For field hockey umpires, by field hockey umpires
Dare us to talk for an entire hour about whether a defensive foot inside should result in a penalty corner or not? CHALLENGE ACCEPTED. This was unexpectedly epic and lots of great participation from the ridiculously good-looking third-teamers out there. (Sorry for the piss-poor 720p quality of the video––my hard drive ate the download and…
Effectively managing free hits you give around the 23m line requires anticipating the play and a little bit of tough love. Working off a specific scenario, we spin a wild tale of savvy players, proactive management and making sure, as always, the scales of justice remain in balance. Check out when the next #WhatUpWednesday will…
It’s not easy to distinguish between attacking stick blocks and defensive stick obstructions, but we’ve got a few tips here to help. As always, shift your focus to the defender’s stick, and practice watching tackles with this focus to train your brain to ignore the fancypants goings-on with the ball. And hey, at least you’ve…
There’s a difference between intentionally-raised aerial passes and 5m infringements, and accidentally-dangerous deflections––and it has big ramifications for how and why we’d play advantage or no foul at all accrues. Check out the deep dive and share your thoughts in the comments. Check out when the next #WhatUpWednesday will go live! Join the fhu3t today!…
It’s tough to keep up with the one area of the rule book that has changed literally every edition since 2009. Maybe earlier, but I didn’t check; I figure a decade of straight changes is enough. Here’s your guide to free hits inside the dotted line, and how similar they are to free hits everywhere…
Let’s face it: players’ skill and tactical awareness of the aerial pass has progressed so quickly over the last decade that umpires have been left in the dust. It’s time to step back and step in to a new way of looking at the 5m landing area and how the way we visualize it may…
It can get tricky determining when to bring suspended players back on the pitch, especially when they’re goalkeepers. This super-extended plus bonus question edition covers why the suspension duration needs to be certain, and why we bring them back immediately–unless the suspension expires after the award of and before the completion of a penalty corner….
Here’s an unusually brief take on determining obstruction when the ball carrier is in the act of swinging, either on a shot or a pass. Spoiler alert: it comes down to shifting your focus to the defender YET AGAIN. (It’s almost like this is a pretty valuable umpiring technique to develop–just throwing it out there,…
