The independent voice of hockey Posting up with Alex Danson – what makes her tick?
push ISSUE 33: 08.11
International comeback aft er six years and at 34? What is mark pearn thinking? – we a sk
push issue 33: 08.11.
Hate away games? Meet the man who is clocking up 100,000 air miles this year
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08.11
contents FEATURES
Page 16 – 17 Sidelines
Exclusives!
News and views from the edge
25
Blind stick testing PUSH WORLD EXCLUSIVE
16
Savage talk
37
adidas leads the way
17
NEW COLUMN – View from the East
41
Level 1 coaching – can we pass?
17
James Stock has HIS Olympic tickets
Page 6 – 9 HOOKED!
Page 18 – 28 Planet Hockey
A lighthearted look at hockey
The game across the universe and closer to home
6
Injuries
18
8
0 seconds with sitting volleyball’s 6 Emma Wiggs
hat’s it like when your husband gets a W hockey job on the other side of the world? We talk to Salman Akbar’s wife
9
HOOKED news
20
Phil Burrows – the 100,000-mile man
22
EXCLUSIVE Women’s Champions Trophy pics
Page 11 – 16 countdown to 2012 EXCLUSIVE Olympic interviews and features 11
Mark Pearn – the Comeback Kid
14
Alex Danson – 21st century girl
Pag Page 45 – 55 IMPROVE Skills, fitness, health and professional tips
56 – 58 CONSUME
60
Kit Monkey looks at bespoke kit
62
Book Review and the ‘Fietsklem’
Cover: Main Picture – Mark Pearn in action for England against Pakistan at the Wagener Stadium in Amstelveen on June 29, 2011. The game finished 2-2 © Andy Smith . Alex Danson picture © Andy Smith; Phil Burrows picture, Hockey New Zealand
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Thanks to everyone who’s helped us make this happen. Contributors: Ben Barnes, The Stik, Peter Savage, Andrew Baggs, James Stock, Ijaz Chaudhry, Sarah Thomas, Jon Williams, Amanda Partington – Hardcore Hockey Photo Credits: Ady Kerry, Andy Smith, Tom Cooper, Futures Sports, Hockey New Zealand It is assumed that any images taken from sources which are widely distributed, such as on the internet, are in the public domain. However, since such images are passed freely between sources such as websites, the original source is not always possible to trace. It is possible that copyrighted material has ended up being treated as public domain as a result. If you see an image in this publication which is not public domain, please contact PUSH. Advertising: Jeremy T: 0844 4146 051 E: sales@pushhockey.co.uk Subscriptions: The Subs Team E: subscriptions@pushhockey.co.uk T: 0844 4146 052 write to the above address or visit www.pushhockey.co.uk and follow the link. Editorial Contributions Tom Cooper T: 0844 4146 053 E: editor@pushhockey.co.uk Skype: editor.pushhockey Got a story or something to say? Send us your stuff! We reserve the right to edit items.
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PUSH Magazine 32 Roberts Road Lancing BN15 8AR info@pushhockey.co.uk www.pushhockey.co.uk
Pre-season...
Is there a more dreaded phrase in the hockey world? August always has a kind of calm-before-the-storm feel about it for me. There isn’t actually much hockey to be played but I kind of know I have to make some preparations for serious confrontations ahead. Sometimes I wonder if our international players get a similar ‘phoney war’ feeling when it comes to the Olympics. There is, quite justifiably, a massive focus on London 2012 and it is certainly tempting as a fan just to see every international in terms of what it means for our Olympic prospects. Do the players feel the same? I’m not sure, but it was refreshing to talk to Mark Pearn for this issue about his international comeback. He is not prepared to let this year slip by and is determined to relish his opportunities (read more from Mark on page 11). And what a great 11-12 months of hockey there is before the London 2012 Games – the EuroHockey Nations Championships will be underway as PUSH arrives on your doormat, then there are Champions Trophies for men and women to come, the EuroHockey Nations Indoors, Olympic test event, and a full domestic and European club season ahead. Perhaps I need to take a lesson from Mark, and value all those tournaments for themselves. Hey and maybe even enjoy pre-season running. For a bit of extra inspiration don’t forget to look inside for our unique hockey stick ‘blind’ testing feature. There are some great sticks out there! Tom Cooper, EDITOR
Back issues The Subs Team (details above). The views and opinions expressed in this magazine are those of the individual writers and may not necessarily reflect those of the publisher and editors. All rights reserved. No part of this magazine may be reproduced without prior written consent of Push Hockey Ltd. Push Hockey Ltd takes no responsibility for claims made in advertisements featured in this magazine. Push Hockey Ltd can take no responsibility for unsolicited material. Competition terms and conditions: 1 Details of winner can be requested in writing 2 Prize is subject to availability and may be substituted 3 No cash alternative 4 Prize is non-refundable/ non-transferable 5 Promoter accepts no liability for lost/damaged/incomplete entries 6 Proof of entry is not proof of delivery 7 Winner may need to sign a statement of eligibility/liability/publicity release 8 Third party’s T&Cs may apply 9 Details of entries may be kept on a database 10 To the extent permitted by law, promoter excludes all liability for any loss in connection with the competition 11 Text messages charged at std network tariff
Printed in the UK by THE MAGAZINE PRINTING COMPANY www.magprint.co.uk PUSH ISSN 1749-4214 © August 2011
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hooked!
A quick sprint through the lighter side of hockey…
Caught on Camera!
We’re sure you’ve got worse lurking on your camera phone. Send ‘em in to editor@pushhockey.co.uk, upload to facebook.com/ pushhockey or Tweet to @pushhockeymag A topped PC, then a volleyed shot. Marc Scott, playing summer league for Leighton Buzzard, doesn’t remember much! Fortunately nothing broken.
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“A friend attempted a reverse on a 3G pitch, as you can see unsuccesful – the ball, went off at a nice angle and not even on target.” Karl Lucas
“A straight hit, on left side of the stomach.” Tahseen Malik Managing Director HMT International Co. Sialkot, Punjab, Pakistan. Karen Evans was a reserve umpire, and as the players came over to the table a ball flew into her face. Fractured cheek bone and damaged facial nerve, but she kept umpiring at the club Europeans in Bratislava,
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the HOOKED 60-Second Interview
emma wiggs With the London Paralympic Games following hot on the heels of the Olympics, we catch up with Great Britain’s sitting volleyball captain Emma Wiggs (right) and find out about her sport and her London 2012 preparations. We are looking for Paralympic sports to follow why should we pick yours? Because it’s the best Paralympic sport! Well I may be biased, but like hockey it is dynamic and explosive and requires a great deal of skill. Within a matter of seconds you can see the speed and agility of a libero moving to pass the ball, the decisionmaking, fine touch and control of the setter and the explosive power of a hitter spiking the ball at the opposition... WOW! It’s also the most inclusive sport in the world and at club level it is played across the country by able-bodied and disabled people.
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The prospect of a home Olympics has been a massive boost for our hockey teams. Is the London Paralympic Games a big inspiration to you? Just having the opportunity to be part of a GB team and to be there next year is inspiring and mind blowing. My life has changed beyond all recognition and next year is certainly the goal and my biggest focus. To go to a Paralympics would be out of this world but to go to a HOME Paralympics would be... well I’m not sure I can find the words to describe it. I am lucky enough to have a very supportive family and friends who inspire me every day to get up and get to training! So tell us a bit about that training. Well I have been working full time and training about 24-26 hours a week on top of my job so it’s early starts and late finishes. I also have a two-hour commute to team training so my typical Monday is up at 5.15am for food, and then gym before work, work 8am till 3.30pm, commute to London for training 7pm-10pm and then drive home hopefully to be in bed just before midnight. As a relatively new
for the next two years. So Flora is on her holidays... although I’m not sure it will be very easy to take her back as they have become great friends.
international athlete I’m learning all the time about diet for preparation and then recovery. So I tend to eat lots of protein for recovery and some carbs to sustain me for the long weekend sessions (typically six to seven hours training a day). What have you learnt through captaining your country, and what three tips would you give to any novice hockey team captains out there? Being asked to be captain was the greatest honour I could ever have imagined. I have learnt a huge amount and it’s been a rocky year at times. You need to try to captain people as individuals as we all respond differently. You need to be a role model but not a nag and you need to be aware that at times you can’t be everyone’s friend. And you need to help keep expectations high as we, as a team, have a very important role in seizing our opportunities next year. Three tips: • Remember your team is made up of individuals • Lead by example and be the best you can be each day • Don’t forget to laugh and smile too!! What is the biggest sacrifice you have made to pursue your sport? I had to give up my beautiful dog. She is a two-year-old Labrador, but with my training and having to work full time I just couldn’t look after her. Luckily though I have an amazing mum who has taken her in
Our top hockey players are fortunate to have good funding at the moment and most of them are full-time athletes. What’s the situation in your sport? Well I had to give up my job as my headteacher was not willing to support my Paralympics training and dream. Luckily I found a great new forward-thinking school who are supportive and inspired by the 2012 Games. I need to work as we are not funded at all. There is a constant search for a sponsor as travel expenses are huge, my petrol bill was between £600-£800 a month. However I have decided to reduce my job to two days a week from September as the hours I was doing were crazy. Fingers crossed I win the lottery or can live off the reduced wage! It’s not a sacrifice though it’s a choice as I just can’t not give this adventure and challenge everything that I have. Do you follow any of the other Paralympic/Olympic sports? Have you ever played hockey? Hockey was my main sport prior to acquiring my disability, in fact I played my last game in Australia just before I got ill [a serious virus damaged Emma’s nervous system]. I also have a good friend who plays for GB so I follow hockey. I will watch any live sport at all (even darts!) but I have been on a training camp with our GB skiers, fencers and goalball teams so will probably follow them quite closely. What is your next big competition? We have the Continental Cup in the Ukraine in September and then our biggest competition before the Paralympics is the European Championships in October in Holland. BRING IT ON!!!! Paralympic Games tickets go on sale from Friday September 9, 2011 to Friday September 26, 2011. See www.tickets.london2012.com
to any involvement in The International Indian Hockey from the Hockey Federation IHF , which was, after all, (FIH) have cut off dismissed by the Indian discussions with Olympic Committee in Hockey India over the 2008 in the wake of a hosting of the men’s bribery scandal. Champions Trophy “This compromise in December. India’s fails to resolve the hopes of qualifying for fundamental underlying the London 2012 have issues that have also been sideswiped blighted Indian hockey as their right to host for so long,” reads a men’s and women’s statement from the FIH. Olympic qualifiers in “In addition, it does not comply with the February 2012 is also in doubt. FIH Statutes, which do not permit a The FIH action is the latest member to transfer or share its powers development in an escalating row over to another body that is not a member the formation of a World Series Hockey of or bound by the FIH Statutes, still competition, scheduled to start in India less to share its powers with a body during December. That row comes in the context of a grander power struggle over (the IHF) that is involved in organising an unsanctioned event (World Series who actually runs hockey in India. Hockey), participation in which is The potentially lucrative World prohibited under the FIH Statutes.” Series Hockey is regarded as an Meanwhile the IHF and backers unsanctioned competition by the FIH Nimbus Sport have announced as it is being organised by the Indian the captains and dates for the first Hockey Federation (IHF) a body which edition of World Series Hockey with the international federation has 61 matches to be played between not recognised since 2000. The FIHDecember 15, 2011 and January 22, recognised governing body in India is 2012. Teams from Mumbai, Delhi, Hockey India (HI). Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Ijaz Chaudhry covered much of Punjab have confirmed. the background of World Series The list of eight captains announced Hockey in PUSH issue 32, and while has four Indians (Sardar Singh, Arjun the implications of joining World Halappa, Adrian D’Souza, Prabhjot Series Hockey then looked potentially Singh) and four internationals – Brent serious for the players involved, the Livermore (Australia), Rodrigo Garza international impact looked limited. (Spain), Rehan Butt (Pakistan) and However in late July, and much to the Lucas Vila (Argentina). Forty overseas FIH’s horror, HI and the IHF reached players from Australia, Spain, England, a settlement over control of hockey in Ireland, Germany, Netherlands and India and formed a joint executive board to run the game. Prior to this settlement Pakistan are understood to have signed with WSH. Push understands that two the IHF and HI had been in and out of English players are involved. the Indian courts in various disputes Under recent changes to FIH Statutes, which at times put the selection of players can be banned for taking national teams in jeopardy. part in unsanctioned competitions, The IHF-HI settlement, to some but WSH organisers claim they have extent, calms the situation down within correspondence from the FIH that India and paves the way for the lucrative players who signed for the World Series World Series, but the two bodies’ before the end of March will not be agreement ramps up the international liable to bans. tension. The FIH is implacably opposed
Medal haul
the hague: Leicester and Reading have returned from European club level competitions with medals in their pockets. Leicester took silver in the toplevel women’s competition the European Club Champions Cup after losing 4-1 to Den Bosch of the Netherlands in the final. Crista Cullen scored the game’s opener for Leicester. Leicester defeated English rivals Slough on penalties in their semi-final after a 1-1 draw. In the men’s Euro Hockey League bronze medal game, Reading defeated Dutch side Oranje Zwart 3-2 with goals from Stephen Dick, Richard Mantell (PC) and Rhys Joyce. Earlier in the weekend Reading lost their semi-final to Club de Campo of Spain 3-0. Hosts HGC won the final 1-0 with a Timmo Kranstaube penalty stroke. All games were played at HGC, from June 10-21.
Great indoors
Wembley: Maxifuel have signed a three-year deal as the title sponsor for England’s top indoor hockey competitions. The renamed Maxifuel Super Sixes Finals at Wembley will see the top men’s and women’s teams from the Maxifuel Super Sixes Championships compete at an endof-season showpiece featuring the men’s and women’s finals, plus the men’s semi finals. Tickets are available now for the finals at Wembley Arena on Sunday January 29, 2012. See www.englandhockey. co.uk/maxifuelsupersixes.
London Cup
chiswick: England’s men finished third in the inaugural London Cup. A 4-2 loss to Belgium on July 12 and a 5-4 loss to eventual champions Korea the following day put paid to any home-final hopes. But England bounced back with a 3-1 win over New Zealand on Friday and a 5-2 defeat of Belgium in the bronze medal game the following day. Nam Yong Lee netted a hat-trick of open play goals as his Korean side defeated New Zealand 4-3 to take the cup home from the University of Westminster sports ground – the venue of the 1948 Olympic hockey tournament.
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men’s champions trophy in doubt
inBrief...
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news hooked
Countdown to Mark Pearn:
The Comeback Kid “I still see myself as the 18-yearold. Now I’m the oldest and that’s quite a tough transition to make in your head.”
