Week 2 - Zone Hockey

Equipment

Suitable indoor or outdoor playing area
Benches
Markers or cones
Hockey sticks or equivalent
Airflow/whiffle balls or alternative balls

Download the Zone Hockey - Week 2 activity card to support teaching before and during the sport session.

Skill development game

Learning intention

To practice and refine dribbling and shooting skills and to develop an understanding of player positioning.

Skill focus

Defending
Shot placement
Locomotor movement

Hockey relay

An introductory game to develop positioning, dribbling and shooting skills as a lead up to Zone Hockey.

Game set-up

Divide players into teams of 3-4 players.
Mark out parallel slalom courses and goals at the end of each course.

How to play

Players dribble and attempt to shoot a goal at the end of the slalom course.
The next player is not allowed to start until the previous player has completed their shot at goal.

Safety

Ensure appropriate space between teams.
No stick to be raised above waist height.

Hockey relay - Sports ability playing card

Modifying Hockey relay using TREE

Teaching style

Keep slalom courses close enough to create competition but still safe to avoid any collisions.
Encourage students to try different techniques moving the ball through the slalom to discover which gives the most control over the ball.

Rules

Players can have a support player who shadows them and fields the ball if it strays.
Introduce a goal keeper as skills increase.
Play to an agreed number of goals or set time limit.

Equipment

Experiment with balls of different sizes and weight to increase or decrease the speed of the game. A smaller, harder ball will increase difficulty.
Bean bags may assist initially while skills develop.

Environment

To decrease difficulty, widen the goal size or decrease the number of obstacles.
To increase difficulty, create a longer slalom course with less space between markers or cones.

Modified Zone Hockey game

Learning intention

To practice and refine dribbling and shooting skills and to develop an understanding of player positioning.

Skill focus

Defending
Locomotor movement
Shot placement.

Hockey turnover

A game to develop tackling, passing, shooting skills and teamwork for Zone Hockey.

Activity set-up

Divide playing area into 6 squares (zones).
Divie students into teams of 6 players.
Place a set of goals in each corner.

How to play

Hockey turnover is played 6 v 6.
Assign each player a 'zone'. There should be 2 players from opposing teams in each zone.
Players must remain in their square throughout the game.
Aim is for players to pass the ball through the zones to score at either end.

Safety

Sticks must not be raised above waist height.
Players must not play at any ball with the stick held above shoulder height.
Ball cannot be hit or bounced above the knees.

Hockey turonover - Sports ability playing card

Modifying Hockey turnover using TREE

Teaching style

Encourage players to strike the ball in different ways, for example hard or soft.
Emphasise looking ahead as they move so they can see other players.
Encourage communication with team mates to indicate where they want to hit or receive the ball.

Rules

Match players with similar abilities in each zone.
Adopt a non-tackle rule until skill level increases.
Change positions after 3 goals and rotate pairs into the next zone.
Control the ball before passing or shooting. As skills improve, introduce ‘single touch’ play.
Play to an agreed number of goals or set a time limit.

Equipment

Experiment with the size and weight of the ball to increase or decrease the speed of the game. A smaller, harder ball will increase difficulty.
Bean bags may assist initially while skills develop.

Environment

To make the game easier:
- - increase space between players
  - increase the size of the zone.

Reflection