Get more circle entries from your outletting

If there’s one essential takeaway for field hockey coaches from this masterclass, it’s the importance of structuring your training and tactical focus around “successful outlets” as the gateway to creating more circle entries. The detailed breakdown offered in this session cuts straight to what separates the top-performing teams from the rest: They don’t just get the ball out of the back—they consistently and purposefully use the outlet to reach the offensive 25 and the D with ball control. This is a core concept as the flow from defense to attack hinges on what happens in those first and second zones.

Why “Successful Outlet” is the Keystone

The outlet isn’t just a technical exercise or a set piece drill. It is a philosophy and a framework for seeing the match as a progression of actions and spaces. Whether you coach juniors just transitioning to the full pitch or national-level athletes, it’s not enough to move the ball upfield—you must do so with the intent to maintain possession, create overloads, and unlock space for high-quality entries.

Here’s how this central idea works for you, every week:

• At Training: Shape your training blocks so that every outlet practice includes live opposition and progressing into midfield and circle entry patterns. Measure success by the number of times your team breaks the 50 with control, not just how often they clear their lines.

• Match Prep: Use video (or even basic hand notation) to track where and how outlets fail—are you being pressed more effectively on your left? Does a particular system (man-to-man vs. zonal) stress your players more? With this data, adapt your week’s focus.

• On Game Day: Set clear, specific expectations with your defenders and midfielders. For instance, prioritize moving through zones with ball control, target skips and overloads based on opposition shape, and identify which principles (skip lines, overloads, or infiltrations) fit your opponents.

As Fede Tanuscio notes:
“For me, the best outlet ever is when the central defender have the ball and connect the rate to the central striker. That’s the dream outlet. We can do it. But of course it’s not that easy...so that’s why I prepare that kind of structure to see how we can do it better.”

It’s this focus on process—not just result—that improves efficacy. You want your players to recognize and exploit these “routes” in real time, selecting the right principle (play what you see, overloads, skip lines, etc.) for the right context rather than repeating a solitary pattern.

How to Embed This Into Daily Coaching

• Define Zones and Principles Clearly. Use field mapping and clear video cues to help players visualize “zone 1” (from goalie to midline) and “zone 2” (midline to D). Ask them to call out when and how they’re progressing, so that the language becomes standardized team-wide.

• Deliberate Practice of Underused Skills. For instance, soft overheads from the central defender, and diagonal balls “out of the libero’s ridge,” need to be practised specifically, not just referenced off-hand. Replicate match tempo by stressing both speed and positional selection.

• Feedback and Correction. With each session, debrief not just outcome but decision process—did we spot the overload? Did we choose to skip the line at the right time? Was the striker leading outside then in, or occupying “danger space” to open up?

• Always Relate Stats to Action. It’s not enough to know you had X number of outlets—what was the efficacy from each zone, and how did it relate to actual circle entries or shots on goal?

Why You’ll Want to Watch the Entire Masterclass

The above gives you a taste of the session’s practical rigor, but the full video goes into tactical nuance and visual examples for each principle (including how to shift defender roles, manipulate pressing teams, and create reliable circle entries regardless of opposition). Real match clips, specific drills, and detailed team structure examples, as well as real-world counter-strategies, are all laid out step-by-step—not just theory, but easily-implemented frameworks you can adopt next session. If you want to see these concepts in real action and deepen your tactical toolkit, this is essential viewing.