Learning Hockey:
How to scoop or flick the ball across the field

By Jude Felix Sebastian Published on: Wed Apr 20, 2022

With the upper body and knees bent forward and feet shoulder-width apart, place the ball in line with your left foot. The stick should be slightly angled backwards, with the blade open and just behind the ball. For the stationary scoop, generate power from your shoulder as you swing the stick, along with a twist of the hips.

Jude Felix Sebastian

Former Indian National Team Captain, Arjuna and Dronacharya Awardee, your coach has capped over 250 matches, including 2 Olympics, 2 World Cups, 2 Asian Games, and 3 Champions Trophy tournaments. He is the founder of Jude Felix Hockey Academy and brings 22 years of coaching experience.

This is the final post in this series and it covers a technique which is very useful to pass the ball across the field to a fellow player who is far ahead of you. If you’re successful, you could potentially beat 3-5 defenders who are located between the two of you. To execute the scoop, you need to be mindful of your posture, the position of the ball and your grip on the stick.

Posture

The player’s upper body should be bent forward while maintaining a slight bend in the knees and keeping the feet shoulder-width apart. The ball should be placed in line with your left foot.

Holding the Stick

The grip for this shot involves keeping the hands apart, with the left hand placed on top of the handle and the right hand midway through the stick. The stick should be slightly angled backwards, with the blade open and just behind the ball. The right index finger can be placed behind the stick for added support during the flick.

Executing the Scoop

For the stationary scoop, generate power from your shoulder as you swing the stick, along with a twist of the hips. To scoop the ball really far, you should practise the step and flick.

Practice Exercise

You’ll need a fellow player to practise this. Stand on either side of the goal post, and scoop the ball over it to the player on the other side. This will help improve your technique. Once you’re comfortable with it, try to flick the ball into the goal with the goalkeeper trying to save/block it.

That wraps up this blog on hockey training and tutorials with Jude Felix. If you’ve read through all 26 posts and practised the techniques covered, you would have a fair understating of the game by now. The rest is up to you, the more you practise, the better you’ll get at it.