Game version
Shadow-stick game: stay in front of your partner with your stick low and ready, and with no stick or body contact. Swap.
Get low and lay the stick flat on the floor in a block position, the shape you win the ball back with. No partner and no contact.
By Coach Evan Waechtler Youth coach (U11, Cache Valley, Utah) and founder of SSTracker Updated October 30, 2026
Set up
Get low with your knees bent and your back flat.
Core: Jogs. Beat your own run of steady shadows.
The steps
Coaching point
Low and patient, stick flat.
Safety: Land softly with knees over toes on a non-slip floor. Stop if your knees or ankles hurt.
Make it fun
Game version
Shadow-stick game: stay in front of your partner with your stick low and ready, and with no stick or body contact. Swap.
Challenge
Pick a level: Less (partner walks), Core (jogs), More (changes direction). Beat your own run of steady shadows.
Story
You are a castle guard holding the bridge.
My best
Beat your own run of steady shadows. Only your own number counts: today against last time.
Practice makes progress
Free for families and teams
Sign up and the free field hockey week for this age opens in your child's planner, kept to healthy limits. A coach can send this drill to the whole team as homework, and parents see every session logged.
14 days free for a family, no card · Running a team is always free
Does your child's coach know about this?
An email from you to the coach, with the words ready. Nothing is tracked and nobody is rewarded.