Early in the first game of this two-match home-and-home set, the umpire chooses to set the tone of the communication he will not be accepting. The involved player protests that an earlier foot had …
NZLvESP Fair tackle leads to non-bully
Watching this tackle in slow motion, it’s very clear the attacker went straight at the defender, who had to make no movement at all to meet the ball. The action of standing up and lifting the attacker …
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BELvAUS VR PS or PC for probable goal
📹 Watch the clip explored in depth on #WhatUpWednesday To access this content, you must purchase FHU3T Green, FHU3T Green 365, FHU3T Yellow 365 or FHU3T Yellow. …
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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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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 …
ARGvNED Aerial no control
An aerial ball falls to two opposing players, and the attacking teammate attempts an unsuccessful interception 5m away from the defender, after which the latter is permitted to initially receive the …
CHNvBEL No danger and no intent off end line
There are two events in quick succession in this clip. The first save by the goalkeeper rebounds high and quickly towards an attacker, who confidently reached up and receives the ball, and is able to …
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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 …
ESPvBEL Body shield or not?
Amazingly difficult clip to determine whether there was any kind of shield or not. The ball carrier’s stick didn’t come over the ball to shield, but was the ball dropped behind his leg in order to …
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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NZLvGBR Free hit clearly taken
The free hit is taken quickly close to where the foot occurred but without any overt stopping motion. In this case, the only player potentially caught was the defender who committed the foul, but the …
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 …
USAvNED Positioning on turnover
The umpire here gets caught supporting too high and then watching the turnover with planted feet rather than getting on her bike immediately. Often when we realize we’ve made a mistake we get caught …
NZLvBEL 5m from free hit inside dotted line
Very similar to the play in Q2, a free hit awarded right on the circle edge has a delay before the play can be restarted. This time, the umpire ensures the defenders stay 5m from the spot of the foul …
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ARGvESP GC breakdown stick tackle
A breakdown tackle is rewarded with a green card just as the tempers start to rise in this game. It’s difficult to see exactly what occurred due to the players’ body positions and the distant camera …
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 …
ESPvGER 5m infringement or not
A foot foul brings a quick whistle from the umpire. With the ball slightly moving, the attacker takes a self-pass and a third defender comes in to attempt the tackle. This scenario shows the …
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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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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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 …
NZLvESP PC upgrade without goalkeeper
The trailing team has pulled their goalkeeper in an effort to tie the game late. A sloppy turnover brings about a late tackle attempt, with the defender’s stick wrapping around the ball carrier’s legs …
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BELvAUS dangerous play swing and miss
There’s a lot of confusion about the dangerous use of the stick and the so-called “swing and a miss.” This happens when someone swings and misses the ball, creating danger. The speed and path of …
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BLRvNED Supporting high
The play moves into the high left corner for the supporting umpire/far deep corner for the controlling umpire. The support moves up very high and close to the opposite back-line in order to assist …
AUSvNED Breakdown from the 23m on upgrade PC
A dangerous run down the left sideline leaves a defender chasing hard, and starting around the 23m starts to lean in too much with his shoulder, taking the ball carrier to ground and breaking down the …
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AUSvGBR GC taking a shot after the whistle
The attacker attempts to bring down an overhead but it has exited the pitch. He continues the play and unleashes a hard cross towards goal after the whistle has blown. For the reckless play, the green …
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UKRvAUS Trap for bully
The ball carrier dribbles into trouble and ends up in a stalemate with one opposing defender. When the ball doesn’t move, the umpire calls a bully for the no-fault obstruction and it takes two tries …
NZLvBEL Not 5m from free hit inside dotted line
This scenario shows the difficulty in balancing the need for flow and penalizing players who breach the rules. A free hit is awarded to the attack 1-2m outside the circle and inside the 5m dotted …
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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 …
ARGvESP Stop time management
The umpire stops time to send a calming message to the player that when he’s unsighted, it’ll take a moment to get the message through the radio to get to the correct decision. The game had been …
BELvAUS PC upgrade 5m infringement angles
This is a fascinating example of a penalty corner upgrade for a 5m infringement outside the circle. First, we consider what distances the tackler and any other player who influenced the play started …
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CHNvNED FHD taken too far away
After the penalty corner breaks down and a free hit defence is awarded for a dangerous ball inside the circle, the ball drifts to the opposite side of the circle and a (former) defender attempts to …
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 …
NZLvGBR PS for intentional foul
An attacker is sprung free entering the top of the circle. A chasing defender collides with her, taking herself to the ground and committing a stick obstruction in the process. This is clearly an …
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 …
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 …
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 …
MASvIND First green card for breakdown tackle just inside the 23m line
Early in Q1, the attack is full steam ahead down the dangerous middle of the pitch when this late tackle comes in around the attacker’s shins. What would you look for to upgrade this free hit to a …
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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, …
INDvNED Getting caught after a PC
It’s a stomach-dropping moment when you’re supporting on a penalty corner and the ball suddenly turns over and is heading right at you! Before the attack breaks down, try to read where the players are …
AUSvNED No third party obstruction
After playing a quick self-pass, the ball carrier meets a defender and passes the ball over the oncoming defender’s reverse stick. Although his path is blocked by the defender’s body, the ball has …
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 …
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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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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INDvBEL Proactive ball placement inside dotted line
The umpire does a great job here making a quick decision on a free hit inside the dotted 5m line, and immediately “double-tweeting” to get the players’ attention and verbally signal the correct ball …
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INDvNED Green card for 5m infringement
This green card for a 5m infringement has two interesting aspects. First, note the frustration of the NED player when he doesn’t earn the call he believes he’s entitled to on the immediately preceding …
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NZLvBEL PC upgrades
Upgrades are given during these sequences of play. What are you looking for in these situations, and when would you upgrade or not? Is the defender tackling from behind the ball? Does the defender …