Let’s get straight to the point – what are your international ambitions? Is London 2012 the goal? Yes. I am doing everything I can to be in that GB training squad come the end of the summer. If things are going well enough for me to make the Europeans I see that as a bonus [he did!]. Obviously I’d love to go and I’m doing everything I can with my game to try and make that happen. But being in that GB training squad would give me another couple of months to cement a place in that side. It has gone well, I have been picked a couple of times, and the Europeans would be a perfect place to showcase what I can do for 2012. So that’s my fresh aim now. So take us back a few months then, how and when did the idea of a comeback start? Some of the player group asked me if I’d come back around October last year. It was a bit of a shock, I hadn’t really
Ady Kerry
thought about it to be honest – my life had sort of moved on. Then I had a long chat with Barry [Middleton – the England/GB captain] and Jason [Lee – the England/GB men’s coach]. That’s how it started, an informal chat with a couple of players and then a more formal chat with Jason and Barry. When you began to consider playing at the top level again, did you think back to when you left the international scene and your reasons for doing so? I went to ‘04 [Athens Olympics] then played a tournament in ‘05. I was playing at the time for Polo Club in Barcelona. Then I came home and got married and knew I had to move on. I had stopped enjoying playing [internationally] – I had done it for ten years. Other areas of my life had moved on, and I felt I had to dedicate more time to them. I never really came out and ‘retired’ as such, but things just took over and went down that route – work, >>
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After drifting away from international hockey in 2005 with two Olympics, two World Cups, two Commonwealth Games and two European Nations Championships under his belt, Mark Pearn made a surprise return to the England side for the rabo four nations in june and the london cup in july. So were those tournaments just ‘one offs’ for the now 34-year-old East Grinstead player coach or a launching pad towards a potential place in the GB squad for London 2012? PUSH just had to know.
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wanting to start a family and those sort of things started to take over. I didn’t have any regrets about stopping playing. I had regrets, maybe, of not being as successful as I would like to have been and that’s something that has driven me coming back – because I feel I am missing something from my career, and that is being successful with the national team. When it actually started to happen, was it exciting for you – seeing the name on the shirt and things like that? Ridiculously so! I had been going to the gym pretty heavily since last summer, just to get myself fit for club hockey again. So I was in a pretty good place to start. I’ve been going in to see the strength and conditioning people at Bisham Abbey from January, and I had been doing a good two or three months of that before joining in on the hockey side of things. So they knew I was serious and was doing everything I could – obviously around my work. Meeting up with the guys again at the first training session was quite strange, although, obviously, I know them all from club hockey. I still see myself as the 18-year-old. Now I’m the oldest and that’s quite a tough transition to make in your head. But they were pretty welcoming once they’d seen how serious I was about doing everything that was necessary. You must have noticed some pretty big changes in the international programme since 2005? If I am being completely honest, I’d say the competition for places was less
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Mark Pearn: Date of birth: 21 March 1977 Shirt number: 22 Position: Forward/midfield Current club: East Grinstead Former clubs: Gloucester City, Reading, RC de Polo de Barcelona Senior international debut: 23 September 1995 vs Netherlands (1995 Champions Trophy) Tournaments: 2 Olympics, 2 World Cups, 2 Europeans, 2 Commonwealth Games International caps (England/GB/ total): 154/76/230 International goals (England/GB/ total): 50/21/71 Caps and goals, August 1, 2011
when I played originally. The funding now has allowed 30 players to give it a really good go. Before it was 16, 17 or 18, so you always knew that if you were one of the best players you would get picked. Maybe complacency had slipped in after a few years too, so I was never one who did a lot of the weights side of things. But now I can see the benefits, and it has shown in my club performances, so I have really committed to it, as well as the diet and supplementation. The amount these guys train was another step up from where we were a few years ago. But I was 100% on board I knew this was a one-and-only chance – and you don’t tend to mess around with those!
of my age and the position I played – I’d have influence and score goals, then have quiet times. Now I can get on get on the ball more, get other people through, and there are younger players around me to take on the role I played before. So I think I am a better player, other people may judge differently, but as long as I am making the team better that is all that counts.
You mention East Grinstead, in your six seasons there the club has risen right to the top of English hockey. Has being part of that progression been important to your personal growth as a player? Massively. I was at Reading for nine years through a very successful Tell us more about the differences you period. And I think by the end of it we had such a good team that you didn’t notice being part of the current squad. necessarily have to play well yourself to The attitude in the group and the culture win – domestically that is, in Europe we around the group is different. Even still had to be at our best. That maybe in little things, like everyone wearing affected my performances towards the the same kit for training. With adidas end of my time at Reading. coming on board, we all have the same After Polo Club, I could have gone back kit, which may not appear to be a big to Reading that would have been the deal but when you are part of a team easy thing to do, but East Grinstead it makes a massive difference. Then was a challenge. The club had just been there is the supplementation and the support in terms of the diet and the gym. promoted and I’d never really thought about coaching, but I am always up for a Bisham Abbey is second to none as a bit of a challenge. To be honest we had training facility. Laying down exactly a bit of luck to stay up that first year. I the same pitch type as Olympic Park at and a couple of others had to play really Bisham – just little things like that will really well. I enjoyed that feeling – that hopefully give us an advantage when if I didn’t play well, we wouldn’t win. small percentages count. That was a feeling that maybe I hadn’t I’d also say this is a group of players got at Reading for a few years before, that are all talented on the ball, and so that was a real drive in terms of are all flexible in terms of positions and performance base. lines, which maybe hasn’t happened Gradually we picked up one or two before. We also have three or four people and we were competing for titles genuine world-class players through the spine of the team, which maybe this – and I still had to play well, and we all had to play well to win because we country hasn’t had before either. We’ve weren’t by far and away the best side. had maybe one or two but to have three Having a fresh challenge, being in or four and then a couple just below that charge and developing a side I want to – that is why they have done so well in play with in the style I wanted to play the past couple of years. has made me think about my own game and it has definitely improved me as a And the coach? Jason has been in the job a long time player. – eight or nine years – and he has moulded the team into what he wants Having committed to an international it to be. They went through some low comeback, how are you fitting it all times but he had a long-term plan and in with family life, work and other is now reaping the rewards of being in commitments? the job a long time with the same group I’ve been teaching the last couple of players. That is a real positive for the of years at Eagle House School in team – we believe in him! Sandhurst. It’s a prep school and I teach maths there with pretty much a full timetable. I have just finished What about you yourself, are you a my PGCE [postgraduate certificate in better player now than you were in education] this year too – so it has been 2005? pretty packed! I do hockey at the school Yes, more consistent, definitely. Being and also at Wellington College. The player-coach at East Grinstead has headmasters at both have been brilliant made me think about my game and how and have given me time off here and the team plays. When I was 18, 19, 20 there – like to go to Holland [for the I’d have brilliant games and also have Rabo Four Nations Cup]. So I thank pretty ineffectual games, just because
Is that a big change from your international career the first time around – that we are now going to major tournaments with a realistic chance of winning? From 1998-2002 we were close. We should have won the Commonwealths in ‘98 and we were maybe one win away in 2000 from having a very good Olympics [GB finished sixth in Sydney]. So around
Picture: Ady Kerry
to Belgium in the London Cup]. We are hoping for the rest of this week and into the Europeans to show more of what we did in Holland which is to beat Germany [the Olympic champions]. That is the sort of level we should be aiming at every game. What sticks do you use? I’ve been with adidas the last couple of years and they have been really helpful. Having not been an international they obviously didn’t have to support me but they have been fantastic. Which model adidas stick? I use a modified HS1 which is straighter than normal. Both Barry and myself use the one with the 17mm bow. I grew up with a wooden stick – dead straight – which is probably why I can still hit a ball properly on the floor. Today, the kids all want a bowed stick and they want to flick balls. Hitting has almost gone out of the game, but I’ve always been ‘old school’ from that point of view. p
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The big focus is the London Olympics, but there is an awful lot of international hockey to be played before then isn’t there? For me now just playing any international is a one-off event, because I realise how short your career is. I’ve almost had my international career, now this is a second chance. I am loving every game I am playing. Some of the guys are maybe looking towards 2012 as such a big event because they haven’t been to an Olympics, or maybe they have and they see it [2012] as the end of their careers. For me I am looking at each international and relishing that chance. There are the Europeans, Champions Trophy and other events I never thought I’d have the chance to play in again. So although we keep saying 2012 is the end goal, we can’t just let this year drift and not enjoy those moments and take the opportunities to improve. London 2012 would be special but for me it’s not the fact that it is an Olympics, I want it to be a successful Olympics. I have been fortunate enough to go to the Olympics and I don’t need to go to another Games. That’s not the issue, just to go. I want to go and win a gold medal, I want to win a medal. And I think this side is capable of that, and that’s why I’ve come back, I want to help us get there.
the Barry Dancer era we were close – but we weren’t quite good enough. We did drift a bit from 2000 to the start of Jason’s reign. Athens 2004 [9th] was right at the start of that – so he was working with the players who were already there. Now he has worked through and got his own squad. Athens was a major disappointment for me, having gone to Sydney and being close to performing, then being in a team that wasn’t able to challenge. I remember seeing the Australians pick up their gold medals in ‘04 and I felt pretty despondent, actually, that I’d never get to that sort of level. So to see what this side is capable of now – and obviously yesterday is not ideal because that’s not what we are about [Mark was speaking to Push after England’s 4-2 loss
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them for their support. The headmaster of Eagle House has also said I can take the year away from the classroom. I am looking forward to going back after Olympic year hopefully with some stories. I know all the kids have bought hockey tickets - I’ve tried to explain I haven’t actually been selected yet, but they don’t seem to care they will go and watch anyway. So there is a passion there. In terms of family, there has been a bit of a change since 2005. Now I am married with two girls [Isabella is 4, and Ruby 1] – it’s tough leaving them for long periods of time. My wife Holly has been extremely supportive as have our parents. Without that support and my work support – the comeback wouldn’t have got off the ground.
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Alex Danson:
21st century girl
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alex danson epitomises the new breed of women hockey players – determined, athletic, full-time athletes committed on and off the field to the sport they love, yet still finding time to develop themselves for a life after hockey. since making her international debut as a precociously talented schoolgirl, danson has already clocked up over 150 caps and she is still only 26. So what makes a 21st century hockey player tick?
First of all, tell us what was the feeling in the England team after finishing fifth in the 2011 Champions Trophy in Amsterdam, in July? We were obviously very disappointed not to finish in the medals. But one of our main goals going into the tournament was to finish in the top five and gain automatic qualification into next year’s Champions Trophy. So coming
away, we were really pleased because we went into the bottom-four pool which we had to win. So we played three real pressure games – and that can only be good practice for us. It was really important to qualify for next year’s Champions Trophy which will be a key part of GB preparations for London 2012. There isn’t much of a break for you guys is there? Euros next? We now have a three-week intense block of training then our team will be selected for the European Nations Cup. Once again we have great opposition there to play. That is another really good tournament for us to play in and that is out short-term focus now. What are the team objectives for the Euros then? Before every tournament we go to, we sit down – the squad and the management staff – and we spend a long time going over our goals and targets for the tournament which, as of yet, we haven’t done. [Alex was talking to Push in mid July] We haven’t done that as a team yet, but four out of the last five Europeans we have won bronze – so hopefully we will be looking to go a little better this time. Are there specific aspects of England’s play that the team will be focusing on for Moenchengladbach? We haven’t come together as a squad for hockey since the Champions Trophy. But there will be things we will be focusing on going into the Europeans. The luxury is that we have a central programme so we have the >>
Picture: Andy Smith
Expand on that a little, what are those things we learn through sport that have a wider application? We work on what we call the six keys to success: mental toughness, hunger to achieve, people skills, sports and life knowledge, breaking barriers and planning for success. These are things that we have learnt through sport and we try and pass those on to the students to take forward into their school and everyday lives – whether they have a sports focus or another focus. What is so great about it is that it’s a free initiative for any secondary school in the UK to sign up for. Just hearing you talk about that, obviously there is a lot in it for the children, but it sounds like you get a lot out of the school visits too! I absolutely love it. Obviously I go in and it is my job to inspire but to be honest I meet so many amazing young people and teachers that I come away being inspired myself. I would love to be a teacher and it is incredible the number of unbelievable teachers you meet that run these projects and the number of incredible students involved. Maybe in some area of their school life they are not going so well, but they come off the project with a renewed sense of energy. For me, I love it and I come away from the schools looking forward to teaching at some time in the future.
Does seeing that enthusiasm boost your own motivation? To be honest I don’t ever struggle with motivation because I love playing my sport and the lure of an Olympics at home is incredible. But you are right, I go into schools and I am quite a private person about my hockey so going into schools is one of the few times I talk about it. So I come away thinking I am the luckiest person alive to have this job and to have the potential opportunity to be with my team-mates and friends at an Olympic Games in your own country would be incredible. We’ve talked a lot about London 2012. Have you though about whether you will keep playing beyond then? After all you will only be 27! For as long as I love the sport and for as long as I’m given the opportunity to be in the squad, I think I’ll keep playing. I absolutely love the game and there is nothing better for me than playing in the team and the programme we have is, I think, the best programme in the world. So if I was given the opportunity to be part of it, I think I’d definitely continue. p
Alex Danson Date of birth: 21 May 1985 Shirt number: 15 Position: Forward Current club: Reading Former clubs: Alton, Trojans, Slough, Klein Zwitzerland School: Farnborough Hill Senior international debut: 23 Oct 2001 (age 16) Medals: 1 World Cup bronze, 3 European Bronze, 1 Champions Challenge Gold, 1 Champions Trophy Bronze, 2 Commonwealth Games bronze Tournaments: 1 Olympics, 3 World Cups, 4 Europeans, 2 Champions Challenge, 2 Champions Trophies, 2 Commonwealth Games International caps (England/GB/total): 118/36/154 International goals (England/GB/total): 27/9/36 (cap/goals as of August 8)
Andy Smith
So that’s the plan is it? Alex Danson schoolteacher? I am doing an Open University degree at the moment and I will do a PGCE [postgraduate certificate in education] or GTP [graduate teacher programme] when I finish playing and then go into teaching for sure. Alex Danson in Champions Trophy action against China. For the geeks out there check out the grip – some of the England women have started using a split-hands grip for reverse stick edge hits
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We understand you are involved with the Sky Sports Living for Sport programme, tell us more about that. That is a free initiative open to all secondary schools and my work as an athlete mentor is to work with the students for a day and engage, motivate and inspire them using sport. The good thing about Living for Sport is you don’t have to do sport during the project in the school – you can do absolutely anything. We just use the messages that we learn in sport to engage and motivate students, which I absolutely love. So I get to go into loads of schools in the south of England and get to work with loads and loads of different kinds of students which is brilliant.
When you visit schools, what is the feeling amongst the young people about the 2012 Olympics? The amonut of support in schools is absolutely brilliant. There is a real buzz around the Olympics now which is incredible going forward – incredible in terms of the legacy because there are schools getting involved. After the games that will be where the bulk of our young people are inspired to get involved with sport, or continue sport in a leadership role, or whatever that role might be. If we can get it right in our schools then that will be important in the Olympic legacy.
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contact time in which to specifically work on things, which is brilliant and we are really lucky to have that opportunity.
