Quick answer. Circle entries matter more than possession. At the 2018 men’s World Cup, entries separated winners from losers more strongly than any other stat measured, with possession at about half that weight. Penalty corners come next: roughly one in five is converted at world level, and the four group winners in 2018 took 38% of their group-stage goals from corners. Past those two, the most useful number is the one that doesn’t match what you expected to see.
That’s the short version, built on the research and the coaches in The Hockey Site’s series on match data. Here’s the detail, and the catches that come with it.
Circle entries beat possession
Bagchi and colleagues compared winners and losers across 36 matches at the 2018 men’s World Cup. Winners came out ahead on all five stats they measured. The difference is in how strongly each one split the two groups: circle entries .663, possession .415, shots .307. Those figures are structure coefficients, and the plain reading is that getting into the circle counted for roughly twice as much as having the ball.
A study of 131 Pro League matches by Lord and colleagues (2023) adds a caution. Teams moved the ball in very different ways and still won, and the paper closes on “There is more than one way to be successful.” So the numbers don’t hand you a style. They show what winning teams of different styles share, and territory is the clearest of those.
The women’s game points the same way from an older angle. Sunderland’s team analysed 130 goals across 70 women’s internationals in 2006. When possession was regained high, in the attacking 25, goals followed more quickly, and most regains happened in the attacking half.
Know which circle entry you’re counting
The World Cup study counted every ball into the circle. Secret Analyst, which codes matches for international teams, counts only entries that produce something: controlled possession in the circle, a penalty corner or stroke, or a deflection or rebound chance. Same match, two different numbers. Neither is wrong, but you can’t hold your count against a published figure, or against last season’s, unless the definition matches. Write yours at the top of the sheet before the first match.
Count entries by zone, for and against
One entry total hides where a team actually threatens. The Belgian federation tags every event by zone, always from the point of view of the team on the ball, according to the Hudl case study with Emily Calderon. She reads the zones as a funnel: entries into the 25, then circle entries by zone, then chances or corners, and under each entry she notes how it came about: a crash ball, a run in, a pass in or a defender’s mistake.
The club version is a tally. Count entries into the 25 and the circle on the left, in the centre and on the right, for your team and for the opposition. That’s something a parent can keep from the side of the pitch, and it’s the number the World Cup research points at.
Penalty corners: one in five, four in ten
In 2018 the best men’s sides at the World Cup turned 23.6% of their corners into goals, and the best women’s sides 17.8% (Science and Sport, 2020). Rowe’s figures, cited by Klatt and colleagues, put the overall average close to 20.5%, and the four group winners took 38% of their group-stage goals from corners. Chris Fry, at the time an analyst for UNC and the USA women’s team, told Hudl: “Some 40% of goals will come from a penalty corner.” At club level, two tally marks a match, corners won and conceded with what happened, give you your own conversion rate and your opponents’ within ten matches.
The number worth most is the one that surprises you
Averages tend to confirm what you already suspected. The useful number is the one that disagrees with you. Sebastien Roland’s example in his masterclass was his back four’s outlets: three successful, twenty missed. The dashboard flagged it without explaining it, so the explanation had to come from the clips.
Shane McLeod makes the same point about scorelines. His Belgium side beat Australia 6-2, and on the count his staff keep of goals, opportunities and threats, the match was a lot closer than that: “We didn’t destroy Australia in the GOT score.” Jude Menezes puts the habit in one line when he talks about showing a player a clip: “it’s not like I think you’re doing this or I think. It’s like it’s evidence.”
Five numbers, kept all season
For a coach without an analyst, the practical version is short. Choose five numbers, write down why each one matters, and keep them unchanged for the season. Entries by zone for and against, and corners won and conceded with outcomes, already cover four. Before you open the sheet after a match, write down how you think it went. If the numbers disagree with you, pull the clips before you decide which one is right.
Two questions this usually raises
Does possession matter in field hockey?
Less than most coaches expect. In the 2018 men’s World Cup study, winners did have more of the ball, but possession separated winners from losers only about half as strongly as circle entries did. A 2022 review in football found no link between possession share and results. That’s football rather than hockey, so treat it as a nudge. Territory and entries are the safer place to look.
What is a good penalty corner conversion rate?
Around one in five at world level. In 2018 the best men’s sides at the World Cup scored from 23.6% of their corners and the best women’s sides from 17.8%, with the average across the tournament close to 20.5%. There’s no published figure for club hockey, so your own count across ten matches, for and against, is the number worth comparing yourself with.
Free sheet to print. The game data sheet has entries into the 25 and the circle by zone and quarter, for and against, plus penalty corners, with Secret Analyst’s circle entry definition printed at the top. A PDF, no sign-up needed.
Everything above comes from The Hockey Site’s four-part series on what a coach can do with match data. The first half of parts one and two is free to read. The second half of each, where the working detail sits, is in the Coach subscription, alongside the full masterclasses the coaches’ quotes come from.
Go more in depth here
Read next: With Simon Blanford, a free introduction to statistical analysis in hockey, and his masterclass on whether corners actually win games: A gentle introduction to data analysis in hockey, Do penalty corners win games?.
More coaching questions: How do I analyse a hockey match without an analyst?, We get into the circle plenty but hardly score. What should I be coaching?, How do I defend a long corner without conceding a penalty corner?, What formation should I play in field hockey, and how do I pick the right system?. All of them are in Field Hockey Coaching Questions.
The experts mentioned in this article
Shane McLeodHead coach for the national men's team of Belgium.
Jude MenezesFormer goalkeeper for India. Former coach of the national women of Japan.
Emily CalderonBelgian coach and video analyst for the national men's team of Belgium.
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