There is no left-handed field hockey stick. Every player, whichever hand they write with, plays the ball with one flat face and its edges, and that fact shapes your drills more than any cone layout. Start beginners on the grip and the pull, then the push pass and the receive, and leave the hit for later. USA Field Hockey's Core Skills guide(opens in new tab) puts the grip and the pull first and the hit last among its passes.
Two more rules set field hockey apart from the other stick and ball games your players may know. A hit may not be raised on purpose unless it is a shot at goal. And only a touch by an attacker within the circle can make a goal. A drill that ignores those rules teaches a habit the umpire will whistle on game day.
The table below ties each rule to the drills it shapes, and the cards repeat the rule number where it changes how you run the drill. Three cards also add the most common mistake and its fix. The rules come from the FIH's 2026 rulebook, with notes for US high schools that play under the NFHS book.
What Are Good Field Hockey Drills for Beginners?
Good first drills for beginners are pulls on the spot, an open dribble down a lane, push passes in pairs and a receiving triangle, closing on a small-sided game. Each one uses the flat face only and keeps the ball on the ground. Add the hit, tackling and shooting in the circle once the stick turns over cleanly in both directions.
Turning the stick is the skill under all the others. In the words of the Core Skills guide, "For beginner players, it is critical to learn the basic grip and practice turning the stick over to control the ball." The left hand turns the stick. The right hand stays loose enough for the stick to rotate inside it.
The guide names the most common beginner mistake as a right hand gripping too tightly, with every finger clamped around the stick. Its fix is an image you can use on day one. Ask players to hold the stick as if their right hand were wrapped around an empty toilet paper roll.
Three Habits to Protect From the First Practice
Flat face first. Edge work on the reverse side comes later. The rounded back is never used, so call it every time you see it.
Stick below the head. The rules allow playing a ball above the shoulder when it is safe, but the Core Skills guide says beginners should not do it, for safety.
The ball stays low in a crowd. Where players are packed together, the guide keeps the ball below knee height.
The 10 Basic Rules of Field Hockey, Read as Drill Setup
The ten rules that matter most for a practice cover the stick, the body, the raised ball, contact and the circle. Each one changes how a drill is set up or scored, and the table puts that change next to its number in the FIH's Rules of Hockey 2026(opens in new tab). The third column is how we read each rule for practice.
Basic Rule
Rule No.
What It Changes in Your Drill
Play the ball with the flat face or the edges, never the rounded back
FIH 9.5
Indian Dribble Gates calls out every back-stick touch. In Yard-Stick Pulls and on every reverse-side touch, the stick turns over the ball so the flat face stays on it
No hard forehand hit with the edge of the stick
FIH 9.6
Hit lanes use the flat face. Edge work stays on the reverse side and in soft touches
Field players may not stop, kick or carry the ball with the body
FIH 9.11
In receiving drills, a ball that bounces off a foot to the receiver's advantage is a turnover. It goes to the next player
A hit may not be raised on purpose, except as a shot at goal
FIH 9.9
Score hit drills on whether the ball stayed down. Teach lifting with the flick and the scoop, and never lift toward an opponent within 5 metres (about 5.5 yards), which the rule's guidance counts as dangerous
Do not touch, handle or interfere with another player or their stick
FIH 9.3
In the Three-Tackle Ladder the target is the ball. A tackle that hits the stick first is a foul, whoever ends up with the ball
Give a player receiving a falling raised ball 5 metres until they touch it
FIH 9.10 (changed 2026)
Hold the defender until the ball is controlled on the ground. FIH and NCAA games allow release on the first touch
Do not obstruct: no backing in, no blocking, no shielding the ball from a tackle
FIH 9.12
Protect-the-ball drills reward moving off with the ball. Standing over it with the stick loses the rep
Tackle only from a position where you can play the ball without body contact
FIH 9.13
In Channel Lane 1v1, a tackle that wins the ball through contact scores as a foul
Goals stand only if an attacker played the ball within the circle
FIH 8.1
Shooting drills finish inside the circle. A shot struck from outside it counts as a pass
Free hit: ball stationary and opponents 5 metres away. Inside the attacking 25-yard area (the 23-metre area in FIH rules), the ball must travel 5 metres, or be touched by a defender, ahead of entering the circle
FIH 13.2 a, b, f
Restart drills mark 5 metres with a cone and make the taker stop the ball before the self-pass
What the 2026 Umpiring Notes Single Out
The 2026 rulebook includes a section called "Applying the Rules", aimed at umpires. Two of its notes read like a review of the drills many teams run. Its obstruction note reads, "Umpires should penalise shielding the ball with the stick more strictly." On the free hit it says umpires "are sometimes not strict enough on requiring the ball to be stationary, albeit very briefly, for a free hit especially if it is taken using a self-pass."
