An attacker who fails to stop the motion of their shot after a whistle has been blown needs to be cautioned with a green card. As all other players will relax immediately after they hear the call, it …
NZLvGBR Allow advantage
The ball carrier is at full stretch and easily works through the two fouls committed on her. The umpire fails to play advantage and the player has to bring the ball back 10m from where the is when the …
NZLvBEL Mobility in the circle
After the umpire gets caught a little close to the play on this penalty corner rebound, she makes an excellent adjustment and moves 5m off the end line in order to give herself a broader view of a …
BLRvNED GC for playing ball after whistle
With 3m left in Q4 and the attacking team up a goal, an attacker who has just turned over the ball on a stick obstruction foul pushes the ball away from the defender and prevents a quick outlet. …
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ESPvNED Intentional use of body
A defender goes to ground outside the circle and creates a long barrier. The ball hits his stick onto his leg, and so this is adjudged an intentional breakdown of play on video referral and is a …
NZLvGBR No stop on the free hit
The ball deflects off the surrounds and back towards where it needs to be taken on the sideline. The attacker takes the ball in full flight and doesn’t stop the ball. Given where the defenders are, …
AUSvGBR First shot sweep hit too high on PC
On this penalty corner, the sweep hit crosses the goal line at a height over the top of the backboard. Because the sweep hit involves a backswing, it meets the definition of a hit under the rules and …
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GERvKAZ Obstruction trapping on boards and caught inside 3m
The ball carrier dribbles towards the left sideboards and as he comes into contact, moves his stick to trap the ball against the boards, actively preventing the defender from playing it. This is a …
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GERvAUT Attacker playing ball in the air
Rule 9.10 permits a player to play the ball in the air only when a legitimate shot at goal rebounds from an opposing goalkeeper, defender or post. The player may “stop” the ball, which is interpreted …
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ARGvNED 5m before entering circle
The attacker on the free hit elects to take a self-pass that moves the ball back and forth—every umpire’s worst nightmare.Let’s do some maths: a stick length is just shy of 1 metre. The free hit …
ARGvNED Infringing 5m from behind
The defender runs through the 5m zone as the attacker was taking the free hit. In making an estimate based on the less than 2s and only 2 steps from the taking of the self-pass and the point of …
ARGvNED Ball placement from danger
The ball is cleared up the sideline dangerously, and the umpire brings the ball back to where it was dangerous to the opponent, not where the ball was launched from. This is inconsistent with rule 9.8 …
INDvNED VR intentional use of the foot
This video referral gives us the opportunity to examine a decision we aren’t faced with often, which is whether a player intentionally uses their foot to play the ball. The giveaway here is the …
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USAvNED No third party obstruction x 2
Two examples in quick succession where players “cross” each other but don’t create a third-party obstruction. In the first instance, a defender doesn’t cleanly trap the ball and it continues to her …
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GERvAUT Shot before 3pts of contact
This is an example of what is sometimes a difficult call to make regarding 3 points of contact. Accompanying the advent of the prohibition against “drilling” as a specifically-described piece of …
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ESPvBEL Warning for arm on back breakdown
After a vigorous challenge comes in from ESP #14, you can hear the umpires talking over the radio to confirm who it was and how they agreed they would deal with it, which was by a verbal warning. The …
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USAvBEL Aerial interception foul
On this aerial pass, the defender moves laterally, slicing across the line of the ball as she should. The real question is whether the interception attempt is outside playable distance and done …
ARGvUSA PC injector goes before whistle
The injector is sent to the centre line for a feint (rule 13.6(a)) because she did not wait for the whistle to restart time and the penalty corner to proceed. The penalty corner is reset with a …
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NEDvAUS VR self on goal stick interference by attack
The umpire takes a self-referral on this go-ahead goal, which is a crucial decision to take when the defending team has already lost their right to refer. The question may initially have been whether …
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UKRvAUS Drilling or penalty corner
This ball is forced into a fairly set defender from close range and should be considered dangerous. To access this content, you must purchase FHu3t Green, FHu3t Green 365, FHu3t Yellow 365 …
ARGvBEL 15m ball placement
When attackers are pressing, it’s important to intervene as soon as possible to prevent a free hit from being taken incorrectly and subsequently reset. Here the ball is rolling, making it impossible …
AUSvARG Back-pedalling to the back-line
The umpire here shows excellent anticipation and reading of the play after the ball turns over deep in her colleague’s end. By the time she comes into the picture as the ball is being dribbled towards …
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ESPvGER VR late stages in the circle
A video referral late in Q4 of a tied game shows on the first attempted tackle a potential push, although an argument can be made that the collision is 50/50. After a second push on the same attacker …
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ESPvARG 15m free hit taken close to end line
The ball leaves the pitch after being deflected by an attacker. The defender picks up the ball out of bounds and then plays it in line with where it went out, ~5-7m away from the end line. The rule …
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NZLvESP Clean tackle with noise
Here is a good, up-close example of a tackle with lots of noise, but none of it caused by the defender. Watch his stick jab only slightly forward, and the direction of the ball after the successful …
BLRvNED GC 3m infringement
