Dynamic receiving skills are among the most crucial of basic skills and ever so often forgotten or neglected to keep working on. So we asked Andrew Wilson to share his knowledge about this.
Andrew Wilson is an English coach who spent many years coaching Club Egara in Spain at different levels and was involved with the Spanish national women as well. Following a detour in Canada he is coaching Hampstead & Westminster these days.
If there’s one core lesson for field hockey coaches to take from this masterclass on dynamic receiving, it’s this: the ability to receive the ball dynamically is the heartbeat of modern attacking play. It is not just a technical skill, but a tactical mindset and a cornerstone for accelerating and breaking defensive lines, maintaining flow, and creating genuine attacking dangers.
What often separates high-level, fluid teams from pedestrian ones is how players receive the ball—especially on the move. Dynamic receiving is not simply about collecting passes cleanly; it’s about manipulating the ball (and your body) in ways that proactively set up the next action. As Andrew Wilson emphasized, “By receiving dynamically, both at high speed and low speed, we control what the opposition are doing…if we receive it with a bit of flow and we receive it on the move and we draw them in slowly and then change the pace…we control what the opposition do and we create spaces to then be able to play up the pitch.”
Why does this matter for your sessions?
Most training drills focus on ball control and technique in isolation, sometimes away from the realistic stress of defenders and game context. But if your sessions aren’t engineered to challenge players’ dynamic receiving, you’re missing the critical step of linking technical control to tactical advantage. It’s about more than stick-and-ball: it’s about perception, pre-scanning, post-scan confirmation, body profile, courage, and flow.
Applying Dynamic Receiving to Everyday Training
Shift the Training Context:
Move away from static passing drills as soon as possible. Even with U12s, as Andrew Wilson said, “when you’re hitting, for me, under 10, you can start having them receiving the ball on the move.” Put players in scenarios where their next action matters. Encourage leads, angled runs, and receiving with a view of where the next pass or carry will go.Prioritize Body Position and Pre-Scanning:
Every session, challenge players to check shoulders, open up, and shape their body to see both the ball and their options. Body profile is crucial. “Feet facing where you want to play. Body open so that I can see threats inside. I can play towards the top of the circle rather than receiving outside and going towards the corner of the pitch.”Design Constraints and Decision-Making Games:
Set up small-sided games with grid or zone restrictions. For example, in a 4-zone, 3v3 game, require a player to change zones after each pass—this immediately rewards movement and dynamic receiving, not just technical competence. This naturally exposes players to real game stimuli: spacing, scanning, and movement.Coach for Courage and Execution:
Many players fear losing the ball with an aggressive first touch or a bold movement. Encourage calculated risk in your sessions. As Andrew Wilson puts it, “Encourage your players, give them courage…because there are some elements and we’ll see in a minute, especially receiving between lines and in zone. Players are scared to try and receive dynamically because they think they’re going to lose control of the ball.”
In summary:
If you only adapt one thing from this masterclass, change how your players receive the ball every session—under pressure, on the move, and with intent. Your team’s attack speed, unpredictability, and line-breaking potential will grow noticeably.
Why You’ll Want to Watch and Read the Entire Masterclass
This session isn’t just theory or a highlight reel of impressive skills. The detail level and practical examples serve coaches at every level, from youth to international. Andrew Wilson systematically breaks down dynamic receiving—tactics, mistakes, training ideas, and technical details—supported by clear video examples and actionable training structures. If you want to see what dynamic receiving actually looks like on the pitch, understand subtle variations for different opposition structures (zone, man-to-man), and discover how to instill courage and anticipation in your players, you’ll get immense value by diving into the entire masterclass and transcript.
For detailed breakdowns, focused exercises, and tactical nuances that will elevate your coaching, unlock the paywalled section below.