Our reading is that both habits are learned in practice. A protect-the-ball drill that rewards a player for standing over the ball with the stick down builds the first one. A restart drill run at full speed with nobody checking the ball stops builds the second. The defending and free-hit cards on this page are set up to avoid both.
If You Coach US High School
Your high school games follow the NFHS rulebook for field hockey, which differs from the FIH rules in places. Its 2026 changes, announced in the NFHS release of February 6, 2026(opens in new tab), touch mouth protectors (Rule 1-6-1), substitutions before a penalty corner (Rule 4-4-3) and early entry at a penalty corner (Rule 10-3-3). The last one changes a drill, and the corner card in the high school section is built around it. For everything else, the NFHS book has the final word in your games.
Stick-Work and Dribbling Drills
These four drills need a ball and a stick per player and not much else. Run them at the start of practice while players arrive. Most technique points on these cards come from the Core Skills guide. For Yard-Stick Pulls, keep a running count across the season so each player can watch their own number climb.
The ball does not have to stay on the ground. The guide calls lifts the 3D skills and suggests beginners learn a little lift over an opponent's stick early, which is what the last card trains.
Yard-Stick Pulls
Stick WorkBeginner
Players: IndividualTime: 5 minEquipment: A stick and a ball per player
Builds: Turning the stick over the ball
Each player has a ball and a stick's length of space on both sides. The ball starts in front of the left toe with the stick turned over it.
1Pull the ball across to the right foot and back again.
2Lengthen the pull into a yard-stick drag, the ball traveling about the length of the stick.
3Run three one-minute rounds and count the drags in each.
Target: Each round beats the player's own count from the round before
Coaching cues
Bent knees keep the ball off the feet · Turn the stick over so the flat face plays the ball. The rounded back is a foul (FIH Rule 9.5)
Common mistake & fix
Mistake: The ball drifts back toward the feet on the reverse pull, because the stick head never fully comes over the ball.
Fix: A small turn of the left hand to the right brings the stick head over.
Clock-Face Carry
Stick WorkBeginner
Players: Individual or a lineTime: 8 minEquipment: Six cones, a stick and a ball per player
Builds: Changing dribble speed
Mark two lanes about 25 yards long. Leave the first lane open and set six cones in the return lane as stand-in defenders.
1Go down the open lane with the open dribble, the ball well out in front at 1 to 2 o'clock on a clock face centered on the player.
2Come back through the cones with the close open dribble, lower and with the ball near the stick.
Coaching cues
Head up, arms away from the body · Through the cones, the stick works like a vacuum
Indian Dribble Gates
Stick WorkBeginner
Players: Individual or a lineTime: 6 minEquipment: Ten cones
Builds: Forehand-to-reverse control
Set five gates of two cones in a line, a stride apart.
1Move the ball from forehand to reverse and back through each gate.
2Keep one grip, with the left hand turning the stick and the right hand guiding it.
3Call out every back-stick touch.
Coaching cues
A back-stick touch is a foul in a game (FIH Rule 9.5)
Common mistake & fix
Mistake: Younger players try to turn the stick with the right hand still clenched.
Fix: Run one round with the left hand alone, then add the right hand back with a gentle hold.
Lift Over a Laid Stick
Stick WorkBeginner
Players: IndividualTime: 5 minEquipment: A spare stick laid on the turf
Builds: A first 3D skill
Lay a spare stick across the turf with nobody holding it.
1Pull the ball to one side.
2Lift it just over the stick and collect it on the far side.
3Keep your own stick near the ball while it is in the air.
Coaching cues
Keep every lift below knee height in this drill · Lift over an object and away from people, never toward an opponent within 5 metres, about 5.5 yards (FIH Rule 9.9 guidance)
Passing, Receiving and Hitting Drills
Passing in field hockey starts with the push, which needs no backswing and keeps the ball and the stick head down on the turf throughout. The sweeps and the hit come after it. Receiving gets its own drill, because a good pass still needs a clean first touch.
How Do You Hit a Field Hockey Ball?
Use the Double V grip with both hands together, step so the ball sits off the left foot, take a full backswing with the toe of the stick facing up, and strike through the ball with the flat face before following through to the target. Keep the head over the ball. That is the Core Skills sequence, and the guide adds a warning for coaches: "Keep it simple."
