Field Hockey Tip

Presented by Vianney Yamada (Campos), Camp Director
Nike Field Hockey Camp at University of San Diego

Field Hockey Tips: Develop your Flicking Skills at Home

Developing flicking skills requires some time, practice and a lot of focus but can be one of the most enjoyable skills to add to your field hockey toolbox! This is a deceptive way of getting through a defender, adding height to a pass or shot and adding creativity to your dribbling skills.

Although this is an intermediate and advanced field hockey skill, starting to practice it early allows you to start to implement it in more controlled situations and eventually give you the confidence to add it in during games. Our highly skilled directors will help you perfect this skill at our Nike Field Hockey Camps this summer 2022!

The Skill:

• In order to add height to the ball, in any situation, we will need to get our body and stick a little lower to the ground. The best way to practice that is by standing in an athletic field hockey stance and bending through the knees to drop the right shoulder. The stick should still have some angle against the ball- if it is completely flat against the ground then we won’t be able to control this movement.
• Your body weight should start shifted towards your back leg (right leg). This is still a stationary starting position.
• To start the actual movement, we will shift our body weight to the front foot & follow through at a 45-degree angle in the air.
• Start with placing an item on the floor and practice lifting over that item until you can always control the same height. Then add a small dribble towards the item with the hope of creating the same outcome.

When to use it:

• When you are dribbling on the field and defenders are coming in with jabs.
• When you are dribbling and a defender drops down a block tackle. Flick the ball over the stick to continue dribbling past them.
• When you are passing the ball to a teammate but an opponent or set of opponents are around you. This makes it harder for them to predict. As a reminder, the ball must stay under knee height.
• When you are shooting on cage against the goalie, you are allowed to flick it as high as you’d like as long as there isn’t another person in between the two of you.

When not to use it:

• If your opponent is already so close that it doesn’t give you time to execute the skill.
• If your opponent is standing straight up with their stick upright and ready to defend a flick.
• In the circle if you have a lot of people around, the risk of losing possession is too great.

Check out more field hockey tips to prepare for your next field hockey camp.