Styles of play in field hockey is a sensitive topic because our hockey gurus don’t like to listen to anything beyond Asian style of hockey.

Indeed, the Asian style of hockey played on grass was the jewel of hockey crown. The unfortunate reality is that hockey is no more played on grass, and thus its style and demands have changed manifolds. Those who don’t want to disconnect themselves from its romance are not doing a great service to the game, because the reality is now very different from its romantic days.

The style of play you adopt will largely reflect the number of players you want to allocate to defence, midfield, and attack at any given time. Remember, you will only have eleven players on the field at one time and the starting positions will not differ much, no matter which style of play you adopt. In modern hockey the style of play remains fluid according to changing situations and roles in the game. Nothing can be set in stone.

Good coaches with better understanding of opposition and their strengths and weaknesses define their team goals and plan their defensive and attacking options accordingly. Is your goal all-out attack, or is it defence and a clean net at all cost? Is your goal to play patient hockey while waiting for counterattacking opportunities? Or is it just impulsive and attacking Asian hockey that creates scoring opportunities but exposes defensive lines?

It may be that you have a strong penalty corner battery and have specialists like Sohail Abbas, Harmanpreet Singh or Chris Ciriello in your playing eleven. This will mean that you don’t need to commit a large number of players to attack because you are not necessarily trying to score field goals. In such a scenario you can keep more players in the midfield and work the ball up-field, slowly but surely. This is not an attractive style of hockey like traditional Asian style to watch, but it can be very effective with the appropriate personnel on your corner battery.

John Mowat, a noteworthy FIH coach, spells out three factors upon which your style of play shall hinge. The first and foremost is the strength and weakness of your team, and your predominant method of scoring. The second is the strength and weakness of your opposition and last but not the least is your preferences and experiences learned as a coach, which influence your decisions in all areas of the game.

In the traditional Asian style, we employ five forwards, three halfbacks, two deep defenders and a goalkeeper. It could be two high strikers, three midfielders, three half backs, two full backs and a goalkeeper. It could also be three high strikers, two attacking midfielders, three defensive midfielders, two defenders and a goalkeeper.

In the traditional Australian set-up with emphasis on attack they employ four high strikers with fluid positions, two midfielders, three defenders and an attacking sweeper in front of the defenders, rather than behind in the traditional sense. When the team is in possession of the ball, this style enables them to get numbers into attack and encourages the use of width and depth to stretch the opposition’s defense.

When a team is not in possession of the ball, there is a man to man marking on the side of the ball, with the defenders on the opposite side of the field providing cover defence. This style can only be employed by a team which is solid both in attack and defence.

The formation of three strikers, three midfielders, three defenders, one deep defender and one goalkeeper is typically a European style of play, which emphasises having numbers in midfield. It is a safe option and minimises the risk of the opponent breaking and attacking with numbers through the midfield.

The European style emphasises possession and control of play. When in possession, the players usually pass the ball around in a stick to stick manner rather than throwing it into space. It is something very identical to one touch pass in football. By doing so, players expect that the ball movement will create opportunities and space in the opponent’s positional lines to enable forwards to receive the ball in a one-on-one situation without a cover defence in place.

These styles of play are indicative only. The important thing to remember is that the players must understand the exact way in which they are to play their position on the field, not only the format in which they are to line up on the field. For example, each player’s role within a particular style will differ according to playing conditions, the opposition and the team objectives.

In modern hockey the teams which are rigid with their style of play and are unable to adapt with the fluid playing conditions, and have weak bench strength, and their coaches have fixed mind sets are likely to remain between 17 and 14 in the international world rankings. Hockey is now a very fluid and dynamic sport that requires out of the box solutions, sharp minds, physically fit bodies and scientific coaching staff to produce effective results.

Let’s briefly discuss a few defensive options, which we sacrifice in the name of attacking hockey. The first is the press defence. In the press defence you look to cover the most dangerous central areas of the field and force the opposition players wide and hold them in that position so that it is difficult for them to generate an attacking move. Most importantly, you prevent the direct, penetrating movement of the ball down to the middle and subsequently towards your defensive goal.

Once the ball is moved to an extremity of the field (wings), your players can close the play down in that area and make it difficult for the team with the ball to transfer the play. In this situation you are forcing the players in possession of the ball to run in a congested area, or you force them to make a low percentage pass. In both instances, you increase the likelihood of your opponent turning the ball over to your team.

If it is set up quickly and well, your defensive press should make it difficult for the team with the possession of the ball to transfer the play from one side of the field to the other without risk. The overriding principle of the press defence thus remains that you cover the central area of the field, force the play wide and close the play down in that position.

You will know that your defence is working in your attacking area when the deep defenders find it difficult to pinpoint passes to their midfield players. This will be evident if they are forced to hit the ball to a contested situation where your team has a 50/50 chance of earning possession with a good trap or tackle, or if they regularly hit the ball backwards in an effort to transfer the play. These are the signals that they have limited options up-field because your press is working effectively.

When your team is defending you can “zone up”, play man to man with a spare player in deep defence acting as a sweeper or use the combination of the two. Your defensive style should be fluid and change with the game according to the position of the ball and the score line, so you don’t have to finish the game with a defensive tactic you began with. What are you trying to achieve if your team doesn’t have the ball? Simply, you should look to take possession from your opponent, protect your goal and give your team an opportunity to create an offensive play when you do earn a clean possession.

Mostly the Pakistani players like to play man to man defence, because this is what our coaches advocate. In the man-to-man marking the players take responsibility for an individual opponent. This is a tight marking situation that can leave the defensive team vulnerable to a penetrating pass because players, rather than the spaces, are marked.

There is nothing wrong in man to man defence, but the defender needs to back his ability to read the play, anticipate that move and make an effective challenge at the right moment and be ready to help others in defence without getting absorbed in the outcome of attack.

Though we consider ourselves “Champions of Attack” our breakaways and counterattacks also need soul searching. Well executed counterattacks and breakaways can be highly rewarding. Whether you are attacking or defending, speed of movement and quick team transition are the key, and for this you need to be physically in great shape, and your basics should be as solid as rock.

Asian teams sometimes become so intent on an all-out attack that they become vulnerable to counter attacks. This occurs when the attacking team commits numbers to the attacking play, then loses possession and is outnumbered in defence.

Have an elaborate and well-rehearsed game plan for situations where your team is counterattacking or breaking, as well as defending these situations. Keep a balance between offensive and defensive priorities. This allows you to make the most of your chances by providing support to your forwards while also adequately defending your goal.

The key to an effective counter attack is speed. Speed in transition will ensure that the attacking play can make the most of the opposition’s vulnerability and the few defenders in defensive positions can be isolated.

Be direct with your attack. If there is an opportunity to move the ball up the center of the field rather than move the ball wide to the wings, which our forwards mostly do, do so because you will get the ball into the offensive area more quickly than if you go wide. The opposition players defending their goal will have to run hard to get back into cover positions, so the team with the ball in the center should try to make a good attacking move resulting in a direct attempt on goal or win a penalty corner.

Last but not the least is my request to our elite coaches to kindly accommodate new style of plays and methodologies in the game. Just harping upon the Asian style of hockey is a disservice to hockey. If we want to bring the glory back to our national hockey then we have to work very hard, and learn the modern hockey from its basics, and bring our physical standards to match its rigors, otherwise we stand no chance to reemerge on the world hockey scene.

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