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Savage talk TalkHockeyRadio’s Peter Savage was looking forward to a change of format for the Champions Trophy. Now he’s not so sure.
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t the end of the recent Women’s Champions Trophy in Amsterdam the press were invited to vote for the Player of the Tournament, and the editor of this esteemed organ wittily suggested to me that the award should go to the Argentine team lawyer. How right he was. In a nutshell, we had all gone to bed on Saturday night expecting The Netherlands to be playing Korea the next day, only to wake up in the morning to find that The Netherlands would be playing Argentina. There was a bit of huffing and puffing the next day but I think that sympathy for the Koreans overshadowed the fact that the final decision was almost certainly the right one. It’s worth
looking at how judges interpret the law in English courts to get a steer on what happened in Amsterdam. A judge can take into account the intentions of Parliament, but it would obviously be perverse to decide that Parliament had meant something to be blue when the legislation said it had to be green. This almost approximates to what happened in Amsterdam. The Argentine side had lodged a protest to the Tournament Director claiming that they had qualified for the final. The TD, believing that he was following the intention of the tournament regulations, rejected the protest. But when the matter went to an appeal jury, the ruling was in favour of Argentina. Whatever the intention was, the letter of the regulations said something quite different. Personally I don’t feel too excited about all this, particularly as the decision of the appeal jury is defensible. Many major sports have endless wrangles about what their regulations mean, and one only has to look at Formula One for an example. But what was exercising my mind before all this blew up was just how unnecessarily complicated the new format for the Champions Trophy is. Hockey
journalists worry about things like this because they are de facto travelling salesmen for the sport and don’t like selling a product with a complicated instruction manual. The tournament has gone from its old round-robin format into a weird hybrid combining pools with elements of the old format. By the end of play on the final Saturday we had a medal pool with teams in first, second, third and fourth places, and a relegation pool similarly arranged. We could all have gone home at that stage, but no.... we had another set of games. The final results were decided by first playing second, and third playing fourth, in each pool. One of the things which I think sometimes spoilt the old format was the frequency with which the final matches were repeats of matches that had been played the day before. And this is where I agree with the editor that the Argentine team lawyer should receive an award. Had it not been for his successful appeal, all four final matches would have been just that – a repeat of the previous four matches! Is that really a way to attract new fans to our wonderful sport? I think not.
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Andy Smith
Netherlands’ Maartje Paumen was player of the tournament at the 2011 Champions Trophy, but there were some alternative suggestions
News and views from on and off the pitch
England’s most under-rated hockey journeyman joins pusH as a columnist and re-assures us that, despite lucrative offers from not-so-powerhouse hockey countries, the national league east conference is still where it is at.
t is time. It is upon us once more. The two weeks of struggling to walk down stairs that we like to call pre-season. I love pre-season. Not because it hurts, not because I like doggies, and certainly not because I like being significantly fatter and slower than last year. I love pre-season because of transfer rumours, new members, and for the moment that the much anticipated Australian international turns up looking confused, carrying skates and asking “Wo ist die Eisbahn?” Compared to the high glamour world of hockey, football transfers really are boring – the numbers are too big and the footballers too interchangeable. Brighton bought a midfielder in July for a million pounds, a 21-year-old from Rochdale, who plays for Watford. This incredible news didn’t warrant a headline, it didn’t even make Sky Sports News. That is how boring football transfers have become: no one even reports them anymore, even when they are worth a MILLION POUNDS. Meanwhile England Hockey reports every England Hockey League (EHL) transfer in depth on the fourth layer of
its glitzy website. Occasionally a deal will be leaked on a forum beforehand, but that is rare, such is the secrecy involved. The best thing about transfers in the EHL is that there are no big numbers to worry about. There are no numbers at all, everyone is free, it is all subtext of new jobs and moving house and romance and gush. Everyone knows there is no money in English hockey, we all play because we love the game – I heart astro-burns, match-fees, trips to Doncaster etc – clubs pay our coaches of course, they have a Level 2 badge in child protection, they deserve a salary. But wait, step back my friends, look at the World. Yes over there! It happens there! A tomahawk has real value there, even for a journeyman like me there is opportunity over the sea. There are clubs willing to pay airfares! Find me employment! Rent me a room in a team mate’s house! In return I must flick a ball with a stick at a man in a cage! They know I can do it. They saw a video of me doing it. I put it on YouTube. They want me – one paced, average old me – to do this for a living. These calls are not from Holland, Australia
and Spain (countries where hockey is important) but from Switzerland, Italy and Greece. Countries where hockey is about as popular as uphill skateboarding and less watched than Eton Fives, countries where a V-drag is something a polite girl shouldn’t do with a cigarette. It’s like someone in England being paid to play some bizarre foreign sport like petanque, pelota, or Rugby League. It is not going to happen, not on my watch. If you want to sell your hockey soul to commercialism, you can wobble off to Luxembourg. No big bucks in Blighty old bean. England Hockey does not disclose transfer fees because everyone in the EHL is moving clubs for good amateur reasons. The stars move east because they discover that Rochester really is a nice place to spend an evening, a scratch around at the foot of this conference beats the Premiership hands down, and the teas are really quite sensational at Peterborough. I wouldn’t have it any other way.
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VI
iew from the East
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James Stock says hockey is on the brink of an Olympic-led growth spurt, but the pressure is now on our players to succeed in London and give the sport the impetus it needs. There seemed to be an early theme with the Olympic ticket allocation. If you got what you wanted, it was a brilliant system. If not, it was a ridiculous concept that was never going to work. Of course, most people wanted to see Usain Bolt dispatch 100 metres in somewhere around nine and a half seconds, or Tom Daley provide some spectacular twists and spins whilst falling 10 metres into a pool. Naturally, most were disappointed. But setting aside the show stoppers for one moment – hockey sprung a surprise by simply being popular. The main events like the finals and semi-
finals were sold out after the first round of allocations. The big surprise was that some group game days had sold out when the ballot results were announced. Does this highlight an unprecedented interest in the sport within the UK? You can understand the finals selling out with enthusiasts of the sport, general sports fans who just wanted to see a medal ceremony, and those who just tried to order everything vaguely important anyway, combining to pack out the stadium. But a midweek group stage afternoon with all four ticket levels being fully allocated, even before a full playing schedule has been announced? That must be largely attributed to an interest in the sport, people who want to go and see some hockey played at the highest level. I should know as I was lucky enough to get tickets for that day that sold out.
Hockey as a sport cannot take the full credit for this achievement. The Olympics themselves are certainly the overriding factor in filling out the 15,000 capacity stadium. The high level of public interest and very noticeable media coverage has been a positive, free and widespread advertisement for all the Olympic sports on show next year. But what the Olympic factor has done is build on England Hockey’s ground work over the last few years. The sport has been stabilised and has been showing hints of growth for years. The biggest potential for future growth lies with the success of the GB squads next summer. Come July 2012, it will be their responsibility not only to bring Gold home, but to inspire a nation on home turf. The biggest sporting platform has alerted an audience, it is now down to the players to captivate them.
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Ticket sales show our sport’s potential
Planet
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hockey The great game across the universe, and closer to home
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Strangers in a strange land
Anyone who has seen Pakistan play in the past nine years, probably noticed 6’2” goalkeeper salman Akbar. Like many top players Salman has been drawn to the dutch league. He joined laren HC in 2008, taking his family to live with him in holland. for a different perspective on a Peripatetic sporting life, Ijaz chaudhry talked to salman’s wife Wajeeha.
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e got married in 2007. It was a great feeling to be wife of a popular sportsman, my friends still envy me, but it also had its other side. I spent little time with Salman as he was mostly either touring with the Pakistan team or busy training in the national camp. In 2008, when Salman told me that he has landed a contract with the Laren HC in the Dutch league and I would be accompanying him to Holland, I felt really excited as I had never lived abroad. Moreover, I also got the understanding that we will be spending more time together. At the same time there were quite a few apprehensions, big as well as small. I had lived a very comfortable lifestyle but I knew it would be different in Europe where one had to do all the chores oneself. My daughter was only six months old. Food was also on my mind – would we be getting Pakistani
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food and especially the Muslim Halal food easily? Then there was the fear of racial discrimination. So I arrived in Holland with a lot on my mind. Yes, I did find life different here. There were also cultural diversities. However, it was really wonderful to see such nice and helpful people. This meant that it didn’t take me long to adjust to the Dutch life. It was a pleasant surprise to find everyone here well conversant with the English language and I never encountered prejudice of any nature. Food is indeed different as anyone would have expected it to be but Pakistani groceries are easily available. I especially want to mention Yvonne, the ex-manager of the Laren HC who was here in our first two seasons. She really helped me to ease into Dutch environs in those early days. Her attitude was very motherly and she is still a great friend of my family. The overall atmosphere at the Laren HC is >>
Wajeeha, Salman and Fizza during one of the notoriously cold Dutch winters
am now quite at home here even when Salman is away for long periods.He had quite a few international commitments lately – 2010 Asian Games in China last November, Azlan Shah Cup in Malaysia this May and then two Four Nations recently, in Ireland in June and here in Holland in July. Then there were also training camps in Pakistan before each of these tours. All this meant, Salman wasn’t home for long periods but we managed well in his absence especially with the cooperation of our excellent neighbours and friends here. I am a qualified dentist and have also worked in Pakistan. Fizza kept me busy all these years but now she has grown up a little and attends school. Therefore, I have been thinking of practising dentistry again. But to practise here one needs to study again for three years and the course is in the Dutch language. Soon I will be taking Dutch language classes. I can speak little Dutch though I understand more of it but as mentioned before, language has never been a problem otherwise as almost every one speaks good English. Before meeting Salman, I didn’t have
interest in hockey. After marriage, I gradually developed love for the game and it has really grown since coming to Holland. Jamie Dwyer and Teun De Nooijer are my favourite players. Our Laren HC has many fine players. I personally like the skills of Pat Harris who interestingly belongs to USA, a country not much known for men’s field hockey. Pat is also the captain of his national team. Salman is presently the only Pakistani in the Dutch league; such big names like Sohail Abbas and Rehan Butt are presently out of favour. To figure in the finest hockey league of the world is an honour in itself and we feel very proud of it. The club has provided us a beautiful home in Baarn a 10-minute drive from Laren and a serene town with some great places to see. The biggest tourist attraction is the Soestdijk Palace, home to members of Royal family till as recently as 2004. There is also the historic castle, Drakensteyn speculated to be the new Royal home in future. The town also has a botanical garden and lovely parks. The beautiful river Eem runs along the East of Baarn with its captivating polders. The town of Laren of course has the famous museum housing the collection of the legendary American artist William Henry Singer. The family has also been to other parts of the country like Amsterdam, The Hague, etc. Recently we had a very enjoyable tour of neighbouring countries Germany and Belgium. I have no idea how long more we are going to stay in Holland. One thing is certain – we will always cherish the memories of the time spent in a beautiful country with wonderful people. In my very early days, I sometimes thought about rushing back to Pakistan; now it’s the other way around. p
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very social and friendly. Myself and my daughter have made many friends here. We have good terms with the families of quite a few players. We often invite each other for food. Our Dutch friends respect our Muslim faith and try their best to arrange the Halal meat. Otherwise there is always some vegetarian food on the table. There is also one Pakistani family in Laren and we have good terms with them. The standard of hockey in the Dutch hockey league is the best in the world – not surprising since they have players from all over the globe. We keenly follow the league and go to watch all the home games. The atmosphere is always electric with thousands of vociferous fans. It is also a good social experience as both myself and daughter Fizza come across all our friends and we always have a great time especially if Laren wins the game. 2010-11 was Salman’s third season with the Laren HC and I have accompanied him to Holland every time. When we first arrived in 2008, our daughter Fizza was just six-months old. This year she has started going to an international school. 2011 was the first time I didn’t go to Pakistan even during Salman’s off season as her school was on. She has many Dutch friends in neighbourhood and often visits their homes to play. Hence it comes as no surprise she is very fluent with the Dutch language. In fact, we are now apprehensive if Fizza would be able to adapt to Pakistani surroundings easily once we return to live there permanently. As we stayed in Holland during the off season, Salman’s services have been hired by many Dutch clubs to work on their goalkeepers so was travelling across the country. But in a few weeks, Laren HC’s training for the coming season will commence and he will be back again. Having spent some time in Holland, I
About Salman Akbar
Personal awards include: • 2004 – nominated for the FIH young player of the year. • 2005 – the only Pakistani to be nominated for the world player of the year. • 2007 – only the fourth goal keeper to captain Pakistan. • 2009 – only Pakistani selected in men’s world all star team
• 2010, selected in Asian all star team When Pakistan won the gold at the 2010 Asian Games, it was their first title, at global or continental level, since 1994, Salman played a stellar role in this long awaited victory which also meant Pakistan directly qualified for the London Olympics. He performed heroically in the semi final against Korea; saving three penalty strokes in the shoot out.. Salman’s talents under the bar has led him to appear for the Laren HC in the Dutch hockey league, easily the most competitive in the world, every season since 2008.
Salman and Fizza on the hockey field
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Goalkeeper Salman Akbar made his debut for Pakistan in 2002. Since then he has appeared in three World Cups, two Olympic Games, two Commonwealth Games and three Asian Games.
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THE 100,000- mile man 2011 will see New Zealand skipper Phil Burrows racking up over 100,000 air miles as the Blacksticks crank up towards London 2012. so what is behind the rise of NZ hockey and how does he handle all those flights?
