Field hockey drills at home for 11 year olds

At a glance

At 11

48 field hockey drills the app opens for an 11 year old work at home, across 6 skills.

How long

One home session of about 30 minutes; SSTracker never plans more than 45 minutes for an 11 year old.

How often

At most 4 training days a week, with rest days between. Organized sport in all: no more hours a week than the child's age (NATA), so at most 11 hours for an 11 year old, with two rest days a week.

What you need

Most used: stick (39 of the 48 drills), ball (37), cones (21), timer (5), goal (4), goal or cones (3), wall or partner (3), mouthguard (2). 1 drill needs nothing but space. 19 are for two, and a parent can be the partner.

Safe at home

One child and one parent in a room, garage or yard. Never tackling, contact, diving or head-first falls, no stunts or loaded lifting, and nothing that needs a coach, rink, pool or court. Stop when anything hurts.

48 at-home drills

Field hockey drills for 11 year olds to do at home

Every drill below is one the app opens for an 11 year old and one that works at home: a room, garage or yard, one parent as the partner, no venue. Each drill's page has the steps, a diagram where the setup can be drawn, three ways to make it a game and a log to print.

dribbling

Dribbling

• Dribble Gates GameAges 11 and up · 12 min
• Figure Eight DribbleAges 11 and up · 12 min
• Indian Dribble Through ConesAges 11 and up · 12 min

passing

Passing

• Passing on the MoveAges 11 and up · 12 min
• Slap Pass BasicsAges 11 and up · 12 min
• Family Passing PairsAges 7 and up · 8 min

receiving

Receiving

• Receive and Move AwayAges 11 and up · 12 min
• Reverse Side Receiving RunAges 11 and up · 12 min
• Receive in a BoxAges 7 and up · 8 min

shooting

Shooting

• Deflection at the PostAges 11 and up · 12 min
• Follow Up the ReboundAges 11 and up · 12 min
• Receive and ShootAges 11 and up · 12 min

speed & fitness

Speed & Fitness

• Quick Feet LadderAges 11 and up · 10 min
• Reaction StartsAges 11 and up · 10 min
• Recovery Runs at an AngleAges 11 and up · 12 min

A 26-minute session

A home field hockey session for an 11 year old

A warm-up, 1 drill and a cool-down, 26 minutes in all. Do it up to 4 days a week, with rest days between.

1. 1Field Hockey Warm-Up, Ages 11 to 13A 10-minute moving warm-up for field hockey players aged 11 to 13: running, moving stretches, plank, balance, landings and build-up runs, then field hockey moves, with a note on growth spurts.10 min
2. 2Push Pass to a WallNo backswing, push through.10 min
3. 3Field Hockey Cool-Down Stretches, Ages 11 to 13A 6-minute cool-down for field hockey players aged 11 to 13 after training: stretches for the legs, hips, inner thighs and upper back, each held 15 to 20 seconds, never to pain, with growth-spurt notes.6 min

At 11

What changes in field hockey training at 11

20 at-home drills join the list at 11.

Organized sport in all: no more hours a week than the child's age (NATA), so at most 11 hours for an 11 year old, with two rest days a week.

The week

Fitting field hockey into a week at 11

At 11 the limit is 11 hours of organized sport a week. If you count home sessions against it to be safe, 4 sessions of 30 minutes is 2 hours, which leaves 9 for team practice and games. Even 4 days at the app's longest, 45 minutes, is 3 hours.

The research behind it

• Ages 6 to 12 are the "sampling years": high play, low deliberate practice.

  Côté and Vierimaa 2014

• Organized sport should total no more hours a week than the child's age in years, with two rest days a week.

  NATA youth sport specialization recommendations

Questions and answers