A yellow card is given for this tackle, which in real-time appears to be a legitimate attempt on the ball. However, on replay, the stick narrowly misses the ball and goes under the receiver’s foot. …
INDvNED SO Retake ball trapped in GK
The ball becomes trapped in the goalkeeper’s equipment after making a save in this shootout attempt. As this is an unintentional obstruction, the correct decision is a re-award. To access …
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AUSvGBR Reversal of free hit
The free hit is reversed at a crucial moment in the game. GBR had held a 4-2 lead until the later moments when they gave up 2 late goals, so AUS were carrying the momentum in the last minute. Whether …
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 …
NZLvUSA Dangerous 3D skills
An attacker picks up the ball on a 3D dribble and goes straight at the upright defender, without making any attempt to go around. The umpire correctly calls this as dangerous. Switch your focus to the …
GERvKAZ Early break on the PC
The umpire detects an early break by at least one defender on this penalty corner. Notice that the signal he uses is the same as a free push and leads to some initial, albeit good-natured, confusion …
NZLvGBR GC hitting ball away
After committing the foul, the GBR player clearly hits the ball away from the spot of the foul. Green card is awarded. To access this content, you must purchase FHu3t Green, FHu3t Green …
ARGvBEL GC for body obstruction breakdown
As of the beginning of 2020, the FIH Rules Committee has confirmed that this interpretation can no longer be implemented, and if a personal penalty is given within the 23m area, it must be accompanied …
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ARGvNED Stop time 2nd warning captain
The umpire here stops time after some shouting and brings the ARG captain in for another chat. The body language here is more positive than the previous attempt, and the captain seems to make an …
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NZLvGBR GK scramble and off end line
A scramble in front of the prone goalkeeper sees no foul awarded. Despite not moving the ball constructively for a long period of time, the attacker didn’t make the mistake of pushing the ball at the …
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NZLvESP Two breakdown stick tackles for GC
A cynical breakdown of play with two consecutive stick obstructions in the double-team leads to a green card. To access this content, you must purchase FHu3t Green, FHu3t Green 365, FHu3t …
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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 …
AUSvBEL Dangerous 3D skills in circle
Accepting the pass inside the circle, the BEL attacker picks the ball up to make a 3D manoeuvre but in mid-air takes the ball very close to a defender. Had the ball been taken away from the defender, …
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ARGvNED Triple advantage goal
Three consecutive advantages are well-given, clearly signalled with the one arm high in the air, and lead to a goal. Read ahead where the ball may fall after a missed reception or a foot foul, and …
BLRvNED Body obstruction interfering with stick
As the attacker attempts to avoid the tackle from a defender, the defender is able to get her stick on the ball as the attacker’s legs block and interfere with the defender’s stick. A free …
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AUSvBEL 5m Aerial Ball
A defender attempts to cut out the aerial but can only do so legally by intercepting outside the 5m zone that the attacker was occupying. To access this content, you must purchase FHu3t …
ARGvBEL VR for advantage off the body ending in a shot wide
This team referral comes after the umpire chooses to play advantage from the body foul by the defender, and while the attacker manages to put a stick on the deflected ball the shot goes wide. The …
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NZLvGBR 5m infringement FH GC
After the free hit is given, the fouling player never disengages from the channel and interferes immediately and continuously with the self-pass. A green card is the result. To access this …
INDvBEL Advantage not taken on shot
Advantage is played on the foot as the ball falls to an attacker at the top of the circle. He’s unable to get the shot away as a defender is able to poke the ball away before the swing comes through …
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ARGvESP VR for foot outside circle – NAP
The defending team requests a video referral after a penalty corner is awarded after a foot is given just inside the circle on the basis that there was a foot by an attacker immediately before. The …
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NZLvGER Intentionally raised ball from a hit in mid-air
This contentious scenario, a testament to the skill and beauty of hockey, delves into the issue of whether players can elevate a raised ball with a hit. The execution of this skill is not only …
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AUSvARG Body obstruction shield by attacker
A common area where ball carriers commit body obstruction and shield the ball from a tackle is when they’re dribbling down the left attacking channel. The ball is initially in a natural carrying …
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GERvKAZ Bully for 2 balls on the pitch
A shot rebounds off the boards and is in possession of the attacking team inside the circle when the ball patrol mistakenly throws in a second ball. A bully is called, and the ball is brought back to …
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NZLvGBR Stick obstruction
The defender attempts a tackle from behind the ball carrier. He misses the ball and strikes the attacker’s stick, but the attacker is able to retain possession of the ball and has an opportunity to …
