Few lessons that hockey can learn from football world cup

I had the privilege of witnessing the recently concluded football world cup. I have tried to draw a few similarities with hockey and a few lessons that a hockey player can learn.

Physical Fitness

Supreme physical fitness is a must for both hockey and football but more so for football because in football a player runs and plays with legs. In hockey a player runs with legs but plays with hands/arms. Both the games need to use the head though in football it means literally.

Ball Control

The players in the world cup displayed superb ball control. They shielded the ball well with body and legs. It was not easy to snatch the ball from a skilled player. Though in hockey you can shield the ball with your body and hockey but one can not prevent an opponent from tackling. A hockey player with good ball control should be able to hold on to the ball till a better option is available.

Passing

It was a treat to watch the players exploiting smallest of gaps to pass to their fellow players. In football the reach to cover a gap is related to the reach of the leg, whereas in hockey a player needs a larger gap as the reach of the defending player extends to the reach of his stick.

Ball possession

Maximum ball possession means a team has the initiative and can dictate terms. It reduces the chances of attack and counter attack by the opponents. It also leads to frustration in opposing team when it doesn’t get the ball for prolonged periods. More possession means the team can be proactive than reactive

One touch passing

One touch passing was a treat to watch. It basically implies your reading the game and knowing where exactly your own players are. Passing the ball back to the player from whom you have received the pass gives the team the option to change the direction of the attack. Rotating the ball among your players will force the opposing players to change position. Changing position will lead to creation of new gaps. Remember a player who has passed the ball to you will invariably be free to receive it back.

Set pieces

Importance of set pieces can never be over emphasised. A number of spectacular goals were scored from set piece situations. It needs practicing the set drill time and again till desired level of perfection is achieved.

Individual skills

Mastering of individual skills is the key to putting your strategy and tactics into practice. It gives you the ability to either score yourself or create an opportunity for others to score. Players with better individual skills created chances where none existed. There is no substitute to individual skills.

Goal scoring ability

Goals win matches. Sometimes you lose a match by inches, just because the ball has either grazed passed the goal post or has hit the post. How is it that some players are always on the scorers list. It is the uncanny knack of reading the game well and be at the the right place at the right time. It is that killer instinct and urge to score. Some players are naturally gifted to score. Fortune favours the brave and therefore they are also lucky at times.

Team understanding

Understanding amongst the players of a team is of great importance. Few brilliant individual players can win you a match on a particular day but it is the team that plays as a team can win a tournament/championship. It was amply proved by Spain who had 7 players playing for Barcelona club for most part of the year. A team game shall always remain a team game.

A few things need to be looked into to make the game of football more attractive and purposeful.

– Players pushing an other player with hands or pulling the shirt or short looks ungamely and unfair. Stricter penalty is needed.

– Feigning and acting an injury / foul be dealt with more strictly. It gives an undue advantage to a team

– Football like hockey should change over to rolling substitution to avoid wasting of time specially so in last few crucial moments of the game.

– Football should also adopt selective referral system like most of the other games. Referee is a human being prone to make a crucial mistake leading to ouster of a potential winner.