Momentum decides which foot you shoot off. At full speed, McCann wants the forehand struck off the right foot and the backhand off the left, whether you are moving towards goal or away from it. He sees young players trying to hit flat out off the wrong foot, which is how knees get damaged, and notes the top goal scorers all do it correctly without thinking. Watch the full masterclass: 9 yard scoring.
Hitting is one of the hardest skills to reach inside small sided games, Lisa admits, because it needs space. Her answer is a continuous 3v1 where every pass must be a hit, giving attackers time against a single defender. She then reinforces the parts of the technique separately, hands together, ball near the left foot, head over the ball and kept still. Watch the full masterclass: Basic skills through Small Sided Games.
Reid gives strikers a simple rule: from the tight angles of the circle you never shoot, though he admits players like Jamie Dwyer make that a lively discussion. The stats drive his thinking. Around 70 per cent of goals come from one central zone, and a striker-to-striker pass almost always produces a good shot at goal, so individual instinct has to serve the team plan. Watch the full masterclass: Field Hockey Tactics, Trust and Team Dynamics: Insights from Indian Men’s Coach Graham Reid.