The rules add two limits. Rule 9.6 bans the hard forehand hit with the edge, so a hard forehand hit comes off the flat face. The FIH counts a slap as a hit, so the same limit covers a hard forehand slap. And Rule 9.9 forbids lifting a hit deliberately, shots at goal excepted, so the ball you coach should run along the ground. The reverse slide is played on the reverse side. Rule 9.6 does not reach it, so its edge contact is legal.
Side-On Push Pairs
Passing and HittingBeginner
Players: PairsTime: 8 minEquipment: One ball per pair
Builds: The push pass
Partners stand about 10 yards apart. Each push starts with the stick on the ball and the passer side-on, left shoulder toward the target.
Reps: Twenty pushes each standing, then twenty more jogging parallel to each other down the field
Coaching cues
Power comes from the weight shift from the right foot to the left · With the right grip, the stick head finishes pointing at the target
Receive-and-Go Triangle
Passing and HittingBeginner
Players: ThreesTime: 8 minEquipment: Three cones, one ball
Builds: A clean first touch on both sides
Three players stand on the corners of a triangle about 12 yards a side.
1Receive, set the ball and play the next pass within two touches.
2Alternate forehand and reverse receives every round.
3Once it runs clean, receive on the move with the feet facing forward toward the goal.
4A ball that comes off a foot to the receiver's advantage goes to the next player.
Coaching cues
Eyes on the ball, body behind it · Hands out from the body, stick angled forward to keep the ball down · A ball off the foot that gives an advantage is a foul (FIH Rule 9.11)
Common mistake & fix
Mistake: The foot does the receiving.
Fix: Get your body behind the ball and the stick angled forward, so the stick takes the ball before your feet do.
Hit Lanes
Passing and HittingIntermediate
Players: PairsTime: 10 minEquipment: Two cones per pair
Builds: A flat hit that stays on the ground
Pairs stand 20 to 25 yards apart with a gate a yard wide halfway between them.
1Hit a stationary ball through the gate.
2Then take two dribbles in before striking, the way a defender hits a long pass out of the back.
Target: A hit scores only when it runs through the gate along the ground. A bounce through does not count
Coaching cues
The flat face does the hitting. A hard forehand hit with the edge is banned (FIH Rule 9.6) · A hit may be lifted on purpose only as a shot at goal (FIH Rule 9.9)
Reverse Slide Gate
Passing and HittingIntermediate
Players: PairsTime: 8 minEquipment: Two cones per pair
Builds: The backhand sweep for tight spaces
Partners stand 10 yards apart on either side of a gate.
1Pass on the reverse side only, ten each.
2Swap ends so each player passes from both the left and the right channel.
Coaching cues
Hands apart, ball ahead of the body, right hand crossing over the left for a short backswing · Contact is the stick's edge just above the head, which is legal on the reverse side (FIH Rule 9.6 bans only the hard forehand edge hit)
Tackling and Defending Drills
How Do You Defend Well in Field Hockey?
Stay goal-side of the attacker in a balanced, low stance, slow them down and steer them toward your forehand, then tackle the ball only when you can reach it without touching the player. FIH Rule 9.13 bans a tackle from any position where you cannot play the ball without body contact. Patience wins more balls than lunging.
The stance comes from the Core Skills guide, which gives four checks. Feet a little wider than shoulder width, knees inside the feet, chest over the feet and a neutral back. The steering follows from the Field Hockey 101(opens in new tab) guide from USA Field Hockey, which keeps the reverse tackle for an attacker on the defender's weak, left side. Push the attacker the other way and your stronger tackles stay available.
Defending as a group is a positioning job: who stays goal-side of whom and how a line shifts with the ball. Our field hockey positioning guide covers that with formation diagrams and a beginner walk-through. The three cards here build the individual defender, and the third one is for the attacker the defender is closing on.
Channel Lane 1v1
DefendingIntermediate
Players: PairsTime: 10 minEquipment: Four cones, one ball
Builds: Steering an attacker and timing the tackle
Mark a lane 10 yards wide and 25 yards long. The attacker has the ball at one end, with the defender 5 yards in front, facing them.
1The defender backs off, stays goal-side and steers the attacker toward the defender's forehand side.
2The defender tackles at the moment the ball leaves the attacker's stick.
Target: The attacker scores by reaching the end line, the defender by winning the ball cleanly. Any body contact is a point to the attacker
Coaching cues
Tackle only from where you can play the ball without body contact (FIH Rule 9.13)
Three-Tackle Ladder
DefendingBeginner
Players: PairsTime: 10 minEquipment: One ball per pair
Builds: The block, jab and reverse tackles
An attacker walks the ball at the defender, who works on one tackle at a time.
1Block tackle. Drop the stick low along the turf and use its full length to block the ball's path.