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You’ve been with the national side since 2000 when New Zealand were way down the world rankings. Now you are seventh in the world. What has changed over that period? When I first came into the team, we were ranked 17th I think. We just missed out on the Sydney Olympics – one game against Poland I think we had to win, but we somehow managed to lose. That was a shame but it was both good and bad, because we got a new coaching staff and they said right, let’s start from scratch, let’s get 30-40 players and let’s really do a good job of this. Then we ended up winning a medal at the Commonwealth Games (silver in Manchester, 2002) and did well in Athens [2004 Olympics], finishing sixth which qualified us for the Champions Trophy which a lot of people didn’t expect. And of course our ranking improved, we jumped pretty quickly to around 10-12 and we have been comfortably in the top ten for a few years now. So where to from here? We still want to break into that top six and be comfortable in there. We just haven’t been consistent enough. Like I have been saying to the guys all week [at the London Cup in July] we quite often go to tournaments and achieve our ranking. So we go to those qualifying tournaments where we are ranked first >> Picture: Ady Kerry
or second and we win them. Then we go to the Commonwealth Games where we are ranked third and we finish third, We go to the Olympics and achieve our ranking – we just don’t often punch above our weight. So that is one thing we are really trying to push to the guys – we really need to do better.We’ve got to be harder on ourselves.The game against Korea the other night, we won 2-0. We played OK but I thought we squandered a lot of chances. Usually we would have said ‘happy with the win’. But we have to be disappointed in that. If we want to be in good medal contention we have to be critical and look at the little areas and get them out of our game. So that when we come to playing the likes of Australia, Germany – the big guns – we are really competitive and a force to beat them rather than it being a case of if New Zealand win today it’s a bad day for the other team, not that New Zealand deserved to win. The Blacksticks women have been showing the way with that haven’t they – beating the top sides? They are a class example of punching above their weight. A lot of teams wouldn’t have given them the time of day one or two years ago but now they are looking really good and competing with the number one, number two in the world and knocking them off. They have got the thing over Australia at the moment which is good! In the men’s game, your ‘neighbours’ Australia are still the benchmark aren’t they? We are always trying to make gains on them I have been in the team 11 years
We’ve noticed a steady increase in the number of Kiwis, including you, playing for top European sides in the Euro Hockey League in recent years. Has that exposure been important in your development, and other players too? I played for six years in Holland [one season at Breda and five at Rotterdam] and I played the season just gone in Belgium [for Braxgata] I think it is a great thing to have because you get that competitve hockey week-in week-out. In New Zealand, for example, a couple of weekends ago we had a club game and won something like 12-0, and the following weekend was 8-1 or something like that. So you only get a good game every three or four weeks. Whereas in Holland you get four good, heavy training sessions in a week and a good game at the weekend where you have to perform well against the likes of Jamie Dwyer and Teun De Nooijer, and they are in one team.You turn up to play this club team [Bloemendaal] that could potentially be in an Olympic semi-final spot! So I think just getting that competitive hockey, week in and week out, and the training too, is really important for development. A few of our guys are starting to go over to Holland now. Three are going to Rotterdam next season – Simon [Child] has been there for a while and Steve Edwards and Nick Wilson will be joining him. What is the funding situation like for New Zealand Hockey? We have got this kind of academy put in place now and we get a little bit funding as long as we perform throughout the year. We have targets set and as long as we meet those targets we will get a little more funding. So for example the World Cup [2010 New Delhi] our target was top-eight, we finished ninth so we lost a lot of funding. The last year we haven’t had much funding at all. The year before we met our goals so we got good funding so the guys were getting a little bit of money when we came away on tours , and base payments, so that was quite good. It is good and bad, because we have to hit our goals and if we don’t we lose out. So it is a good incentive to keep playing well.
So what are the goals for 2011? We are targeting the Champions Challenge [November 26 - December 4 - Johannesburg, South Africa], and of course we are tying to win it. We have a trip to India planned and from there we go to Tasmania for Oceania Cup [Oceania Cup, Hobart, October 5-9. Australia, New Zealand and Fiji]. What’s most important in a hockey team, youth or experience? I think you have to have a bit of both. You can’t just have a lot of older guys, you have to the youth in the side to keep you honest! It’s always good to have new faces in the team and the young guys seem to have a bit of flair, and bring their cockiness into it – which is good. But the older guys have to calm them down a bit. I think we have a really good balance in the team leading into London next year. Two teams will qualify for London 2012 from the Oceania Cup – that has been controversial hasn’t it with calls for Europe or Asia to have more places? Whatever people say, I think we deserve those two spots in Oceania because we have been in the top bracket for so long now. This is the first Olympics we have got the two places. I know there was a fuss that Europe should get five places, but Oceania teams are ranked one and seven in the world – that’s pretty damn good for p hockey on that side of the world!
About Phil Burrows
Date of birth: 25 April 1980 Shirt number: 18 Position: Forward School: Newlands College, Wellington, where he formed a school team with current Blacksticks goalie Kyle Pontifexl Started hockey: Aged four when his dad Trevor (a New Zealand international) put a stick in his hands Senior international debut: 20 January 2000, vs Great Britain International caps: 259 (as of 25 July)
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• Be smart – Plan your sleep, plan getting out your seat and plan your water. • Get in sync – Use the flight to adjust to the time zone you are arriving in. For example flying to Europe with an early arrival, stay awake as much as possible on the first leg and sleep as much as possible on the second – even using things like sleeping pills. • Move – On that first leg I’d get up every hour or two hours just to move or stretch. Occasionally I’ll stand down the back of the plane for an hour. • Drink (water!) – On a leg to Hong Kong [about 11 hours] I’d probably get through three litres of water. Keeps you getting up out your seat too!
and still haven’t beaten them. We had a run of three draws in Australia one time. We were actually leading 3-1 with eight minutes to go and I thought this must be the day – but no, they came back to 3-3. They are the mark, when you play Australia, you know how good you are. And if you have a bad day against them… We had a bad day against them in the Champions Trophy [Moenchengladbach, 2010] and they put nine in our net – they don’t let up.
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Phil’s travel tips
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Th e g r eat
60 second Champions Trophy... England’s women held onto a vital Champions Trophy place (to be taken up by GB in 2012) with a fifth-place finish in Amsterdam (June 25 - July 3). Here’s our 60-second Champions Trophy report... The International Hockey Federation (FIH) had organised the new-format eight-team, two pool format Champions Trophy without actually checking the tournament regulations were watertight. Added to that, the decision about how many teams would be relegated wasn’t to be made until half-way through the tournament. So the teams travelled to Amsterdam knowing that doing quite well was quite a good idea to avoid being dumped off into the Champions Challenge, but quite how well was uncertain. England didn’t make the medal pool after a 1- 0 loss to Argentina (one moment of magic from Luciana Aymar) a 2-2 draw with Korea (two goals to Rebecca Herbert) and a goal-less game with China. Argentina, Korea, Netherlands and New Zealand fought their way into medal contention. Netherlands then won that medal pool and made the final, beating Argentina 2-1 along the way. Korea thought they had come second but Argentina won an appeal, and a place in the final, due to the dodgy tournament regulations but didn’t know they were in the final well after midnight on the day of the game. Even so las Leonas started the final like a freight train and smashed in three unanswered goals. Then a brilliant hat-trick of penalty corners from Dutch captain and player of the tournament Maartje Paumen tied things up. After a fruitless extra time Netherlands won the eight-seconds-to-score penalties 3-2. Meanwhile England had won the relegation pool with a 1-0 win over Germany (Alex Danson goal) and a 3-2 win over Australia (Kate Walsh (PC), Anne Panter and Nicola White). That set them up for the 5th/6th match where they defeated Australia (again) 2-0 with goals from Rebecca Herbert and Chloe Rogers. By then we knew the top five would be safe for next year. The Champions Challenge winners Japan would qualify plus two teams nominated by the FIH – bless them. New Zealand won their first ever Champions Trophy medal with a 3-2 win over a depressed Korea thanks to a last-minute goal from Charlotte Harrison. Australia finished sixth, while China did Germany 5-3 for the prestige of 7th. As it happens the FIH decided to invite China and Germany back next year and not Australia who must have run a really big bar bill or something. And by the way on that appeal, Korea and Argentina had finished level in the pool, the argument was over whether just results in that pool or over the whole tournament should count as the tiebreaker. The Korean’s (and us) assumed their better goals for in the pool (goal difference was equal) would see them through. Argentina’s lawyer (smart move bringing one!) said it should go to results over all the tournament, and won. Probably made for a better final anyway. It was a brilliant come-from-behind win by the Dutch. Main picture – New Zealand’s Sally Rutherford upends Argentina’s Rocio Mocca Sanchez the game finished 3-2 to Argentina. (Right) England’s Rebecca Herbert attacks Korea and (top) Chloe Rogers (in red) tangles with Australia’s Casey Eastham. All pictures by Andy Smith.
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Champions Trophy
hockey direct
The great blind Push stick test 47 sticks, four tests, prices from £275 to £40, all logos and branding hidden – So can our testers tell the difference and which sticks hit, dribble, lift and touch above or below their price tag?
W
e trialed ‘blind’ testing of sticks last year and it was such a success that it’s back again – bigger and better. This year the test is also earlier to give you more time to decide on a new stick and we have included all the sticks together rather than running the test over two issues.
The tests The test format remains pretty much the same. We’ve asked all the brands for their new-season sticks, then we’ve disguised them with paint, chamois grips and tape (see left). We divided the sticks into three categories: premium – £200 and over, mid-range – £100 and over and value – under £100. Our panel of testers then put each stick through a test involving a pass and receive (to assess first touch), a dribble through some
rectangular markers, a lift over a row of cones then a hit into a goal. All this was done on a top-quality water-based astro. Each tester gave each stick a mark out of ten for each test. For our results overleaf we have calculated each stick’s average score for each test. We have also calculated an overall score for each stick – the average of all its scores over all tests by all testers. This is the score we have used to rank the sticks in the final results which start over the page. We asked our testers to be consistent across all the sticks – so a £45 stick was not marked any easier or harder than a £245 one, it was just marked as a stick. We also asked our testers to pick a favourite stick for each price category – we think this is important because the total package of playing qualities of a stick can be more, or less, than how good it seems from a total of the individual tests. We also decided to keep our test panel anonymous, not because we or they have anything to hide but because they have sponsorships and other ties in the hockey world and we wanted to be sure they could give us their forthright judgements. Turn over for all the results!
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Meet our test team If we could tell you who he was, he’d need no introduction. The Stik has been with PUSH from day one – a former international, now a top-level coach and a complete hockey anorak. Roll Mastermind music, specialist subject hockey sticks 1953-2011 – you know the sort of thing. Not to be confused with that slightly taller imitation ‘The Stick’ seen at the London Cup.
Kit Monkey
Our resident kit expert also knows his bananas and, far more usefully, his hockey sticks. Another accomplished coach and now international veteran, we unlocked the office cage for a few hours to let him roam free once more on his native astroturf.
The Boy Detective
He’s young, he’s from Belgium and when he is not solving crimes with his fox terrier Snowy, he finds time to play for his country’s junior national side. Who better to do some serious detective work on the new season’s sticks? By the way we know you took two sticks home and we are sending Hercule Poirot over there. He knows where you live!
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The Stik
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Premium sticks – £200 and over 1. adidas TX24
The top overall performer in all our test sticks. adidas have reshaped and redesigned their entire range this year moving away from the original HS1, HS2 etc. range and adding tech like Dualspine rods and and adiPrene cuff – looks like it all works! Expect to pay: £200
Overall: Touch: Dribble: Lift: Power:
9.1 9.3 8.3 9.0 9.7
2. adidas X17
Not everyone wants a 24mm, bow (see page 13) and the adidas X17 is a top-of-the range stick with a straighter profile. Once again adidas have produce a superb stick – the only one that tested better was the same brand’s LX24! Expect to pay: £200
Overall: Touch: Dribble: Lift: Power:
8.7 8.7 8.3 8.7 9.0
3. Mercian Pro Line 001
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This is Mercian’s highest-ever carbon content stick with tech like PISO-ELECTRIC fibres to turn vibrations into heat. With power to burn, our testers thought this was another real cracker of a stick. Expect to pay: £275
Overall: Touch: Dribble: Lift: Power:
8.3 8.3 7.3 8.3 9.0
4= Kookaburra Midas
A good all-round performer, the new graphics slipped by our testers (after all they were covered up!) but features include Texalium reinforcement on the Precision Edge – just shows our tests aren’t everything, we didn’t include edge hits this time – maybe next year! Expect to pay: £230
Overall: Touch: Dribble: Lift: Power:
7.8 8.0 8.0 7.7 7.3
4= TK Synergy s-1077
TK highlights their Nano Technology in this stick, using multi layered carbon nanotubes bonded for increased strength and stability. Finished equal with the Kookaburra Midas – except for alphabetical order! Our testers liked the first-touch . Expect to pay: £250
Overall: Touch: Dribble: Lift: Power:
7.8 8.3 8.0 7.7 7.0
6. Voodoo Code Red
We love all the Voodoo graphics but of course the testers couldn’t see these (and we lost the picture!). A real hitting stick, as you’d expect from a model dedicated to power. Things like the extra wear protection we didn’t test... next year! Expect to pay: £200
Overall: Touch: Dribble: Lift: Power:
7.7 7.3 6.7 8.0 8.7
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Mid-range £100-£199 1. Grays GX9000 Maxi
The SF3 is available in both 19 and 25mm bows giving you a balanced choice between dribbling and flicking qualities. Both incorporate Dita’s CDC Secret Formula resin technology. Power and touch rated well. Expect to pay: £200
Our top mid-range performer the GX9000 out-tested many ‘premium’ sticks. Won the mid-range battle on touch, dribble (equal with adidas LX24) and was a close second on power. A brilliant all rounder with 25mm Megabow blade profile . Expect to pay: £167
8. Mercian Pro Line 003
2. adidas LX24
Overall: Touch: Dribble: Lift: Power:
7.6 8.0 6.3 7.3 8.7
The 003 features Basalt which helps with vibration damping and is more environmentally friendly composite than standard carbon composite. If the 003’s balance of playing qualities suits you as well as the 001’s do, you can save £50... and the planet! Expect to pay: £225
Overall: Touch: Dribble: Lift: Power:
We say
7.5 8.3 6.3 8.0 7.3
Premium Sticks: Hey, we’d happily use any of these sticks, but when you are paying £200+ it is worth being fussy. The two new adidas sticks impressed our testers and finished first and second in class. And they are priced right at the bottom of our rather arbitrary price band. The new Kookaburra Midas performed well, as did it predecessor last year. Sadly the new Gryphons did not arrive in time for our tests. Last year the Gryphon Tour Pro and TK Synergy s2077 were equal top in the £200 and over section. Remember, a stick is a personal choice and we only tested four aspects of their playability. Use our scores as a starting point for your own investigations. Finally, some of the mid-range sticks came close or bettered the premium sticks, read on and find a bargain!
