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 …
AUSvNED Obstruction body shield
The attacker approaches the top of the circle just as 3 defenders converge to all cut off his pathway to the goal. The defender to the attacker’s left, in particular, has good positioning and a …
AUSvBEL Third party obstruction on penalty corner runner
On this penalty corner, an attacker runs in front of a defender, jumps in the air to avoid the ball but lands on top of her as the ball strikes her. What are the arguments for this being a third party …
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NZLvESP Obstructions around GK
The ball is stopped by the goalkeeper splayed on the ground and rests against his kicker. The attacker makes no effort to bring the ball away and traps the ball there, other hand raised to demand the …
AUSvNED Interior positioning for sideline play
Notice the umpire’s positioning and movement as the ball moves around his deep and near sideline area. Instead of moving too quickly outside the play from the preferred interior position, he moves …
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AUSvGBR GK clearance intentional off end line
Watch the path of movement of the goalkeeper’s arm as she attempts the clearance, which travels too directly off the end line. This is deemed intentional by the umpire and play is restarted with …
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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 …
NZLvGBR Long barrier upgrade PC
As the ball carrier comes into contact, the defender plants his feet, placing his stick and his back lower leg on the pitch. The long barrier he creates increases the area with which he’s able …
ESPvNED Ball placement on the sideline
After a sideline ball is given to the attack, the player tries to take the self-pass quickly with a rolling ball, too far from where the ball exited the pitch. Be prepared for players trying to take …
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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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AUSvNED Interference with stick after clean tackle
After a clean tackle, the defender’s stick gets knocked out of his hands by the dispossessed attacker’s leg coming through. This is a great time for a quick whistle to reward the skill and maintain …
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AUSvGBR Body contact on GK
As an overeager attacker attempts to reach a rebound, he puts his hand on the goalkeeper and pushes him to the ground. A quick whistle helps to avert any “afters” or complaints from either team. …
NZLvGBR GC physical play
A green card is awarded after the turnover in the circle leads an attacker to use her arm to push against the defender in possession. It’s a small bit of physical play properly dealt with. …
NZLvBEL Body shielding
The ball carrier is called for shielding as she carries the ball on her left side down the left sideline. The first defender isn’t in a front-on position but is parallel, while the ball carrier has …
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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AUSvNED Aerial interception outside 23m for goal
An aerial ball is outlet from the left sideline on the diagonal into the middle of the pitch. From the side angle, it appears that the AUS player infringes within 5m of the NED player standing …
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BELvNZL Stickwork in the circle
When the ball is on the opposite low side of the circle, it’s almost impossible to see exactly what may be going on through the players’ backs. This is where off-ball supporting umpire assistance is …
NZLvBEL Attempt to cut out aerial pass
The attacking aerial is heading for a NZL player, who is clearly occupying the receiving zone and is the intial receiver. The BEL defender attempts to cut out the pass but in doing so, encroaches in …
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NEDvBEL YC 3rd breakdown
This is the third breakdown foul by this team so far in the game, and the two previous had been met with green cards. However, the reason this seemingly innocuous stick tackle is penalized this …
ESPvGBR Advantage goal
Terrific advantage played for this goal. The trick is to not only see possession but what also constitutes an opportunity for the level of skill in front of you. For most levels, a player in …
NZLvBEL Danger aerial going up
An attempted aerial pass is called for danger on the way up as a defender was able to close within 5m and had to take legitimate evasive action from the ball. The free hit is awarded where the danger …
GBRvAUS PC upgrade playing ball after whistle
A defender plays the ball off her foot on a missed trap and after the whistle has sounded, pushes the ball well away from the spot of the foul. The two exacerbating factors are the obviousness of the …
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UKRvAUS GC dangerous use of stick
The offensive player is obstructed initially when the defender comes over the top of her stick in an attempted tackle. However, she uses her stick to move the defender’s stick away in a dangerous …
ARGvUSA VR PS stick obstruction
After video referral, a penalty stroke is awarded on this play. Although we don’t hear a full explanation from the video umpire as to which stick obstruction was deemed the intentional foul (or both), …
CHNvNED Stick obstruction no advantage
An attacker receives the ball in an unusual kneeling position after fighting her way around her tightly-marking defender. The defender clearly holds her stick down with her own, but the ball springs …
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AUSvGBR Penalty corner collision