2Jab tackle. Jab at the ball with the left hand extended, flat side up, then bring both hands back to balance.
3Reverse tackle. With the attacker on the defender's left, reach out with the left arm, stick turned over and low.
Coaching cues
Play the ball, never the stick. Interfering with an opponent's stick is a foul (FIH Rule 9.3)
Make it harder
Raise the attacker's speed to a jog, then to live play.
Hold or Move Off
DefendingIntermediate
Players: ThreesTime: 8 minEquipment: Four cones, one ball
Builds: Receiving under pressure without shielding
Mark a 10-yard square. A receiver takes a pass with a defender closing from behind.
Target: The receiver wins the rep by passing out or carrying the ball clear of the square. Standing over the ball with the stick down loses it
Coaching cues
A stationary receiver may face any direction (FIH Rule 9.12) · On the move, never back into the defender or step between the ball and a defender trying to play it
Drills Inside the Circle and at the Free Hit
Rule 8.1 decides what a shooting drill looks like. Under it, an attacker has to play the ball within the circle for a goal to stand, and the ball has to stay inside the circle until it crosses the goal line. Shots from outside are passes.
Post Deflection is where your Hit Lanes work pays off, because a deflection inside the circle is what makes a hit from outside count.
Touch Inside the Circle
Circle and Free HitIntermediate
Players: Feeder, shooter and a goalkeeperTime: 10 minEquipment: A goal and a supply of balls
Builds: Shots that count
A feeder stands at the top edge of the circle with the balls. An attacker leads into the circle, receives and shoots at a goalkeeper or a target goal.
Target: Score a goal only when the shooter's first touch came inside the circle
Coaching cues
A goal stands only off an attacker's touch inside the circle (FIH Rule 8.1)
Make it harder
Add a defender who starts goal-side, and give the attacker two touches before the defender may tackle.
Post Deflection
Circle and Free HitIntermediate
Players: Hitter and deflectorTime: 8 minEquipment: A goal and a supply of balls
Builds: Turning a hit from outside into a goal
A hitter outside the circle hits along the ground across the face of the goal. An attacker at the near post redirects it toward the far corner with the flat face.
Reps: Switch sides every ten balls
Coaching cues
Keep your feed low · The touch inside the circle is what lets the goal count (FIH Rule 8.1)
Stop, Then Self-Pass
Circle and Free HitIntermediate
Players: A taker and two or three defendersTime: 8 minEquipment: Cones, one ball
Builds: A legal free hit in the attacking 25-yard area
Every distance in this drill is 5 metres (about 5.5 yards). Place the ball for a free hit inside the attacking 25-yard area (the 23-metre area in FIH rules), at least that far outside the circle. Put a cone for each defender that far from the ball (FIH Rule 13.2 b), and lay a cone path of the same length beside it.
1Stop the ball, even if only for a moment.
2Self-pass and carry it along the path before entering the circle.
Target: A rep where the ball never stopped goes back to the start
Coaching cues
The ball travels 5 metres, or touches a defender, before it goes into the circle (FIH Rule 13.2 f)
Drills for 7-Year-Olds and Youth Teams
USA Field Hockey builds its first game for young players around small-sided play, which it says gives every player full involvement and more contact with the ball. Its GAME ON Field Hockey guidelines(opens in new tab) set out the game on the card below, with its field size, team size and the rules a first game needs. The periods on the card are the ones the guidelines suggest for 7 and 8 year olds.
For 5 and 6 year olds the same guidelines suggest three 6-minute periods, and for players 9 and older three periods of 8 to 10 minutes.
GAME ON Rotation Game
Youth GamesBeginner
Players: Teams of six: four on the field, two in rolesTime: 25 minEquipment: Field 30 × 25 yards, goals 8 feet wide
Builds: Touches on the ball in a real game
A 4v4 game without goalkeepers. The two players off the field take a role such as umpire or manager, and everyone rotates each period.
1Play three 7-minute periods with a 2-minute change-over between them.
2Defenders stay 3 yards from the ball at the center pass and at every free hit.
3A free hit can be a pass or a dribble in any direction, taken where the foul happened.
4Playing a ball above knee height with the stick is a foul, and so is the rounded back of the stick.
Make it harder
Start with scoring from anywhere. As shooting improves, add a shooting area in front of each goal. If you play on a basketball court, the three-point line makes a ready-made one.