Overall: Touch: Dribble: Lift: Power:
8.4 8.7 8.7 7.7 8.7
Equal top in the mid-range dribble test (with the GX9000), and equal second in touch. Another stick that can stand happily alongside the ‘premium’ sticks. Uses the adiBow 24 mould shape. Expect to pay: £185
Overall: Touch: Dribble: Lift: Power:
8.2 8.0 8.7 8.0 8.0
3. Slazenger Pro 1
Great all round marks with good power, dribble and lift marks. At this price it has to be one of the best value sticks around. Try one and don’t be put off by the 40% carbon. Expect to pay: £100
Overall: Touch: Dribble: Lift: Power:
8.1 7.7 8.3 8.3 8.0 >>
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7. Dita Titan SF3 – 19mm
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4. Grays AJ7 Jumbow
You got the power! The SPS blew away the mid-range category on power and put all but the adidas TX24 to shame in the ‘premium’ sticks. One of the sticks away from the ‘big brands’ that are well worth considering. Expect to pay: £150
5= Mercian Pro Line 005
5= Slazenger V3.7
Overall: Touch: Dribble: Lift: Power:
7.9 7.7 8.0 8.0 8.0
Nothing to split the next four sticks on overall marks, but this one is the 005 – licence to lift. If 3D skills are your thing the Pro Line 005 received the second-best score of the day and was by far the best sub £200 performer. Nice first touch too, makes for another very impressive bit of gear. Expect to pay: £185
Overall: Touch: Dribble: Lift: Power:
7.8 8.0 7.3 8.7 7.3
5= Slazenger V2.8
Almost identical marks to the Slazenger Pro 1. But this more expensive V2.8 didn’t score quite as well on the dribble test. There is very little to choose between any of the sticks in this very competitive part of the market, so this 80% carbon stick could well be the one for you. Expect to pay: £160
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5= Newbery GT360 SPS
Obviously aimed at Ashley Jackson fans like us, this stick could win fans of it’s own. New colours for 2011 and a FIH compliant bow shape for when our drag flicks win us that Champions Trophy call up... Another top-value all rounder. Expect to pay: £105
Overall: Touch: Dribble: Lift: Power:
7.8 7.7 7.3 8.3 8.0
Overall: Touch: Dribble: Lift: Power:
7.8 7.0 7.7 7.0 9.3
Marks are so tight in here that we are using alphabetical order – a name change would help... how about the aaaaaaSlazenger next year? Anyway 70% carbon so a nudge less power than some (including the V2.8) but very playable all-round qualities below the mid-point of the mid-range price bracket. Expect to pay: £140
Overall: Touch: Dribble: Lift: Power:
7.8 8.0 7.7 8.0 7.3
9. TK s-5177
Impressive power at a great price point and good all-round marks positions the s5177 as a serious contender in the marketplace. We have to confess we get confused by all the numbers in the TK ranges, but don’t be put off have a good look! Expect to pay: £120
Overall: Touch: Dribble: Lift: Power:
7.7 7.0 7.7 7.3 8.7
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The Elite comes in Drag, Flick and Control versions all with 25mm bends. We tested the control (Flick is pictured). Great dribble and lift marks show this is one worth considering if you are a real in-close player. Further evidence that there is good value and quality out there. Expect to pay: £115
Overall: Touch: Dribble: Lift: Power:
7.6 7.0 8.0 8.0 7.3
11. Tribaal Katana66
With an 18mm mid-bow this is Tribaal’s straighter stick. Another good dribbling stick. 90% Carbon , 5% Kevlar, 5% and smack in the middle of this price band. Expect to pay: £149
Overall: Touch: Dribble: Lift: Power:
7.4 7.3 8.0 7.0 7.3
12= Mercian 100 series 103
Again it’s getting close with nothing to separate the next three sticks on overall marks. The 103 is a ‘standard bend’ stick with 70% Carbon, 20% Kevlar and 10% Fibreglass. What’s not to like? A really playable stick that’s terrific value for money. Expect to pay: £100
Overall: Touch: Dribble: Lift: Power:
7.3 7.0 7.0 7.7 7.3
12= Stag Pro 8000
Stag are a big player in the discerning Dutch market and are becoming more available in the UK. 80% Carbon, 23mm bend and made from extra light Japanese carbon/dyneema. Our testers were impressed by the first touch. Search one out if you are looking for very light sticks, it comes in extra light. Expect to pay: £150
Overall: Touch: Dribble: Lift: Power:
7.3 7.7 7.0 7.3 7.0
12= Tribaal M7
Marginally outperformed by it’s fellow warrior the Katana. Unfortunately we know nothing about this brand new stick except for the marks below! Expect to pay: £185
Overall: Touch: Dribble: Lift: Power:
7.3 7.7 6.3 7.3 7.7
15= Kookaburra Venom
This is an I-Bow stick, new for 2011 from Kookaburra (I-Bow is between a L-Bow and a M-Bow in Kookaburra speak). 75% Carbon, 25% Fibreglass and that new bend seem to do the trick with 3D skills and dribbles in a stick that compares very well with others at the same price. Expect to pay: £120
Overall: Touch: Dribble: Lift: Power:
7.2 6.7 7.3 7.3 7.3
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10. Toma Pirahna Elite
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15= Mercian 100 series 102
Nothing to split this from the Kookaburra Venom on total marks. Very similar scores in most categories to the Mercian 103. This 102 is a low-bend model and might better suit your aerial and drag-flick skills, however. Expect to pay: £120
Overall: Touch: Dribble: Lift: Power:
8.4 8.7 8.7 7.7 8.7
15= Voodoo Vamp
Identical marks to the above stick. Has a double layer of twaron aramide added to the hook of the stick which may appeal to you if you play on those wearing sand-filled surfaces. Mid shaft 25mm bow. Expect to pay: £120
Overall: Touch: Dribble: Lift: Power:
7.2 7.3 7.0 7.0 7.3
18. Dita RX5 Ultra
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The ULTRA RX5 is designed for flat hitting with the 21.50mm continuous bend for minimum lift. It didn’t blow away our testers on power but there were so many big-bowed sticks in the test maybe we were taken by surprise. For a straight-ish stick the lifts were good and very solid all-round marks. Try one yourself! Expect to pay: £150
Overall: Touch: Dribble: Lift: Power:
7.1 6.7 7.0 7.7 7.0
19. Slazenger V1.9
Curiously down on marks compared to lower-priced alternatives in the Slazenger range, but for a 90% carbon stick the V1.9 marked very well on touch. So if a stiff, low bow stick is what you are about give it a go. Expect to pay: £180
Overall: Touch: Dribble: Lift: Power:
7.0 7.7 6.7 6.7 7.0
20. Uber Boomer Wang
The Boomer is a 100% carbon, low bow, drag-flicking stick. It rated very high on lifts (the bow really helps!) but otherwise didn’t really fire up our testers. However we weren’t rating drag-flicking, so this could still work for you. Expect to pay: £145
Overall: Touch: Dribble: Lift: Power:
6.9 6.3 6.3 8.3 6.7
21. Slazenger V4.6
Smooth 25mm bow, 60% carbon (with the Slazenger range the point means percentage carbon so .6 = 60% – simples). Expect to pay: £120
Overall: Touch: Dribble: Lift: Power:
6.2 6.3 5.7 6.7 6.0
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22. Uber Nero
Another mystery stick. Hey we don’t even know what it costs! Expect to pay: £???
We say
6.0 6.3 5.0 6.0 6.7
Mid Range: Sub £200 is the liveliest sector of the market. Let’s face it if you are forking out for a ‘premium’ stick you will be getting something excellent, whatever you choose. But in the sub £200 bracket there are big variations in playing qualities and some sticks that really do measure up well. The new GX9000 Maxi was the narrow winner on overall marks and our testers agreed it was an excellent stick. The Slazenger Pro 1 was the real bolter in the group – a £100 quid stick with top-grade marks. The Grays AJ7 is only five pounds more and scored almost the same as the Pro 1. Right through this price range the marks and rankings are very close. We didn’t test every quality so keep an open mind and try as many sticks as you can to find the one that best suits your game and your wallet.
Value sticks below £100
7.5 8.0 7.0 7.3 7.7
3. Newbery Drag‘n’fly Player
A low bow stick with 50% carbon, 45% Fibregalss and 5% Kevlar as well as D3O shock absorption. The testers rated this the third best dribbling stick in the whole test. Another stick highlighting the great value there is out there. Expect to pay: £68
Overall: Touch: Dribble: Lift: Power:
7.4 6.0 8.3 7.7 7.7
4 Newbery 5 Star
1. Voodoo Neon Yellow
Loads of tech like twin channel construction and Intelligent Resin and all in a sub £100 stick. This 25mm mid-bow stick has power that puts considerably more expensive sticks to shame with great dribble and lift marks too. Expect to pay: £95
Overall: Touch: Dribble: Lift: Power:
Overall: Touch: Dribble: Lift: Power:
7.8 7.0 7.7 8.0 8.3
30% Carbon, 65% Fibreglass, 5% Kevlar with D3O shock protection in a 24mm mid-bow stick. Really good all-round performance on a budget – we love it. Expect to pay: £52
Overall: Touch: Dribble: Lift: Power:
7.2 7.3 7.0 7.0 7.3 >>
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Overall: Touch: Dribble: Lift: Power:
2. Mercian 200 series 201
An entry level stick that could take many of us as far as we could go. Best first touch by miles in this class, and amazing value. Just shows 100% fibreglass can work if you do it right. Standard bend, other colours available. Expect to pay: £40
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5= Slazenger Pro 2
A smooth 19mm bow, 30% carbon stick that tested well. But for £20 quid more you could get the brilliant Pro 1 (although the Pro 1 is a low bow stick). Expect to pay: £80
Overall: Touch: Dribble: Lift: Power:
7.0 7.0 7.3 7.0 6.7
5= Stag Helix 2000
Another fantastic value entry-level stick that could take you a long way. 30% carbon, 22mm mid bow. Available in red, sky blue, grey finishes as well as the ‘flower’ shown. Expect to pay: £45
Overall: Touch: Dribble: Lift: Power:
7.0 7.0 7.3 7.0 6.7
5= Toma Piranha VR500
Kevlar wrapped, 5% Kevlar, 10% carbon fibre, 85% glass fibre with a 22mm, mid bow. Another good all-round score. Expect to pay: £85
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Overall: Touch: Dribble: Lift: Power:
7.0 7.3 7.0 7.0 6.7
8. Slazenger Pro 3
20% carbon, 19mm low bow stick. More good value from Slazenger especially if this lower level of carbon suits your game. Expect to pay: £60
Overall: Touch: Dribble: Lift: Power:
6.9 7.3 7.0 6.7 6.7
9= adidas V24-5 Xtreme 24
This is the 15% carbon version of the classic Xtreme24 bow stick with a gradual 24mm bow peaking three-quarters of the way down the shaft. Hard to fault at this price point. Expect to pay: £70
Overall: Touch: Dribble: Lift: Power:
6.8 7.3 6.7 6.7 6.7
9= Grays GX4000 Megabow
If you are a fan of the Megabow shape (and there are a lot of reasons to like it) the GX4000 will get you going at a very good price. The graphics have changed a bit for 2011, and there are a few other tweaks so you should be able to tell this year’s model. Expect to pay: £64
Overall: Touch: Dribble: Lift: Power:
6.8 6.7 6.7 6.7 7.3
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9= Dita Pro-Max 625
Top marks for power in the under £100 category, so if you hit hard and often the Pro-Max 625 could be the one for you. Only two sticks in the higher £100-£199 bracket scored better power marks! Also in black (orange shown) Expect to pay: £90
6.8 6.3 6.3 6.0 8.3
More great value in entry level sticks. 20mm mid bow, 95% fibreglass, 5% aramid. Expect to pay: £40
6.7 6.7 6.0 7.0 7.0
13. Voodoo Spy
All the best in Voodoo tech –such as Soft Sleeve, double Kevlar for sand wear, intelligent resin and twin channel construction – at a pretty good price. 25mm bow in another decent starter stick that can go a long way. Expect to pay: £50
Overall: Touch: Dribble: Lift: Power:
Overall: Touch: Dribble: Lift: Power:
6.5 7.0 6.7 5.7 6.7
15. Uber Wang
12. TK 6GTS Overall: Touch: Dribble: Lift: Power:
5 % Kevlar , 10% Carbon Fibre, 85% Glass Fibre and a 22mm mid bow from Piranha’s entry-level stick. Lots to like especially the touch combined with good power. Expect to pay: £70
6.6 6.0 6.3 6.7 7.3
90% carbon, 5% kevlar, 5% fibreglass and a 25mm low bow. Lifts were this sticks best quality and remember we didn’t test drag-flicking or aerials. Expect to pay: £97
Overall: Touch: Dribble: Lift: Power:
6.4 6.3 6.0 7.0 6.3
16. Stag Matrix 5000
Carbon/dyneema matrix with 50% carbon and a 20mm bend. Available in black and in sliver (silver shown). Expect to pay: £90
Overall: Touch: Dribble: Lift: Power:
6.3 7.0 5.7 6.3 6.3
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Overall: Touch: Dribble: Lift: Power:
14. Toma Piranha VR400
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We say 17. Kookaburra Blaze
25% Carbon and 75% Fibreglass matrix in a mid bow stick very well priced. Expect to pay: £45
Overall: Touch: Dribble: Lift: Power:
5.3 5.0 5.3 5.7 5.0
Value Sticks: We were blown away by the quality and value available for under £100. The Voodoo Neon One stood out for our testers although it is priced towards the top of this price band. The Mercian 201 also really impressed – and for £40 too. What a great entry level stick. Look down the list and you’ll find a range of sticks that will suit anyone right up to the very good club level player. So why not consider saving some cash and diving in?
Conclusions... When we started ‘blind’ testing last year, the idea was to set aside any preconceptions our testers might have had about favourite brands, models, carbon contents and even price-ranges of sticks. By giving every stick a fair go we thought we’d open our eyes a little wider to what is available right across the marketplace. Again we think we have produced a valuable tool to help players start to make an informed choice about which sticks might suit their game and their pocket. Remember however we have only tested four aspects of each stick’s overall playability in a limited and controlled environment – it’s not like we played a match with each one. Also the total playability of a stick may be more (or less!) than the total marks it received. Have a look at out tester’s choices on the next page – our youngest tester certainly picked out a few
unexpected winners. So, as we said last year, we think it is wise to use our test results as a starting point for making decisions rather than a destination. Consider our test results, then try as many sticks as you can, whether this is your mates’ sticks at training or at a good sports shop (some even have hitting cages!). Find out what style of stick suits you, after all buying a stick just because it did well in our test is only marginally smarter than buying one just because it’s brand xyz. Having said that, it’s only fair to mention a few sticks that really impressed our testers. adidas seem to have put a lot of work into their top-end sticks and the resulting adidas LX24 (a big favourite of The Stik) and the straighter adidas X17 are really terrific sticks. Another new stick, the Grays GX9000, picked up The Stik’s nominations as the best all-round stick
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Thanks to:
Seaford College (www.seaford.org) for the use of their brilliant astro, Shammy Shack for all the chamois grips (see them at www. shammyshack.com), Exsportise for the use of some of their pitch equipment (www.exsportise.co.uk), all the brands who supplied us with sticks – we really do appreciate it and we have done our absolute best to be fair – and finally all our testers. The Stik literally played until his fingers bled, Kit Monkey went bananas and our Boy Detective even missed his dinner – legends one and all.
and best value stick. So this looks like another case of well-targeted product development paying off for us, the consumers. Voodoo’s sticks performed well across all the price ranges, but The Stik was particularly impressed by the variety and quality in their sub £100 offerings. The Voodoo Neon Yellow topped the test in this price category. Looking around for other sticks that out-performed their price, the Slazenger Pro 1 looks a steal at £100 as does the Grays AJ7 Jumbow for £5 more. Slazenger’s consistent performance through all the tests in all the price ranges makes them the deserved winners of The Stik’s ‘most consistent’ award. Mercian also deserve a mention for producing excellent sticks right through the price ranges. It’s hard to believe that you can buy a stick as good as the Mercian 200 series 201 for just £40. TK and Kookaburra’s sticks also tested well, while the Newbery GT360 SPS had power to burn at a great value price-point. Our youngest tester picked out the Tribaal Katana 66 and Toma Pirahna VR400 as favourites –so these relative newcomers are definitely worth a good look. All-in-all we think the brands have all upped their game this year, which is brilliant news for us players. The brands are also all doing the right thing by newcomers to hockey by producing some very usable sticks for the lower end of the market. p
Premium
adidas TX24
Mid-range
adidas LX24
Value
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Tester’s choice: The Stik
Voodoo Neon Yellow
Tester’s choice: Kit Monkey Premium
adidas TX24
Mid-range
adidas LX24
Value
Voodoo Neon Yellow
Tester’s Choice: Boy Detective
Mid-range Value
adidas x17 Tribaal Katana66 Toma Piranha VR400
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Premium
Gforce. Not just another stock teamwear brand
See our review in ‘Kit Monkey’
High Performance Bespoke Sportswear With a passion for sport, GFORCE prides itself in knowing how important it is to deliver high quality, affordable, multi-sport apparel with low order quantities and quick turn–around times. Up to 10,000 Colour Combinations
Low Minimum Order
Short Lead Time
Free Design Service
A BRAND YOU CAN TRUST
T: 01507 523243 sales@gforcesportswear.co.uk
www.gforcesportswear.co.uk
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adidas leads the way fter the results of the PUSH blind stick test came in, we decided to find out more about the new adidas range of sticks for the 2011/12 season.