GBRvBEL Aerial 5m Infringement
ARGvNED Obstruction kicking stick away
This is an excellent pick by the umpire of an obstruction that goes unpenalized too often. As the attacker carries the ball towards the baseline, she kicks the stick of the defender away from the only …
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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 …
UKRvAUS Deflected shot raised but no disadvantage
This passage of play shows how raised balls are handled inside the circle. The first is a save made by a defender where she stops the ball legally in mid-air, deflecting it back towards an attacker, …
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UKRvAUS Foul on the bully no flat side
The AUS player fails to both start her stick on the ground as required in 6.5(a), but also fails to tap her stick against her opponent’s with the flat side over the ball (it appears to be either the …
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GBRvAUS Free hit defence inside circle taken far away
An attacker attempts a raised hit shot at goal but is off-target, making it dangerous. In this context the free hit would normally go back to where the hit was attempted, but the defender moves the …
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USAvNED Transition positioning
This is an excellent piece of positioning by the far side umpire. After the ball carrier evades a tackle, the umpire anticipates a route one pass and is already a full quadrant ahead of the play and …
GERvAUT Advantage for attack then FHD rolling ball
Several issues of note in this passage of play: The umpire plays an advantage off the stick tackle along the side-boards. The attacker has good options available to him, including the immediate 2v1 …
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NZLvESP Verbal warning for dangerous use of stick
The umpire warns the fouled attacker about flicking his stick up in reaction to the stick obstruction foul. In isolation, this is an excellent intervention. However, we’ve already seen a green card …
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AUSvBEL 3rd Party Obstruction
A third party is missed along the sideline when the red player screens a yellow player from attempting to make a tackle that was within reach. Sidelines are congested areas and our positioning is …
NEDvAUS VR PS reversal
A penalty stroke is given for this tackle inside the circle, and goes to VR. The foul was initially given for the body contact on the tackle made by the AUS defender, which was reckless and took the …
ESPvGER Difference between a PC and PS
A shove in the back from the pursuing defender is appropriately penalized with a penalty corner. The temptation may be to give a penalty stroke because it presents as an intentional foul, but the …
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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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AUSvNED GCx2 playing ball after whistle
Two instances within 45s of the same team playing the ball after the whistle and breaking down play. In both examples, the fouling player subtly moves the ball further away from the spot of the foul …
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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 …
BELvUSA Aerial interception attempt for PC
Two slightly different concepts are at play regarding aerial interceptions and 5m infringements here. Although the foul is described as missing the aerial interception, the umpire decides that the …
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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 …
GERvAUT No disadvantage off small raise
It’s natural to look for absolute guidelines as to what should or should not be called as a raised ball. However, the most important factor to consider should always be: was an opponent …
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NZLvGBR Back stick no goal
A back stick shot is correctly called in the first instance by the umpire. The slowly looping trajectory of the ball contrasts with the pace of the stick swing, a good indicator that energy has been …
NZLvARG VR not available
One for the video referral nerds out there: after ARG concedes a goal, they attempt to refer a free hit decision outside their attacking circle at the other end. This decision isn’t referrable because …
BLRvNED 3m self-pass centre line and not intentionally off back-line
Two points on this play to examine. The first is that the passage begins with a centre-line restart after the ball is played unintentionally off the back-line by a defender. Although initially …
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INDvNED Caught high in support
Here’s an example where positioning choices made 70m away can impact our ability to be in the right spot for our mission-critical calls. As the supporting umpire, we can get very enthusiastic about …
NZLvBEL VR PC stick block by attack
An upgraded penalty corner is awarded by the umpire after two loud stick tackles. The decision is referred to the video umpire, who determines that on the first tackle attempt, the ball carrier …
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AUSvARG Fair block tackle
A defender moves early into tackling position and makes a block tackle from a stationary position. As she’s deflecting the ball out of bounds, the attacker is unable to adjust her running path and …
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 …
ESPvARG GC 5m free hit management
A stick obstruction is called and the fouling team attempts to take the free hit quickly. The umpire whistles the correction, and an attacker takes the self-pass quickly from the point of the initial …
