The circle is where games are won or lost
About movement, timing and creating 'Shootable' Moments in field hockey
“The intent behind a scoring pass is for my teammate to be able to receive it and shoot. That’s the scoring pass.”
— Alyson Annan
You know it. We know it. The circle is where games are won or lost, and yet it’s often the area where our coaching attention is most superficial. We drill shooting technique endlessly—slaps, sweeps, deflections, tomahawks—but we rarely train the behaviours that create shootable moments in the first place. This article pulls together insights from several elite coaches to give you a framework for striker movement, timing, and circle behaviour that actually works in the chaos of a real game.
The goal is straightforward: transform your forwards from ball-chasers into intelligent predators who create and exploit space, arrive in shootable positions, and convert chaos into goals.
Sources:
Alyson Annan: Circle Behaviour
Santi Freixa: Scoring
Jude Menezes: Rebound Scoring
Hunt Rebounds Like Predators
Fede Tanuscio: Circle Entries Movement Principles: When to Check Away, Hold Position, or Attack Space
Here’s something that took me a while to understand, and I think a lot of us get this wrong: circle behaviour is not about constant motion. The best strikers know when to move and when to stay still. The timing of that decision is what separates efficient finishers from frustrated runners who never seem to be in the right place.
Checking Away
So when do you actually want your striker to check away? The answer comes down to reading the passer. If the passer is not yet ready to deliver—their stick isn’t on the ball, they’re still running, they’re under pressure—then your striker needs to create separation from their marking defender. They also need to check away if the space they want to occupy is currently blocked.
The execution is simple in concept but requires discipline. You want a short, sharp movement away from where you ultimately want to receive. This draws your marker with you, and then you explode back into the vacated space. But here’s the key: timing is everything. Check away only when it will open a passing lane at the exact moment the passer is ready. Too early and the defender recovers. Too late and the moment is gone.
Now, how does this differ between senior teams and youth? With your top senior teams, players are using checking away to manipulate experienced defenders who track runs and anticipate movement. They combine checking with communication—eye contact, hand signals, subtle body language. With youth teams, you’re really just teaching the basic concept: “show and go.” Move one direction, then go the opposite. Emphasize patience—don’t rush the check; wait for the passer’s cue.
Holding Position
This is where Alyson Annan really changed lots of coaches’ thinking. She’s emphatic about it:
“Once you’re in the circle, stay in the circle as an attacker. Reposition yourself somewhere else in the circle if you feel the need to move, but stay in the circle.”
So when do you hold position? When the passer is ready and the passing lane is open. When your marker is ball-watching or has lost track of you. When standing still creates the clearest target for a scoring pass.
The execution requires specific body shape: get low, stick down, weight on the balls of your feet. Face the goal—be ready to receive and shoot. And above all, avoid drifting. Drifting is that ball-watching, aimless movement that takes strikers out of dangerous positions. Annan is clear:
“Standing still doesn’t mean not getting in front. It means not running across the goal and back and forward.”
Attacking Space
The third option is attacking space, and this is what most strikers want to do all the time. But the truth is, it only works when the conditions are right. You attack space when a clear passing lane has opened behind your marker, when the passer’s stick is on the ball and they have eye contact with you, and when you can arrive at full speed into a shootable position.
The execution must be short and explosive—not long, same-tempo jogging through the circle. Time the run to the passer’s readiness, not to your own impatience. Get in front of your defender at the last possible moment.
Santi Freixa has a great way of framing this:
“The better position I will take, the more space I will have, the more time I will have, and the more simple it will be for me to score.”
That simplicity is what we’re after. We’re not trying to create highlight-reel moments. We’re trying to make scoring feel inevitable.
Creating Shootable Moments
Here’s something I’ve come to understand: a “shootable moment” is not a lucky bounce. It’s not being in the right place at the right time by accident. It’s the product of deliberate body shape, stick position, and timed movement. Let me break down each element below…