We thought the best way to do this was to catch up with some of the internationals who have been using adidas sticks. So we talked to Barry Middleton (GB/England captain), Richard Mantell (GB/England) and Chloe Rogers (GB/England) to ask them why they choose to use adidas, and what we should be looking out for when we buy our new sticks. Who better to grill the players than our very own the Stik who, with his vast experience on and off the pitch knows more about head shapes, composition and design than any other living being.
Alex Danson
advertising feature
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Turn the page for more >>
llllllllllllllllllllll adidas The Stik
England/GB captain Barry Middleton
England/GB Richard Mantell
England/GB Alex Danson
adidas have been around for over 60 years, but has only been producing hockey sticks for the last three years, which makes it all the more exceptional that they now have some of the top players in the world using their sticks. What attracted you to the brand in the first place?
England/GB Chloe Rogers
x17 – Barry Middleton’s choice
adidas have a huge amount of experience of producing quality products for athletes in so many sports and I really liked the sticks, shoes and clothing that they offered. In short when I signed with adidas I felt that they had the best products around and they would get even better over time. I was attracted by the name of adidas. I think everybody knows how big a name they are in the sporting world and it was exciting for me to be able to work with such a big brand. But the big thing for me was that I still felt comfortable with the sticks they produced and they have always made sticks that are good for me. I have always been an adidas fan as I love all sports and have always been very happy with their clothing and sports equipment. I came by the sticks almost by chance as friend was playing with one and I starting tapping around with it on the field. I instantly liked the stick and ended up persuading her to let me borrow it! Adidas have such a great history within sport. They are a large brand with some exceptional athletes across all sports using their equipment. When they first came onto the hockey scene, I wanted to try one of their sticks and I liked it a lot. They have continued to improve each year with feedback from top players.
TX24 – Richard Mantell’s choice
What stick do you play with and has this been specially designed for you by adidas?
My stick is the x17
I use the TX24 100% carbon stick which is made for me in length 38.5”, weight 570g.
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The adidas LX24 adibow composite stick – 100% carbon, light weight in 36.5” . It’s just the normal one you can buy from the shops!
Chloe Rogers user her adidas LX24 at the 2011 Champions Trophy
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“The Touch Compound helps maintain better control of the ball when receiving and dribbling. It is the best thing to use apart from glue!�
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Barry Middleton England/GB captain
llllllllllllllllllllll adidas The adidas range this year has been simplified and grouped into ‘families’ of sticks, can you explain to our readers why this helps?
LX24 – Chloe Rogers’ choice
It provides players with the option to use a stick from anywhere in the adidas range to suit their needs without having to use a completely different looking stick to the top of the range sticks. For example if you wanted to use a slightly softer feeling stick with the same bow that I use (XXTreme 24) and for a lower price then, there’s a TX24 stick available which looks very similar but with less carbon and no Dualspine rods. adidas seem to have truly embraced hockey and is now seen as one of the top brands, can you explain what the new Dualspine technology is and how it affects the playing qualities of the sticks? The Dualspine is two carbon rods down the shaft of the stick. It is primarily designed to generate more power from the stick. It can help people to get power while having a little more control in their swing. The carbon rods that run down the back of my Dualspine stick help to provide me with lots of power when I’m striking the ball as it increases the stiffness of the stick whilst keeping the great feel that I’m used to. The Dualspine rods provide more power and stiffness in the stick when hitting the ball but keeps the same balance and weight of a normal stick – you don’t notice they are in the stick until you hit.
Another new concept is the adiPrene cuff, again can you tell us what this is and how it works? Dualspine technology
The adiPrene cuff helps reduce any vibrations travelling up the stick when I connect with the ball, which helps provide a nice solid feeling when I strike the ball.
The adiprene cuff is under the grip. It helps to take away the nasty vibrations that can come when hitting the ball, especially on those cold nights we all love training on.
There is also a touch compound that has been added to the face of the stick, how does this help when on the pitch?
The touch compound helps maintain better control of the ball when receiving and dribbling. It is the best thing to use apart from glue!
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The touch compound helps give me a bit more grip on the ball when receiving the ball and also helps keep the ball on my stick a bit longer when I’m drag flicking, which helps to increase my flicking power. It acts like sand-paper to grip the ball when controlling the first touch or dribbling with the ball. The stick also retains its soft feel when cushioning the ball on touch.
Touch Compound
After years of just turning up, playing and keeping quiet, Push editor tom Cooper finally has decided to take his level one coaching qualification. Here’s what happened...
L
ooking around my fellow Level 1 coaching classmates, I started having flashbacks to school – probably the last time I was in a ‘classroom’ environment. Through the windows of Moulton College, the grounds, playing fields and softly wooded limestone ridges of the Northamptonshire hills look far more tempting than the whiteboard and Powerpoint slides. Inside a classroom but definitely outside my comfort zone – and my first step onto the ladder of formal hockey coaching qualifications was about to start. Like many players, my main experience of coaching is being on the receiving end. In my early playing days there were very rarely coaches. There was often a schoolteacher who played (and some very good players they were too) while in club hockey the team captain took a bit of responsibility, but that was about it. That has all changed now, of course, and hockey has been one of the forerunners in establishing a progressive set of formal coaching qualifications. In recent years I have been fortunate enough to train with
Push editor Tom Cooper tries to believe that even Health and Safety checklists can be fun
some excellent (and obviously very well trained) coaches and, despite officially entering the ‘old-dogs, no new tricks’ years as a player, I have in fact learnt plenty. So I actually do have a positive view of coaching but until recently I’d never really seen myself doing anything except playing. Lately, however, I’ve wanted to get more involved at my
What you might get out of Level 1 • Re-learn those basic skills so you can break them down and pass them on to others • Learn some new training exercises – right from warm-ups through to small game play • Develop your confidence to lead training drills (supervised!) with groups • Start developing the skills to plan and deliver hockey-based activities • Learn how to ensure a safe training environment • Learn a bit about how people learn • Get a pre-requisite for Level 2 coaching award which will allow you to coach on your own!
club, and I’ve also been getting frustrated by some of the (in my opinion) rather out-of-date advice still going around courtesy of usually untrained ‘coaches’. At Push, we are very lucky in that we get to work with some really top-notch hockey people, watch top-level match play and even occasionally look in on international training sessions. So I like to think I’ve soaked up a bit of hockey knowledge from that (as well as playing for 20+ seasons!), but when it comes passing knowledge on to others face to face, in my case, I am clueless! That’s a rather expanded version of the ‘why are you doing this course’, ‘what are your expectations’ and ‘what are the challenges for you’ questions that come at the start of the first course session. The Level 1 coaching course I am on is with Futures Sports. It was a three-day course with the option to be residential at the college (which I had taken). Futures Sports also run hockey camps for school-age children and many of my fellow Level 1 candidates had been to these camps – giving the course a distinctly young atmosphere. On top of that there were some non-hockey players (many qualified as coaches in other sports), some parent-coaches, prospective teachers and in fact a pretty good section of the hockey community at large. By the way, the VRQ Level 1 (Coaching) qualification (to give it it’s official title) means that once you are over 18, you can obtain insurance and practice in the role of coaching assistant alongside a fully qualified adult holding a Level 2 coach award (or higher). Course-wise, there is inevitably a fair stack of desk-based stuff to get through, especially on the first morning where code of conduct, child protection and the inevitable Health and Safety all get an airing. But the emphasis with Futures Sports was to get practical wherever possible and with sand- and water-based pitches all within a few minutes’ walk of the classroom moving from desk to pitch was an easy proposition. Getting active on the astro came on the first afternoon where the emphasis was on warm-ups and the basics of ball-carrying. Of course with all these things the coach needs to know both what to coach and how to coach it. Both of these were attacked head on >>
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Taking the plunge
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and there was no place to hide as we were all involved in practical exercises taking roles as either the ‘coach’ or the ‘player’. This is where the benefits of our mixed group really came out. There were some very good coaches amongst us (from other sports). They were brilliant in communicating with the group, and they had some great ways of warming up. For example with other ball games – loads more fun (and more effective) than the all-toocommon desultory jog around the pitch. Then again when it came to skills we had some fantastic hockey players amongst us who were ready-made ‘what to teach’ demonstrators. Not being particularly confident about my delivery skills I took a bit of a back seat in volunteering to lead exercises, but there was much to learn from the experience of being coached too. It was interesting to see what worked, and didn’t work, in terms of what the ‘coaches’ did and said, and how this related to the different ways people learn. Some ‘coaches’ were intimidatingly good right from the start, but that did actually really help to build my confidence, and eventually to get stuck in. There were 32 altogether on our course and three (sometimes four) coach tutors. We were frequently broken into different groups for the purposes of delivering different drills and exercises – so by the end of day two we had pretty much had a chance to work in a group with everyone on the course. Apart from a brief session and test on rules (in which I’m ashamed to say I didn’t score 100%) day two was almost entirely outside. There were other ‘how to’ skills to brush up on. Over the two days, as well as the ball carry, we covered the push pass, receiving the ball, slap hit and hit, reverse hit (and reverse slap hit ) – which makes up a pretty comprehensive basic tool-kit. From a purely playing perspective, my execution of all these benefited from the exercise of breaking the skills down into their component parts which is
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Advantages of a residential course • Depending on the schedule you should have a bit more time to concentrate on the course • No distractions from your everyday life • Meet a variety of people from different parts of the country. • At Moulton College in particular all the facilities are on site
Plenty of time for pitch-based sessions was one big plus for the Futures Sports Level 1 coaching course run over three days
necessary to have a hope of teaching someone else how to do them. I also had quite a few skill updates from youngsters fresh out of JDC and JRPC’s about what is being taught right now. Bonus! Day two also started to incorporate instructing, organising and running small games. All this was building up towards our assessments on day three where we had to plan a coaching session from warm-up through to cool down that built up towards a conditioned small-sided game. We weren’t going to present the full session, but were expected to demonstrate the teaching of a basic skill with some sort of progression through exercises leading up to a small game. I have to say my assessment wasn’t perfect. But my opinion of what areas I needed to improve was very close to that of my assessor and I was judged ‘competent’ (that’s a pass by the way). An important part of the assessment is also to come up with an action plan to develop coaching skills over the coming months. Mine is to take the opportunity to work with groups of players a bit more so I can relax, and also to review the England Hockey ‘Core Skills for Hockey’ DVD (provided with the course materials) so I am up top date with the current terminology. I was assessed fairly early on so there was still plenty of work to be done as a player in other candidate coaches’ assessment groups. I pretty much joined in with all of these and it was great to see how all the candidates had progressed through the course. From the other side of the coaching experience – the receiving end – it has to be said simple works best! One of the best drills (given by a non-hockey player in fact) was a simple receive, pass and follow the ball drill around a five-pointed shape with a very simple
progression of adding a second ball. Reflecting on the Level 1 experience as a whole, I found it useful as a player, and I feel ready to take on the coaching assistant role when the opportunity arises – job done. The model of having quite a large group with several tutors worked well as we weren’t always listening to one voice. It also made good use of pitch time as the tutors could set up on different areas of the pitch and rotate groups quickly through various exercises. The facilities at Moulton College are also very good for this style of course. Having decent classrooms with proper kit like a projector (from a computer) and a whiteboard, not to mention plenty of space and nice windows to look out of, just makes the business of the classroom side of things as painless as possible. Having really good water-base and sand-base pitches within a few minutes walk is another real plus. Decent lunch-time meals in the onsite cafeteria (included for both residential and non-residential course members) really does help keep up the energy levels too. The residential accommodation at Moulton is modern with en suite shower/toilet, desk space and of course a bed and the ubiquitous WiFi – pretty much what you would expect from good student accommodation anywhere these days. I have talked to a number of graduates from Level 1 coaching courses recently and it’s fair to say their experience has varied considerably. Criticisms have included that it is far too basic and that there is far too much paperwork. My experience was an overwhelmingly positive one. Probably the biggest determinant in how good a course is the quality of the tutors. In my case I thought the tutors were excellent – so thanks to Mike Joyce, Amo Soar, Phil Yetzes and Martin Wilkes. p
About Futures Sports So tell us a little about Futures Sports hockey camps and what they offer to young hockey players. Nicky: The hockey camps are about them coming away and having a positive experience with hockey being the common denominator. It’s about them having a good holiday as well as learning a lot from the experienced coaches we have here. Martin: We are encouraging them to explore the sport, and to explore being away from home and to explore how to make new friends, communicate and to become part of the hockey community. Over 20 years we have been very successful at that. Hockey is obviously right at the heart of what you do, tell us more about the coaching the young players receive here. Mike: I think one of the key things for us is that we look for quality coaches, not necessarily quality players who can coach, but actual quality coaches. So you won’t necessarily see a whole host of international or ex-international players in our coaching ranks, but what you will see is coaches that we have perhaps met over the years, seen them coach and seen them do some really good things and invited them to come on camp. Also a lot of the guys we have got here have actually been through the camps themselves. We have been running for 20 years so a lot of the coaches have attended as kids, they have done their Level 1 coaching course with us, they have gone away to university, done some coaching and then they have come back as staff. About half our staff fit that profile. In terms of other coaches, we do like to have new faces as well . And we think that is really important too. We’ve noticed some talented young players here, how does what they do on camp fit in with their club coaching and maybe their Junior Academy Centre (JAC) or Junior Regional performance Centre (JRPC) experiences? Martin: We offer quality coaching, but it is quality within the England Hockey
framework. So that when they go away from here they should be hearing the same terms from their coaches as we use on camp. I estimate they get about six weeks of club coaching all compacted into a week here – so they are well prepared, when they get back to their clubs for the new season. There’s quite a cosmopolitan feel on camp isn’t there? We’ve met youngsters from all over the country and overseas too. Nicky: We do tend to get them from as far west as Devon, across to the east to Ipswich and we have had guys down from Scotland. They stay friends through social networks like Facebook, they all talk about camp and they try and arrange it so when they come the following year they come on the same week so they can catch up again. They have made some really good friends they’ve kept in touch with. Especially on the hockey circuit, if they play at a higher level such as regional they see their mates. Mike: Because we are residential and because we are not associated with a particular club or region, a lot of clubs are comfortable to encourage their kids to go on our camps. If you look at a lot of what you could say is our competition, other hockey camps around the country, they are predominantly connected to a club or to a county (with one or two possible exceptions). I think our status gives us an unbiased approach. Clubs are not worried that kids are coming here to be poached to play for our club. I think that impartiality is a big plus for us.
