Field Hockey Tips - How To Do The Field Hockey Sweep
Pablo Mendoza and aHockeyWorld.net
Once again, we are so lucky to sit down with ultra-experienced Pablo Mendoza. We really appreciate his time, knowing his extremely busy schedule and involvement with the growing sport of field hockey. If you haven't yet, check out our first article with Pablo on How To Hit The Ball With Control, Power and Accuracy.
Pablo is the founder of A Hockey World, which is one of the top field hockey blogs in the world with over 40,000 social followers and has several hundred thousand YouTube views. You can learn more about him in our previous blog mentioned above. Also, don't forget to check out our Field Hockey line of goals and barriers and make sure to read all the way to the bottom to catch Pablo's tutorial vid!
With today's conversation, we'll be discussing the field hockey sweep.
What Is a Sweep in Field Hockey?
Of all the field hockey positions, the sweep is one shooting method used on a turf field. It's ideal for scoring a goal or making an extended pass to a player.
This move involves the full body. For accuracy, your body should be situated perpendicular to the goal or player you're passing to, and the ball should be just under a stick's length from you. With a sweep, the closer the ball is to your body, the less momentum you'll be able to deliver.
In this position, you'll attempt a low back swing starting from the edge of your stick and moving to where it hits the ground. As you move it forward and shift your weight, take care that the stick makes contact with the ground.
Considering this setup, two types of sweeps can be performed in field hockey:
- A forehand sweep is ideal for smoother surfaces. The stick comes parallel to the ground, only to swing and hit the ball with an arc-like motion. Of all the options for making a pass or scoring a goal, a forehand sweep goes farther and applies more force compared to a push and allows for more speed.
- A reverse sweep is based on a similar motion; however, the player attempts to pass or score by hitting the ball with the side of the stick. In this setup, the ball is located on the player's left side.
How to Do the Field Hockey Sweep
At the top level, you will see that more and more often, the sweep has been replacing the hit as a passing technique. Therefore, if you want to raise your level to high standards, you need to learn this skill!
To try this out on the field:
- Both hands must go together on top of the grip with no space in between.
- The point of impact is on the flat side of the stick.
- The swing starts with the stick on the ground while we make a body rotation towards the ball.
- Both hands must go parallel to the ground and under the left knee while we sweep the ball.
- After we impact the ball, we need to continue the rotation in order to add extra power.
- In order to make a lifted sweep, which is perfect as a scoring skill, we need to turn the face of the stick just a little bit.
Interested in getting more tips? You can follow A Hockey World on Pinterest, Instagram and YouTube.
Once again, thanks, Pablo Mendoza! We love having Pablo with us to teach us about field hockey. Check out the goals featured in Pablo's pictures and videos here, and stay tuned for more!