Passing sequences towards field goals and penalty corners in men’s field hockey

Abstract

Ariff, M., Norasrudin, S., Rahmat, A., & Shariman, I. (2015). Passing sequences towards field goals and penalty corners in men's field hockey. J. Hum. Sport Exerc., 10(Proc2), pp.S638-S647. Modern field hockey relies on effective game play within wellstructured ball movement as its multidimensional factors in contributing field goals and penalty corners. Therefore, the objective of the study was to analyse the effect of passing sequences (longer passing sequence and shorter passing sequence) towards field goals and penalty corners in men's field hockey. Passing sequence referred to how many touches or passing made towards obtaining field goals or penalty corners won by the attacking team. Longer passing sequence was passing made more than five times, meanwhile shorter passing sequence was passing made less than four times. Analysis of 24 footages/ video taken from World Hockey League Semi Finals at Johor Bahru, 2013, including 8 countries (Germany, Argentina, England, Korea, Malaysia, Japan, Pakistan, and South Africa) competing to qualify for World Cup 2014. The analytical process focused on two different passing sequences in attacking on field goals and penalty corners in men's field hockey. Two reliability tests, (intra and inter observer test) were conducted on researcher before going through the analysis process. All the footage/video were analysed by using computerized analysis software (SPORTCODE ELITE). A Wilcoxon Signed Ranked Test was deemed the appropriate statistical method to determine the effect of this study. Results showed that there were significant different between shorter passing and longer passing sequence towards field goals when, (z = -4.05, p < .05), and the median for shorter passing sequences is greater than that of the longer passing sequences towards field goals. Meanwhile, for penalty corners, the data also showed that shorter passing sequences were more effective and beneficial in men's field hockey when (z = -4.29, p < .05), and the median for shorter passing sequences is greater than that of the longer passing sequences towards penalty corners. Moreover other findings from this study also support that shorter passing sequence is more effective during attacking in men's field hockey when shown that D penetration more often occurred compare to longer passing sequence (z = -4.28, p < .05). It is important for all team to use an effective tactical play during attacking task especially for sports which emphasize on striking invasion like field hockey. Furthermore, in this modern field hockey, less sequence of passing suit with quick movement to obtain field goals or penalty corners before the opponent reorganize their defend. These findings could be used to support any level of field hockey coaches to implement during training as to improve and enhance their team attacking ability during competition. Further research could to be conducted on the correlation between passing sequence and basics skills performance in field hockey.

Field hockey from the performance analyst’s perspective: A systematic review

“…Included studies were published between 1 April 2003 and 30 April 2015. Two articles describe effective penalty corner routines, 21,22 three articles investigate patterns of play 2,23,24 and short and long corners, 25 short and long passing sequences 26 and number of substitutions 27 were compared in one article each. Articles were separated into outcome and process-orientated articles to reflect the approach taken in analysing the data.…”

“…Outcome-orientated articles reported what happened; in contrast process-orientated methods describe the how, where and why in relation to the outcome. Four articles were identified as outcome-orientated 21,[25][26][27] and four articles identified as process-orientated. 2,[22][23][24]…”

“…Shorter passing sequences were also 9x more effective than longer passing sequences at creating goal scoring opportunities indicating that a more direct style of play is more effective in hockey. 26 There was a 39% increase in the number of technical actions completed by strikers when a greater number of substitutions occurred per game, 27 reflecting the influence of situational factors on tactical performance. These comparative studies highlight more effective tactics for specific areas of the game.…”

“…However, the variables analysed in these studies are predominantly outcome-orientated, in that they identify the effect of that game action on success but do not describe the processes involved to reach a successful outcome. For example, in regard to passing sequences, 26 this type of analysis does not indicate whether the location on the field, the defensive structure or the number of players involved affect the outcome of short or long passing sequences. This shortcoming limits the practicality of these analysis methods as they don't provide insight that can be used to develop strategies based on a dynamic, complex system.…”

“…25 Short passing sequences were also 9x more effective at creating goal scoring opportunities than long passing sequences. 26 Moreover, when a high frequency of substitutions was utilised as opposed to no substitutions of strikers, the strikers completed 39% more technical actions. 27…”