This is your 11th year on this site (and your 20th year overall) Tell us more about Moulton College and what advantages does it have as a camp venue? Nicky: Everything is in one place! You only have to walk ten minutes maximum to get somewhere. We have sand- and waterbased pitches on-site, we also have the use of the school over the road when we need it so we have three hockey pitches within a few minutes walk of each other. The college has a full-sized indoor [hockey] pitch too which is probably the only one in this area and only one of three in the whole of the Midlands region. Mike: Also being a village it is a much safer environment than being in town. There are even guards on the gates. For us it’s great to have that safety and control around us. So what camps are you running over the summer? Martin: This year we have two Level 1 coaching courses, six week-long hockey camps for ages 10-16 and we are trialling Club FS for 15- to 17-year-olds. Club FS is still based around hockey but with other activities as well such as climbing (below), raft building and so on. Also new this year is the Panther Camp (pictured above) for 7- to 11-year-olds (non-residential) so younger children can see what coming to camp is all about. The other new camp we have just introduced is a High Performance Camp, which we ran at Bisham Abbey – that was highly successful. We also do a goalie camp, together with Spartan Hockey and Grahame Mansell-Grace and have been running a weekend pre-season adult goalie camp in August for three years. There will be more than 400 people here at Moulton College over the summer with 85/90% of them residential – and it’s growing year-on-year. For more information see www.futuressports.com
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While PUSH was there, Moulton College was buzzing with young hockey players enjoying a summer camp. We talked to Martin Wilkes, Nicky Milford, Mike Joyce and Hannah Wilkins of Futures Sports to find out what all the fun was about.
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mprove Play better, smarter, faster,
stronger hockey
strength and conditioning technique fitness and much more! Skills, fitness, health and professional tips to play better hockey FOR EVERY LEVEL
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impact on your game with...
mprove contents 47
strength and conditioning with Sarah Thomas
42
upgrade your basics: advanced pc injections with Jon Williams
51
c ombining fitness training with stick and ball work with Amanda Partington
54
pgrade your basics – Jon Williams shows us u how execute perfect PC stops
Cover picture: England’s Richard Alexander gives chase during the Four Nations Cup in Amsterdam in July. England finished second in the tournament to the Netherlands © Andy Smith
This year I have been doing plenty of cardio work in the build up to the new season. As you probably know this sort of training involves keeping your heart rate in certain ranges for the maximum overall benefit. It’s great, but also a bit tedious! So take a look at Amanda Partington’s article on how to combine fitness training with stick and ball work. Playing any sort of hockey beats looking at a heart rate monitor any time, in my book. There’s plenty more inside to get you on you way towards next season – so keep iMproving. Tom Cooper editor
push mp rove
• Countdown to 2012 with all the latest Olympic news • Training and tips from top coaches to get you ready for the new season
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• And much more! •Follow us on Twitter @pushhockeymag www.pushhockey.co.uk
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strength and conditioning
with Sarah Thomas
Olympic hockey player Sarah Thomas continues her exclusive strength and conditioning programme for improve. After taking us through squats last issue, now it’s time to look at the upper body and the humble push up...
part 9: lunges
DOMS Before going into the exercises I thought it may be of use to explain why we do get that muscle ache that makes even the simplest of movements such as walking extremely difficult after exercising. Muscle pain, soreness or stiffness one and sometimes two days after is known as delayed onset of muscle soreness (DOMS). This is more often or not felt (as I’m sure some of you know) when you first begin to exercise again after being sedentary for
sometime, when you up the intensity of your workout or after trying a new exercise for the first time. Muscle ache (DOMS) is a natural process. After strenuous activity muscle fibres tear and the ache you feel is simply the adaptation of the body in re-building the muscle so it can cope with this stress in future. By doing so each time the muscle rebuilds it becomes that little bit stronger and gives you more stamina. Over time, muscle soreness decreases when the muscles become accustomed to what you are putting them through. For example, if you complete the same training in week three as you did in week one, chances are you will feel none of the pain you had previously experienced due to the fact that your muscles have adapted. This re-building of muscles to ones that are stronger will have a formidable effect on your athletic performance. That is, if you train the muscles that you use during your sport. However, for example, improving your bicep strength alone will have little if any impact on improving your game as a hockey player. How can lunges benefit a hockey player? Lunges are a compound exercise movement where multiple joints are involved and you get to work an array of muscles namely, glutes, quadriceps, hamstrings and adductors all with one movement. These muscles are used for sprinting and are therefore used on numerous occasions during a single hockey match. This exercise is perfect for hockey players as it places the most stress on the muscles that we use when getting into the low hockey position, such as during a push, hit or drag flick. With the encouragement these days to follow through the action on your forehand and backhand shots there are times when you find yourself simply using only one leg. The beauty of the lunge is that while they are one of the simplest single leg movements to perform they can also be made to be extremely tough. With a few adaptations you should really start to feel some leg burn just as you would in an intense hockey game that requires you to stop, start and change direction. >>
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Introduction It’s that time of year again, where you start to shake the dust off your hockey stick, shinpads and shoes and aim to play the best season of your life!! Now I’m hoping you’ve been following the programmes that I’ve been setting you so far this year which means your legs have been getting a good workout from the squats and your ready to start whipping that ball around the hockey field with this new found strength from all the push ups. Which is great! However, as I’ve been finding out myself recently after just a two-week hockey break, nothing, and I mean nothing can prepare you for the muscle ache you are going to experience when you start back playing. Regardless of how many runs, squats or push ups you’ve been doing. Your body is going to hurt, muscles you didn’t even know existed are going to be screaming your name and walking up or down the stairs will become the biggest challenge you’ve ever faced. I bet you can’t wait to begin, I mean it sounds wonderful doesn’t it. No, I know. So how can we make it a little easier if possible? This month I’ve tried to choose an exercise that is very functional to hockey. Lunges are a great way to improve the strength and stability in your lower body and the benefits of doing them will translate directly onto the field such as when you go to push the ball or try to tackle the opposition. Lunges are the only exercise that really replicate the position you’ll be getting into on the hockey field and if you have tried them before you will know that they really give you muscle ache in the days to follow.
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Lunging with correct form *
Stand with feet hip width apart
*
Take an exaggerated step forward from the start position
*
Ensure you land on your heel as this will give you more balance, than if you land on your toes and will make sure that your knee will stay behind your toes, reducing the likelihood of injury
*
Lower your back leg until your knee is very close to touching the floor
*
Keep the weight on your heel of your front leg and drive your leg back to the starting position
Note: A shorter lunge stride will stress your quadriceps muscles while a longer stride will emphasize your glutes.
exercises dynamic lunge (Beginner – Moderate)
These are described in ‘Lunging with correct form’ above.
Feet hip-width apart
Take an exaggerated step, landing on the heel, then lower the back leg. Then keeping the weight on the heel of the front leg, drive back to the start position
cross over lunge (Moderate – Advanced)
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This gives you the extra stability that is required alongside strength when you play hockey. Start in same position as with all the other lunges i.e feet shoulder width apart. Rather than stepping directly forward you will be looking to take your left leg to the right side of your body i.e you foot will be planted just right of your back leg From this position you then push your left heel into the ground and explode back to the standing position. This exercise is for stability and so you should only go as far as you can whilst keeping your hips in straight alignment. Your hips should not be twisted to compensate for a lack of range of movement (ROM) in your muscles. Repeat the same on the other leg. As with the dynamic lunge if you wish to make to make this exercise harder then you can hold weights in your hands. Make sure you are able to really hold your body in a good position before progressing on to weights.
To make this exercise harder you can hold weights in your hands – this loads the lower body muscles more
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walking lunges (Advanced)
First practice with no weight overhead and focus on getting control between lunges. As demonstrated if you lunge with your left leg then you will then be looking to bring up your right knee before you lunge onto your right leg.
Before you try this with weights, practise maintaining control between lunges
This makes the movement more fluid and will make your leg muscles work that much harder than if you stop and take your feet back to the traditional feet hip width apart position.
If you start with a lunge onto the left leg, bring up the right knee...
...before lunging onto the right leg
exercise plan Remember that once you have completed six reps on one leg you must then do six reps on your other leg.
dynamic lunge
If you feel that the exercise is too easy then load with weights as appropriate.
Week One
Week Two
Week Three
Week Four
2 x 6 reps
3 x 6 reps
3 x 8 reps
3 x 10 reps
cross over lunge
2 x 6 reps
3 x 6 reps
3 x 8 reps
3 x 10 reps
walking lunge
1 x 12 steps
1 x 15 steps
2 x 15 steps
3 x 15 steps p
qualifications: BSc Exercise & Sports Science – Exeter University (graduated 2001)
fitness-18: Owner of Fitness-18 personal training company Twitter: Follow Sarah on Twitter @ sarah_thomas18 www.fitness-18.com
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about Sarah Thomas
Playing Career: Beijing Olympics 2008 More than 100 combined GB & Wales caps Rotterdam HC 2004-2011
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(Issue 33)
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tactics
with Amanda Partington of Hardcore Hockey
Amanda Partington is a Level 3 coach and is currently Head Coach for Bowdon Men’s first team and the Welsh senior women. She is a partner and director of www. hardcorehockey.co.uk which is a revolutionary website for players, coaches and umpires, providing innovative visual and web-based support on all areas of performance; skills and tactics, fitness, sport psychology, nutrition and lifestyle.
part 3: combining fitness training with stick and ball skills ivities and “There are numerous practice act d and adapted to conditioned games that can be use match. In addition replicate the demands of a hockey benefits of using to getting a fitness response, the and practices are small-sided, conditioned games l skills in an to develop the technical and tactica tch intensity...” environment which represents ma Introduction The ultimate goal of fitness training is to ensure that, the ‘training stimuli’ (which is a combination of intensity, duration and recovery) reflect the demands of the game. Therefore one of the best ways to train for hockey is with a stick and ball! Before you start planning training you need to recognise the level of workload and specific factors relevant to hockey and various positions, in order to create specific training blocks for fitness gains.
Category
HR (bpm)
Threshold
VHI (Very High Intensity)
>178bpm
anaerobic
HI (High Intensity)
155178bpm
aerobic
MI (Moderate Intensity)
135155bpm
aerobic
LI (Low Intensity)
114135bpm
aerobic
AR/SR (Active/ Stationary Recovery
<114 bpm
aerobic
Training categories, after Flanagan & Merricks, 1999). HR = Heart Rate, bpm = Beats per minute
Adapting practices to train fitness with stick & ball A challenge is to achieve a link between the skill development and fitness conditioning so that practices replicate match intensity and movement patterns required in the game. To simulate match factors whilst training there needs to be an understanding of training heart rate zones. The table on the left shows heart rates in terms of five levels of activity; ‘Recovery’, ‘Low Intensity’, ‘Moderate Intensity’ and ‘High Intensity’ which are all aerobic training zones. The anaerobic training zone is the ‘Very High intensity’ zone when heart rates exceed 178 beats per minute (bpm). To train the anaerobic energy system (very high intensity) used for sprint and high power actions then you need to train heart rates at 178bpm or above. For the rest of the game of hockey you should try and elicit heart rates of between 135 and 178bpm intermittently. Replicating the demands of hockey There are numerous practice activities and conditioned games that can be used and adapted to replicate the demands of a hockey match. In addition to getting a fitness response, the benefits of using small-sided, conditioned games and practices are to develop the technical and tactical skills in an environment which represents the match intensity and stretch players comfort zones. In addition, players are usually more motivated during game play than traditional fitness drills. However, a disadvantage may be that when
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PUSH has teamed up with Hardcore Hockey to help get your team firing on all cylinders. In the third article of this series we take a break from the purely tactical and consider how to combine stick and ball work with fitness training so your team can develop technical and tactical skills in conditions that replicate a match environment..
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training tactically and technically with a ball, players may not work at an appropriate ‘match intensity’ and so conditions can be introduced to vary the exercise intensity. For example, a 4 v 4 practice in a third of a pitch elicits heart rates of 150bpm. This increases to 162bpm when the pitch size is expanded to half a pitch. Changing the conditions of practice The diagram to the right shows the key variables you can alter to change the conditions of a small-sided game or practice. Note that it is vital to ensure that the altered conditions create practices that are directly linked to the technical and tactical demands of the training/match. For example, if two touch is too difficult and the skill level significantly decreases beyond normal standards (this could mean that players don’t have the early vision you want in a game) you may need to play three touch for a while. An alternative could be to play one minute of two touch and two minutes of three touch in a three minute repetition. By manipulating the conditions of a practice, you can increase player interaction, decision-making, communication skills, games understanding and intensity. Adding goalkeepers to a practice creates a more match realistic and technically relevant experience for all players. Small-sided games e.g. 4 v 4 can produce higher heart rates than traditional interval training e.g. 4 x 1000m. 4 x 4 sided games can elicit heart rates of 178pbm whilst 4 x 1000m elicits heart rates of 167bpm. In the next part of this article we focus on three key conditions which can be altered and explain specific ways that this can change heart rates of the players; therefore showing ways to combine fitness development with technical & tactical training.
