better decisions.

Practice at Home

You don't need a field to improve.

Grab your stick, a ball, and a safe area and spend 10–15 minutes working on:

  • 50 controlled touches

  • 20 pulls right-to-left

  • 20 pulls left-to-right

  • 30 seconds of Indian dribbling × 3

  • Dribbling around cones or household markers

  • Passing against a rebound board or safe wall

  • Receiving the rebound and moving immediately into your next skill

Challenge yourself to keep your eyes up as much as possible.

The goal isn't to go as fast as possible. Start with control. Speed will come.

Player Development by Age Group

Grades 3/4: Build the Foundation

At this age, our priority is developing confidence with the stick and ball while beginning to understand spacing, teamwork, and basic game decisions.

By the end of the season, we would love for our 3/4 players to be increasingly comfortable with:

1. Proper Grip & Athletic Stance

Players should be comfortable holding the stick correctly and playing in a balanced, ready position.

Focus: knees bent, body low, head beginning to come up while carrying the ball.

2. Controlled Dribbling

Move the ball while maintaining control rather than simply pushing it ahead and chasing it.

At-home challenge: Create a small cone course and dribble through it using controlled touches.

3. Pulling the Ball

Players should begin using simple right and left pulls to move the ball away from defenders.

4. Push Passing

Develop an accurate push pass to a teammate.

Our emphasis is on accuracy before power.

5. Receiving

Instead of allowing the ball to hit the stick and bounce away, players should learn to receive with soft hands and bring the ball under control.

6. Looking for a Teammate

Before automatically dribbling, begin asking:

Can I pass?

We want players to become comfortable sharing the ball.

7. Spacing

Players should begin recognizing that they do not need to stand next to the ball to be involved in the play.

Our reminder:
Spread out. Find space. Be an option.

8. Basic Defense

Players should understand:

  • Stay between the attacker and our goal.

  • Keep the stick down.

  • Be patient.

  • Try to guide the attacker toward the outside.

Grades 5/6: Play With Purpose

At the 5/6 level, we continue developing individual skills but place much more emphasis on decision-making, movement, possession, and understanding the full field.

Players should continue mastering all 3/4 skills while developing:

1. Ball Control With Eyes Up

Players should begin scanning the field while carrying the ball rather than watching the ball continuously.

2. Passing on the Move

Players should be able to pass while moving and receive a ball without stopping the entire play.

3. Pass and Move

A pass is not the end of the play.

After passing, immediately find another useful space.

This creates one of the most important combinations in field hockey:

Pass → Move → Receive again

4. Give-and-Go

Pass to a teammate, move around or beyond the defender, and become available to receive the ball back.

5. Flat Pass vs. Through Pass

Flat Pass

A pass across the field or between nearby teammates that allows us to maintain possession and move the defense.

Through Pass

A forward ball played into open space for a teammate to run onto.

A through pass is useful when the space is actually available. We don't want to force the ball forward simply because our goal is in that direction.

6. Width

When we have possession:

Make the field BIG.

Players away from the ball should spread wide and create passing lanes.

When everyone moves toward the ball, we actually make defending easier.

7. Support

The player carrying the ball should ideally have several options.

Teammates can support:

  • Ahead of the ball

  • Beside the ball

  • Behind the ball

Sometimes the best pass is backward so that we can keep possession and attack somewhere else.

8. Switching the Field

If one side becomes crowded, move the ball backward or across the field and attack the open side.

We do not need to force the ball through traffic.

9. Defensive Channeling

Rather than immediately diving for the ball, defenders should learn to control where the attacker can go.

Whenever possible:

Protect the middle and encourage the attacker toward the sideline.

10. Defensive Patience

A defender does not have to win the ball immediately.

Sometimes the best defensive play is simply slowing the attacker down while teammates recover.

11. Communication

Good teams talk.

Useful field communication includes:

"I'm here!" — passing option available
"Left!" / "Right!" — option beside the player
"Time!" — player has space
"Man on!" — defender approaching
"Turn!" — space available behind
"Back!" — support option behind the ball