Field Hockey

Overview

Eleven players a side using hooked sticks to move a hard ball into the opposition goal. Governed by the FIH. This entry is checked against the FIH Rules of Hockey, effective 1 March 2026. Rule numbers below are the FIH's.

1. The basics

Four quarters of 15 minutes, with 2-minute breaks after the first and third quarters and a 10-minute half-time (Rule 5.1). The 10-minute half-time is new in the 2026 rules. The pitch is 91.40m by 55.00m.

Goals may only be scored from inside the shooting circle, a D-shaped area 14.63m from the goal. Rule 8.1: a goal counts when the ball "is played within the circle by an attacker and does not travel outside the circle" before crossing the line. A shot from outside it doesn't count, even if it goes in.

2. The stick

Only one face of the stick is legal. The head is "flat on its left side" (Rule 4.6), and Rule 9.5 says: "Players must not play the ball with the back of the stick."

The edge is allowed, with one exception. Rule 9.6: players must not hit the ball hard on the forehand with the edge of the stick. Edge play on the backhand, and softer forehand edge play, are legal.

There is no left-handed stick. Left-handed players use the same stick as everyone else.

3. Fouls

• Back stick — playing with the rounded side
• Feet and body — stopping, kicking, carrying or propelling the ball with the body. It is "not always an offence if the ball hits the foot, hand or body"; it becomes one if you gain an advantage or positioned yourself intending it to hit you (Rule 9.11)
• Obstruction — shielding the ball from an opponent with your body or stick
• Third-party obstruction — blocking a path for a teammate
• Dangerous play — raising the ball toward another player
• Stick interference — hitting an opponent's stick

Obstruction is the least intuitive: you may not simply turn your back and protect the ball, which is standard practice in football and hockey's closest analogue, ice hockey.

4. Restarts

Situation	Restart
Ball over the sideline	Free hit at the point it crossed
Foul outside the circle	Free hit
Defender's offence in the circle that doesn't prevent a probable goal	Penalty corner
Defender's intentional offence in the circle against a player without the ball	Penalty corner
Defender's intentional offence outside the circle but inside their 23-metre area	Penalty corner
Defender's offence in the circle that prevents a probable goal, deliberate or not	Penalty stroke
Defender's intentional offence in the circle against a player with the ball or a chance to play it	Penalty stroke

A penalty corner (the short corner) is the game's defining set piece. The ball is pushed or hit out from the back line, and:

• no more than five defenders, including the goalkeeper, start behind the back line;
• a goal can't be scored until the ball has travelled outside the circle. It doesn't have to be stopped;
• if the first shot is a hit rather than a push, flick or scoop, it must cross the line, or be heading to, no higher than 460mm, the height of the backboard, before any deflection.

A penalty stroke is a one-on-one against the goalkeeper from the penalty spot, 6.40 metres in front of the goal.

5. Cards

Card	Effect
Green	Two-minute suspension
Yellow	Temporary suspension for at least five minutes of playing time
Red	Permanent removal

Commonly argued

• Only the flat side of the stick is legal.
• Goals must come from inside the circle.
• There is no offside in the FIH Rules.
• A penalty corner doesn't have to be stopped before the shot. It only has to leave the circle.
• A penalty stroke doesn't need a deliberate foul. Any defender's offence in the circle that prevents a probable goal gives one.
• The edge is legal except for a hard forehand hit.
• Half-time is 10 minutes under the 2026 rules.
• Obstruction includes shielding with your body, which surprises footballers.
• Feet are a foul only if you gain an advantage.