The BLR defender commits a stick obstruction along the side-boards and, within hearing distance of the whistle, clearly puts her stick down in the way of the NED attacker’s self-pass, breaking down …
AUSvBEL No goal no attacker touch inside circle
A ball off the post rebounds (extremely slowly) into the goal. However, because the ball had not been touched by an attacker inside the circle, the correct award is a 23m restart. To …
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INDvARG Raising a ball with a hit out of the air
As we are seeing more frequently, players have the skill to hit the ball out of the air and raise it and do so safely. However, there are real questions to ask whether we should be allowing it. In …
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INDvNED Reset for rolling ball at free hit
A good question to ask in this situation is whether, at this level of play, and given that the first warning was clear, should the second instance be met with only a reset, or at this stage in the …
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BLRvNED No bully for trapping obstruction
The ball gets unintentionally trapped for a short period of time between two players who maintain good control of their weight. The umpire sees the space around players and takes into account that …
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CHNvBEL Long barrier or good tackle
This high-risk tackle could go either way. If you focus on the movement of the defender, they are basically set in position as the ball carrier comes in. They take a very low body position, and the …
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ARGvNED Aerial into space
The aerial ball is missed by the initial defender and as the ball bounces into the space behind her, it appears it could be safely contested by the next set of two opposing players and play allowed to …
ESPvGER Reckless physical tackle early
Seconds into this game, a ESP player attempts to dispossess the GER ball carrier and rather recklessly makes body contact (as per the wording of the rule), bowling his opponent over. The GER player is …
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BELvAUS GC breakdown tackle
This is a classic turnover situation. A retreating defender chases the ball carrier from behind, gets close, but can’t make a tackle from there. Instead, the defender attemps to block space away …
USAvNED Transition positioning getting caught
A common positioning mistake is for umpires to get caught ball-watching on difficult decisions like aerials. Without knowing exactly where she began at the 15m free hit, it’s likely the umpire is too …
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INDvBEL Anticipation and no foul signalling
Two points on this clip. First, on the sideline ball, it’s crucial to read ahead whenever possible and protect your mission-critical area first when there is a possibility of a quick transition into …
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BLRvNED Drilling on cross pass
The attacker receives a ball in the bottom left corner and attempts to send a hard pass across the circle to a teammate. A defender is set at a close and near to 3m distance, and the ball is sent …
GERvKAZ Body shielding on the boards
When the ball carrier collects this reception along the left boards, he steps forward with his right foot pushing into the defender’s space and interposing his leg between the defender’s …
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AUSvBEL Fitness and footwork
When using the new positioning, umpires need to have the fitness and footwork required to backpedal at sufficient pace to stay well ahead of the play. Another crucial component is committing to …
NZLvBEL Third-party obstruction
An unusual third-party obstruction goes unspotted in the deep far corner of the attacking 23m. The defender was within playing distance and attempting to get to the ball when #28 passed off the ball …
GERvKAZ Hit out of mid-air
A crossing pass is deflected slightly into the air on the attempted interception. It bounces once but before it settles onto the court the oncoming attacker hits is out of mid-air into the goal. The …
INDvBEL Understanding of flow
Here are two sequential examples in the same passage of play that feature the umpires’ excellent understanding of flow. We’re now in Q3 and the players have been respecting 5m and ball placement thus …
ARGvNED Attacker breaks early on PC
On the first penalty corner of the game, the far right attacker breaks early into the circle prior to the injection. The umpire correctly stops the play, sends the injector to the centre line, allows …
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AUSvNED PC upgrade for not 5m
A free hit is taken 2-3m from the circle edge with multiple defenders in play. One defender who had worked to back pedal doesn’t back off the full 5m and heads back towards the ball to attempt a …
NEDvAUS VR for backstick on SO goal
On a sweep shot like this it can be difficult to see a back stick as there is no telltale spray or looping ball trajectory as indicators. Here, the best sign is the toe of the stick. When we don’t …
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BLRvNED Head injury bully
A player misplays her pass and, when she steps to follow-up, an opposing player inadvertently collides with her and strikes her head. Head injuries should be tended to immediately and so, if the play …
AUSvNED Aerial across circle supporting umpire help
Some excellent cooperation on display on this attacking aerial across the circle. The ball travels across the pitch to a receiving area clearly occupied by an attacking teammate. A defender is in the …
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GBRvNZL Not illegal for a player to attempt to legally play the ball while on the ground
Despite the prevalence of one of the biggest urban myths about the rules, It is not illegal for a player to attempt to play the ball by legal means when on the ground in outdoor (only in indoor). The …
BELvAUS GC breakdown tackle 2
This was a reckless tackle attempt by the Australian defender. She reached in from behind the ball carrier who was breaking through the middle and approaching the 23-metre line. The low chance of …
NZLvBEL Positioning – alternative movement pattern
This is a fairly standard movement pattern, keeping in mind that NZL is at the moment pressing BEL very intensely. What if at the moment when the ball is played backwards to the deepest defender, …
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