This collision on the penalty corner is worth examining, for a variety of reasons. For context, there was a significant incident at last year’s Pro League Finals during the semi-final between these …
ESPvARG GC 5m aerial infringement breakdown
The initial receiver of the ball is an attacker in navy, standing just in front of the 23-metre line. He is sandwiched by two defenders. One defender possibly unintentionally infringes by coming from …
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ESPvARG Stick obstruction after turnover
Immediately after a turnover is created in the circle, be aware of (previously) attacking players trying to poach the ball back and subtly obstructing or otherwise impeding the break by the (former) …
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AUSvGBR Ball not trapped under no danger at GK
Two things to look at: what attempts did the attackers make to move the ball out of the goalkeeper’s pads on each engagement, and did they push the ball back under the goalkeeper at any point? The …
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ARGvNED YC physical breakdown
A yellow card is given for this breakdown tackle after green cards have already been awarded (one to each team), and a warning to the captains for physical play. The level of physical recklessness is …
NZLvGBR Danger on deflected shot off turf
An unusual circumstance where the ball is hit with pace onto the turf and deflects high into the defender. The general principle is that from close proximity and at that height, a defender isn’t in a …
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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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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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NEDvGER VR PC stick shield obstruction
Description to follow …
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AUSvGBR Positioning staying ahead of play
The timing of the umpire’s movement here is a bit off and in the end, has her running inside her circle as the ball is moving around. When the attacker picks up her dribble, the umpire pauses and …
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ESPvGER GC hitting ball away
After creating body contact with an attempted tackle and the whistle sounding for the attacking free hit, the defender continues his attempts at the ball and knocks it away from the ball carrier, who …
AUSvARG YC for breakdown dangerous tackle from behind
On a dangerous break, the chasing defender effectively tackles the ball but her feet trip up the ball carrier. This is the same player who took a green card for a breakdown tackle in Q2 of this game …
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CHNvGBR VR aerial 5m infringement
Description to follow …
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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GERvKAZ No 3rd party not intentional off back-line
Play continues on two successive non-fouls by defenders in the circle. First, although the goalkeeper “crosses over” in front of the defender, the pressing attacker is not within playing distance and …
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GBRvAUS Back stick in midfield
A midfield pass is played off the back stick and called only for danger when the receiver tries to deflect it on dangerously into her marking defender. Watch for the speed of the swing and the lack of …
ESPvBEL Far side positioning adjustments
Martin Madden’s movement here is a great example of how there isn’t necessarily one “correct” place to be vis-a-vis the play. When the ball gets bogged down in a crowded area, he moves quickly to a …
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CHNvNED 5m infringement for GC
When NED turns over the ball on a foot foul, the CHN pass off the free hit is intercepted by a forward running back inside the 5m radius of the ball, resulting in a green card being shown. …
INDvNED Green card for breakdown stick tackle
Either just before or on the 23m line, a defender throws in a tackle that lands halfway up the ball carrier’s stick. These tackles can be dangerous so it’s a good time to show a green card and try to …
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ARGvESP YC playing ball after whistle 2nd card
Knocking the ball away after the whistle leads to a certain yellow card at this stage of the match (and after a few cards had already been given). In addition, this same player had committed a …
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UKRvAUS Trapped ball on board for FP
When the ball carrier gets caught without many options on the right side-board, she eventually pushes the ball into the defending player's stick and causes the trapped ball obstruction, resulting in a …
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ESPvGER Green card intentional use of foot
A green card is given for this intentional use of the foot after the defender moves his back foot towards the ball after being beaten on the dribble. Watch for the player moving their foot into the …
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NZLvBEL Management of tempers
There are a couple of little nigglies shown by the players here. The controlling umpire double-tweets to get a pause in the play in order to talk to the players, keeping her voice calm. The supporting …
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 …
NEDvAUS Opponent within 5m of initial receiver on aerial
As this aerial goes up, two opposing players may have been within 5m of each other in a receiving area. However, from where the ball is heading there is an initial receiver from the attacking team who …
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