Zones of Play Introduction
Positioning
Legend
- player
- cones
- movement path
How it works
Introduce basic positional awareness by assigning players to colored zones and teaching them to stay within their zone.
What you need
- field hockey sticks
- field hockey ball
- cones
- colored bibs
Your focus
Young players naturally flock to the ball, ignoring their positional responsibility. Zone play teaches spatial awareness and positional discipline from the earliest age. Colored zones make the concept concrete and visual.
Divide a 30x25-yard field into 3 zones with cones; assign players to zones by bib color.
Play a simplified game; players must stay within their assigned zone.
Coach pauses play when players leave their zone and resets them.
After 5 minutes, switch zone assignments so players understand different positional responsibilities.
Goal
You've got it when you know which zone you're in without looking down, you feel the space and stay in it.
Helpful cues
- Stay in your color zone
- Your zone is your job, protect it
- You can help your teammates by staying in position
Adjust the challenge
Make it easier
Strip it back
Make zones very large so movement is not restricted.
UpLVL it
Add the next challenge
Reduce zones to require precision positioning.No account needed
Build a practice plan
Add drills, keep the plan in this browser, then share a link with your staff or parents.This library helps you find the right drill. Inside UpLVL the right drill finds the player.
This library helps you find the right drill. Inside UpLVL the right drill finds the player.After every practice, UpLVL automatically surfaces the drills each player needs to work on most. See it for yourself.