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TRAINING FITNESS USING MULTIPLE GOAL DRILLS. Using multiple goals within a game play drill significantly increases players’ heart rates and therefore can improve their fitness. Use the following training drill
Changing the conditions of practice – the key variables that can be changed
The training heart rates for the multiple-goal game
Set up a training area of 45m x 50m for the multi-goal drill. Use 5 v 5 players to play out a small game (shown below, left).. The conditions to use for a ‘moderate’ heart rate training effect (135-155bpm) is either the: 1 v 1 Goal Drill- Both teams defend one goal whilst attacking one goal (brown goals). 1 v 2 or 2 v 1 Goal Drill - One team defend one goal (brown goal) whilst attacking two wide goals (orange goals). To get a ‘high intensity’ heart rate training effect (155-178bpm), use the 2 v 2 Goal drill- both teams defend two wide goals (orange goals) whilst attacking two wide goals (orange goals). Training heart rates for the multiple goal drill can be seen above. As shown the multiple goal drill using 4 goals results in the highest heart rate, with the one goal drill being the lowest. This demonstrates how using multiple goals in a drill can increase the training heart rate and more closely replicate match intensity heart rates. TRAINING FITNESS USING MULTIPLE BALL DRILLS. Using multiple balls within a game play drill significantly increases players’ heart rates and therefore can improve their fitness. Use the
Multiple goal games – varying the number of goals will change the intensity of training
Multiple ball drills
following training drill. Set up a training area of 15m x 15m for the multi ball drill. In groups of six, players should continuously pass the ball(s) around between them, for a 3mins duration. After a 2mins recovery the drill is repeated. Players can do between 3 & 5 sets of the drill with a 1-2mins recovery in between. This recovery can also be a small low intensity jog (114-135bpm). Training heart rates for the multiple ball drill can be seen on the next page. As shown, the three ball drill results in the highest heart rate, with the one ball being the lowest. This shows clearly how using multiple balls in a drill can increase the training heart rate and gain a more comparable heart rate to that within match play. To increase the workload even higher than the HR’s above, you can create drill rules: 1. Ask players to touch outside the box after every pass they make. This will mean that as well as leading out of the box (into space) they are not available immediately to receive a pass and so work-rates increase for the other players. 2. Ask players to move with the ball
Varying the number of players – top to bottom: underload, overload and even numbers (see below)
TRAINING FITNESS USING VARIATION IN NUMBERS. There are two ways to adapt a game by the number of players involved: Overload - more players on one team; Underload - less players on one team The pitch size for all of these drills is 35m x 40m. This large area is to give game realistic practice towards and away from goal and to follow recommendations made by Aroso, Rebelo & Gomes-Pereira (2003) who suggest that using a larger pitch area increases lateral, backward, low intensity (jogging) and running time and reduces standing time. This approach therefore increases sport specificity, providing space and time to make directional full-paced runs and game specific technicalities at game related pace. The drills are all three minutes continuous play with a two-minute recovery. You can use 3-5 sets. Using sets of three minutes (with two minutes recovery) allows time for technical and tactical feedback during the recovery period and before the next set. Play for the attackers is towards goal with the aim of scoring a goal (GK involved). If the ball goes outside the marked area, attacking players jog back behind the 25-yard line and one player re-starts with
How the heart-rate zone (right hand side of pyramid) changes with player under-and over-load (see above for explanation)
www.hardcorehockey.co.uk
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(dribble) if a pass is not available. This keeps the work-rate high but also brings in tactical elements of match play. Players with no pass on in a game should move with the ball to change angles and create space and opportunity. 3. Put in a defender who can only intercept passes initially, building up to tackling.
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The training heart rates for the multiple-ball drills
another ball from the start position, to re-attack. If the defence gain possession they should play the ball around, aiming to get the ball out of the 23m area. If they do so then play is over and all attackers jog back behind the 25-yard line with one player collecting another ball from the start position, to re-attack. So how do all these drills stack up? The diagram below shows a pyramid of results with heart rate zones up the right hand side. The results show that if you play a small sided game with an overload of +1 or +3 players you get a ‘high intensity’ heart rate training effect, with heart rates between 160-165 bpm. An overload of +2 players is slightly lower and is between the ‘moderate’ to ‘high intensity’ heart rate training zones (150-160 bpm). So if you want to increase heart rate whilst training stick & ball use +1 and +3 overload situation in attack rather than the trusted 4 v 2, use 3 v 2 or 5 v 2 practices. The pyramid also shows that if you play a small sided game with an underload of -3 players you get a ‘high intensity’ heart rate training effect, with heart rates between 160-165 bpm. A small-sided game with an underload of -1 and -2 players actually results in a lower heart rate training zone and is between the ‘moderate’ to ‘high intensity’ (150-160 bpm). So if you want to increase heart rate whilst training stick & ball use -3 underload situations. Small-sided games with even numbers produce a ‘high intensity’ heart rate training effect, with heart rates over 165 bpm for attackers but only a ‘moderate’ heart rate training effect (150-160 bpm) for defenders. So even numbered drills actually benefit the attackers more than the defenders in terms of heart rate training in relation to match play. p
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upgrade your part 9: PC stick stop If you have been following this series, someone in your team should now have a bombproof PC injection. Now it’s time for the stop, which is one of those skills that looks deceptively simple when you see it done well but is actually more complex than it seems.
English method
(shown on the right) * For the correct grip reverse the hands on stick (ie left hand is closer to the stick head than the right hand) and place the left index finger down back of stick for stability * Start one pace away from edge of D * Step into line of injection * Step towards injection (so front foot goes into D – this means you trap the ball nearer the edge of the D) * Handle of stick should hit turf first... * Then the toe of stick * Close stick as ball arrives (to ‘trap’ ball between stick and turf) * Use head of stick to bunt ball into D * Always bunt ball in straight line.
Start position and grip
Dutch method
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(only grip shown) The Dutch method requires a very accurate injection as the PC stopper does not move. The grip is different (see below) * Hands together in centre of stick * Knuckles face forwards * Handle of stick should hit turf first * Then toe of stick * Close stick as ball arrives (to ‘trap’ ball between stick and turf) * Use head of stick to bunt ball into D * Always bunt ball in straight line.
Close the head of the stick as the ball arrives (ie rotate the stick face slightly towards the turf
The variation in grip for the Dutch method
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basics
Followed by the head Step into line of injection
The stop position Use the head of the stick to bunt the ball into the circle
Always play the ball straight â&#x20AC;&#x201C; ie at right angles to the D line
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Handle of stick hits turf first...
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Bespoke playing kit
W
e looked at off-the-peg kit options in the last issue. This time around Kit Monkey turns his gaze on kit where you can choose your own bespoke designs.
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SAMURAI PERFORMANCE HOCKEY SHIRT
The guys at Samurai provided me with shorts and a performance shirt for testing which are both used by the Irish international squads. Samurai have a great website which is very user friendly and contains their KIT DESIGNER. See www.samuraisports.com/en/kit-designer. Well worth investigating as it really shows you the options that are available to you. For example they offer five different fits of shirt with two choices of sleeve length and ten different types of collar! So you can truly make the kit your own! There are 22 different colour options and the decoration variations are tape, piping or blanket stitching. It is easy to upload your club’s logo and you have the option of screen printed or traditionally embroidered on to the shirt. Numbers and names can also be added with ease. The ordering process takes seven to nine weeks from submission of design to delivery. The shirts tested were made of Poly
Performex which is very lightweight (at 140 g/m) and ideally suited to hockey. It is very comfortable and very stylish indeed. The shirt has a two side panels and contrasting sleeves. The side panels are constructed of a bird’s eye weave fabric and are joined with a blanket stitch in the same colour as the contrasting sleeves. The Performex fabric is specially constructed for moisture management, which means the shirts do not get hot and sweaty, as well as remaining lightweight even in wet weather conditions. Both shirts offer a stylish droptail design. The Performex fabric also has 40+ UV protection. I had two options of collar – a crew neck (round neck) and a more traditional Montego collar (pictured). Personally us monkey’s being creatures of the wild prefer the crew neck option as collars remind us of our relatives in London Zoo!
SAMURAI PERFORMANCE HOCKEY SHORTS
The shorts were fantastically light weight and again constructed out of a polyester performance fabric. They are long in the leg and have two blanketknit side seams, which match up with the seams on the side panels of the playing shirt. The shorts do not retain moisture when playing on a water turf and are very comfortable. They are unlined, making them good to wear with SKINS half shorts underneath. The only drawback is there are no pockets to keep you bananas in for half time snacks – but pockets are very much a personal preference.
AKUMA HOCKEY SHIRT
Akuma is an expanding UK based sports brand that specializes in bespoke team wear. The massive advantage that AKUMA has over its rivals is that being based in the UK all their garments are manufactured here so their turn around for bespoke orders is a mere three weeks!! For stock items they are able to dispatch in 24 hours. Akuma have a number of shirt styles that are available in a choice of fabrics and with seven different collar options. Their shirt designs are muscle pro, semi fit, traditional, vest and ladies. This also includes some great Keepers smocks that are new to the market. Once again AKUMA offer a very user friendly website with an interactive kit designer. This is actually half the fun as you can choose existing styles and colours or you can be really adventurous and design your own!! The big advantage is the option to have your kit SUBLIMATED (where the design is actually printed on to the fabric allowing you total freedom of creativity with your designs!). The shirt I tested was a two panel crew neck design. The main body of the shirt was a tight bird’s eye weave with the side panels in waffle knit with piping to join the panels. The shirt is relatively
Everything you need to know about what’s out there. – product reviews, news and features.
Once again KUKRI have come up trumps with a fantastic range of hockey shirts. There are two main fits: the pro fitted and pro classic fit. A sleeveless vest is also available. On their interactive kit designer ( at www.kukrisports.com/gbkitdesigner-thestart-mensboyswearplayingkit-hockey-jerseys) you have
On-line kit design is becoming the norm these days – this is Kukri’s website
KUKRI PRO HOCKEY SHORT
The pro hockey shorts are available once again through the interactive kit designer offering 16 styles for you to customize (note Kukri also offer the option of sublimated hockey shorts in four designs). The shorts are a very comfortable fit with two side pockets.
GFORCE PERFORMANCE HOCKEY DRESS
Skorts and shirts have been used in hockey for a while now, but when we received a GFORCE hockey dress through the post for testing we asked ourselves if this could be the new look for women’s hockey? The performance material felt great and the dress itself was a perfect fit (on a female tester of course!) It was lightweight with good freedom of movement. We personally recommend that you wear a set of SKINS shorts underneath. The design looked great and we were able to personalize all the panels and even the neck tape, so we could easily match to our team colours and get a truly bespoke dress. We think that you will start seeing the dresses appear this season as they perform well and look fantastic. They also eliminate problems of mis-matched and faded shirts and skorts and will keep your team looking smart from the start to the end of the season. We highly recommend that if you are looking at new kit this season to consider the GFORCE DRESS. It receives our top banana award! Check out the website for all the different options www.gforcesportswear.co.uk The lead time is 10 weeks from design to delivery and there is a choice of two performance fabrics.
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KUKRI PRO FITTED HOCKEY SHIRT
the option of choosing from 16 design options in pro fit and ANOTHER 16 options in classic fit. All you then do is choose the appropriate colours for each panel of the shirt. Kukri are also now able to offer you the option of sublimation for either shirt style. The difference between the pro fit shirt is that it is of a crew neck design and is tight fitting whereas the classic has a ‘grandad’ collar and is somewhat looser in fit. Personally the pro fit favours the monkey with its crew neck collar and tight fit – which means less fabric in the shirt and less weight. The shirt has the stylish drop tail design and is constructed from performance fabrics. These are extremely light weight, incorporate moisture management which wicks sweat away from the body and keeps you very dry when playing. The shirts also do not retain any moisture when worn in wet conditions. All these factors make them very comfortable to wear in the heat of battle. The ordering process is simple – use the interactive kit designer and submit your creation. The web team will then get proofs of the job sheet to you within 5 days. Once you have approved the order it will be delivered within eight weeks. If you have any queries Kukri are very prompt at replying to emails via the website and they also offer the option of you actually being able to meet with a local sales manager to discuss any issues face to face.
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light weight and is a comfortable fit. When playing you do get a little hot in the shirt but the side panels have a good cooling effect and keep you comfortable. The shirts remain lightweight when playing on water turf as they do not retain too much moisture. The shirts are good, the designs are amazing as is the turn around time – the monkey’s BEST BESPOKE SERVICE choice
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Book review The Anatomy of Stretching Your illustrated guide to flexibility and injury prevention by Brad Walker 2nd ed. Lotus Publishing 2011 ISBN: 9781905367290.
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Stag ‘Fietsklem’ That’s ‘bicycle clamp’ to you and me! This neat gizmo from Stag Hockey lets you clamp a hockey stick to your bike to make it easier to cycle to training or games. I’m a bit of a fan of cycling, and have been riding to training sessions for the past five or six years. I can recommend it as a an excellent warm-up and warm down. And the ride home also serves as a mental wind-down from a hard evening session which makes getting to sleep easier than it otherwise might be. Carrying sticks has always been a bit of a hassle however. A stick bag works pretty well. The ones with backpack-style straps are the most secure, but they tend to be too big. You have to be careful with the single shoulder-strap bags as the stick can obscure your vision over one shoulder or the other, but I have been using one of these for some time. Stag Hockey suggested trying this clamp as an alternative to a stick bag. It’s like a giant bulldog clip for a stick. You attach one end of the clip semipermanently to the bike with a bolted clamp, then put your stick into the spring-loaded jaws. Both the frame-side and stick-side clamps are foam lined and there was no damage to stick or bike. Positioning the clamp takes a bit of trial and error. The front fork is the recommended position with the stick parallel to the front wheel. I did have to move the clamp around a bit to get a good stick position though. I was also a bit uncertain about having a stick so close to the wheel – I was imagining a St Trinians-style somersault over the handlebars... but after a handful of trips along the mean streets of Lewisham, I can say the stick is really firmly held (believe me there are monster potholes out there) although it’s a bit exposed to the weather and road muck. The ‘Fietsklem’ is definitely staying on the bike and will get used for lightly loaded trips to training (just a couple of other bits of gear in a backpack). If the weather’s disgusting I’ll probably be driving! TC See www.staghockey.com
I am fairly typical in that, over a long (and un-illustrious) hockey career, stretching has gone from being that annoying thing adults made us do when all we wanted to do was smash balls around, to being pretty much a life-saver. Having said that I honestly know very little about stretches and what they actually do. So when the Anatomy of Stretching plonked on my desk I was pretty pleased. The good news is that the book takes you through pretty much every muscle group and just about every possible torture you can do to it. The diagrams are brilliantly clear and, the book highlighted to me just how badly some of my playing colleagues are doing even simple stretches. There is a useful section at the back ‘the top five stretches for each sports injury’ - preventing them rather than causing them that is. Also each of the 130+ stretches says which sport they are most beneficial for (field hockey is included). The ‘top five stretches for each sport’ (including field hockey) cross reference is great too, although, as a sportsperson, I would have liked bigger sections on each sport and how/why the stretches are beneficial. In my rather limited view, stretching has usually meant something done during the warm up. And although this is just part of the story, the emphasis on static stretches in the book (rather than the dynamic ones many players are now using pre-match) makes it more applicable to incorporating better stretching into conditioning sessions and post-game recovery rather than warm-ups. There is some advice on warm-up routines incorporating both static and dynamic stretching, but from my layman’s perspective it wasn’t really detailed enough for me to know what/how to incorporate the knowledge into a pre-game routine. I couldn’t actually find anything that I recognised as a dynamic stretch in the book. And it is a bit annoying that, despite explaining the different types of stretches, (static, passive, active, isometric, and so on) the book doesn’t say in which category each stretch belongs. The Anatomy of Stretching does, however, adopt a reassuringly balanced approach to stretching, recognising that it is just part of a warm-up routine and just part of an overall approach to conditioning. It is also a long-term project rather than a quick fix. I will certainly be using the book to help work on my problem areas – hips, hamstrings and calf muscles. The first chapter on the physiology of muscles is way beyond me, but it is not essential reading, and may be of more use to the advanced user. TC