Sizing Drills for 7v7 and In2Hockey
Older juniors move into 7v7. USA Field Hockey describes 7v7 as a half-field format(opens in new tab) used mostly by players under 14 and as the step between GAME ON and 11v11. If you have no goalkeepers, its page suggests cones or a blocker placed mid-goal so players aim for the corners, or two goals on each end line. England Hockey's In2Hockey(opens in new tab) format for ages 10 to 14 is played 6-a-side with no goalkeepers. With goalkeepers it becomes 7-a-side.
Run your game-based drills in the format your players will meet on game day. A 7v7 team gets more from a half-field drill than from an 11v11 shape it does not play yet. Our page on building small-sided games explains how changing field size and headcount shifts what players learn from a game.
High School and Advanced Field Hockey Drills
High school games run on the NFHS book. Two 2026 changes reach the cards in this section, and they come from different rulebooks.
The aerial card follows FIH Rule 9.10, rewritten for 2026. An opponent now has to stay 5 metres (about 5.5 yards) away only until the receiver touches the ball. Before, the receiver had to control it and get it down to the ground first. By default, your defender stays on the cone until the ball is under control on the ground, which is legal under both wordings. Releasing on the first touch is the harder version on the card, for FIH games and for the NCAA, which plays FIH rules with its own modifications(opens in new tab). The NFHS release for 2026 does not mention aerial balls, so for your NFHS games, keep the default.
The corner card follows the FIH procedure in Rule 13.3, then the NFHS change. Under NFHS Rule 10-3-3, when an attacker enters the circle before the ball is played, the inserter has to go beyond the center line. Before 2026, the player who broke early made that trip. The NFHS did not add a penalty. It moved it to the inserter.
Aerial Receive From a Cone
High SchoolAdvanced
Players: ThreesTime: 10 minEquipment: One cone, a supply of balls
Builds: Bringing a falling ball under control, then protecting it
A passer flicks the ball high to a receiver 25 to 30 yards away. A defender waits on a cone 5 metres, about 5.5 yards, from the landing spot.
1The defender stays on the cone until the receiver has the ball under control on the ground, then closes.
Coaching cues
Receiver: control it on the first touch, then move the ball away from the defender
Make it harder
For FIH and NCAA games, release the defender on the receiver's first touch, which the 2026 wording of Rule 9.10 allows.
Corner Insert With the Early-Runner Rule
High SchoolAdvanced
Players: Inserter, stopper, hitter and the attacking unitTime: 12 minEquipment: A goal and a supply of balls
Builds: A legal penalty corner routine
The ball sits on the back-line inside the circle, at least 11 yards (10 metres) from the goal-post. The inserter keeps at least one foot outside the field and the other attackers wait outside the circle (FIH Rule 13.3).
1Run the corner with the inserter, a stopper and a hitter.
2Run the last three of the ten under NFHS Rule 10-3-3, where an early runner sends the inserter beyond the center line.
Reps: Ten corners
Coaching cues
A first shot that is a hit crosses the goal line no higher than 18 inches (460 mm)
The Drag Flick
Field Hockey 101 calls the drag flick a specialty skill for advanced players, counted as a push and important for high level competition. Because it is not a hit, the 18-inch limit on a first hit at a corner does not apply to it. Teach it to the two or three players who will take your corners, once their push and their lift are reliable.
Ordering the Drills Across a Week of Practice
A field hockey practice runs well on three blocks.
Stick work while players arrive.
One technical block with a drill or two from the stick-work, passing, defending or circle sections.
A game at the end, in your game format.
That split is our own coaching judgment. You will not find it in any rulebook or federation guide, and neither will you find the times on the cards, apart from the GAME ON periods.
Across a week, keep the stick work every day. Rotate the technical block. Passing and receiving early in the week, tackling and the circle later, restarts and corners at the last practice before a game. The session planning framework walks through timing each part of a practice, and the guide to drill progression design covers spacing the step from a walk-through to live play across a season.
Your Field Hockey practice plan
Add drills from the sections above to build a session you can export, print, or copy
Getting the Drills Onto Paper
This page has no separate PDF. The quickest paper copy is the plan above. Add the cards you want with Add to plan, and the plan totals the minutes. Then use Print plan, Download as Image or Copy plan. The printed plan lists each drill with its time, plus its reps and first coaching cue where the card gives them.
For the full cards, use your browser's print dialog, which prints the whole article and offers Save as PDF. Open the Common mistake & fix and Make it harder panels you want on paper first. A closed panel prints as its heading only.
Drills Worth Saving
A few weeks into the season you will know which of these drills your team needs every week. Write yours down somewhere that lasts. A drill in Striveon's drill library keeps its Drill Goal, its Drill Implementation, any phases and a video, and you can link it to each skill set it builds. Rate the same skills a few times a season with athlete development tracking and each player's ratings line up on a chart you can show them.