Talk:Field hockey

Regarding the introduction, I'm not sure whether field hockey is that much more common than ice hockey in Korea. I'm Korean, and I've often wondered myself which sport Koreans think of when they hear the word "hockey". It might even be that more people think of ice hockey when they hear the word, in spite of the fact that our field hockey teams are infinitely better than our ice hockey teams. Or it may just be because my high school was an ice-hockey-playing school. For now I'll add Korea alongside Germany there... --Iceager 10:32, 16 Aug 2004 (UTC)

I think trying to identify the finer points of language usage in Korean, Hindi, Urdu, Dutch, German, Afrikaans, Spanish, Chinese, Japanese, and so on is kind of getting irrelevant to the article, so I restated the original point. The Korean usage would be very relevant to the Korean-language Wikipedia, of course.

By the way, Aussie, Aussie, Aussie, Oi, Oi, Oi! :)--Robert Merkel 10:48, 16 Aug 2004 (UTC)

I removed the bit about it being the Indian and Pakistani national sport. By any sensible definition, cricket is the national sport of both countries, as anybody from a fellow cricket-playing nation who has spent 30 seconds talking to a citizen of either country would know. They are not that strong in international competition either since the widespread introduction of synthetic fields in the 1980's. --Robert Merkel 22:10, 14 Sep 2004 (UTC)

What about some kind of history

I think it lacks a kind of history: Persian origin, big evolution of the rules (I remember, my grand-father used to throw the ball with the hand the put the ball back into to the pitch !), introduction and spreading of synthetic fields, ... I will start something that way, if everybody agrees. Any ideas welcomed. Lvr 08:41, 15 Sep 2004 (UTC)

Definitely, though be careful about claiming an exclusively Persian origin; I believe there were a number of similar games in a number of cultures throughout history and dating to prehistoric times. I'd also suggest you add a seperate section on "history and rules evolution" to avoid cluttering up the description of how the game is played today with too many digressions on how the game was played in the past (except in a few rare cases where the information might be helpful). Anyway, great idea and I look forward to working with you on this. --Robert Merkel 13:42, 15 Sep 2004 (UTC)

I will begin with some kind of separated page to avoid confusion while working. Do not hesitate to check my spelling. However, don't expect to have something quickly. As mentionned on my page, I'm a slow paced wikipedian ! Lvr 15:09, 15 Sep 2004 (UTC)

I have written the first two chapters of history, at Field hockey history. Do not hesitate to rephrase my poor English. Lvr 14:46, 16 Sep 2004 (UTC)

"Field Hockey" page history

They are a couple of stuff that were removed from this page:

a diagram of the pitch,
links to other wiki

Why has this been removed. Shouldn't it be convenient to bring it back. See: this old page. Lvr 16:43, 15 Sep 2004 (UTC)

I don't know why they were removed, they shouldn't have been, I've added them back in again, it isn't hard to add in again, and next time just be bold and do it yourself!

I was wondering about some copyright problems (for the image at least) ! Lvr 10:57, 16 Sep 2004 (UTC)

As the image description page says, I created it and placed it into the public domain. --Robert Merkel 13:49, 16 Sep 2004 (UTC)

I'll be bolder next time ! Lvr 14:46, 16 Sep 2004 (UTC)

Other "would be nice" topics

I have plan to add a section with

the leading countries. I should not change too often !
indoor hockey (If somebody has facts about latter issue (such countries where it is played, national competitions, ...), I'll be glad to have them).
Other things that are missing ???

Lvr 14:46, 16 Sep 2004 (UTC)

Summer Sport Category

I removed this Summer Sport Category. I guess it depends of the general weather of each country. Here in Central Europe, we won't play hockey during the summer because it's too hot ! We play it in automn, winter (except for a few weeks) and lent. Lvr 09:14, 17 Sep 2004 (UTC)

Agreed. That category is misconceived anyway as I've argued at length, and I've placed in on Categories for deletion. --Robert Merkel 12:56, 17 Sep 2004 (UTC)

A Dominant Sport??

Hi there,

i am from northern ireland and i am a keen player of the sport.I have been playing since I was very young along with my family who also play. My brother and I have got to a good standard,my brother represented ireland and under age levels and i got a trial for under 16. But the sport here takes a back seat to other sports like rugby and I feel that when I have watched my brother play against teams like the dutch, spanish and germans that they are far superior and wonder is this due to hockey being a popular sport or that the players are just simpply better and have good coaching from a young age? Jc22 19:08, 14 May 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Hockey is very popular in the Netherlands, as far as I can say. Lvr 09:00, 17 May 2005 (UTC)[reply]

While hockey's not a "dominant sport" anywhere in the world it seems to be most popular in those countries that you mention, as well as Australia, India, and Pakistan. By the law of averages the best players from a larger pool will tend to be better than those from a smaller pool, all other things being equal. In addition, those nations you mention have strong leagues where the best players play against each other regularly and are expertly coached. Finally, they spend money developing their very, very best players for international competition. So the answer to your question is probably "yes", to both popularity and better coaching. --Robert Merkel 12:30, 17 May 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Spain or South Korea or Malaysia

I agree with 155.69.5.235 modification to replace South Korea by Spain. In the FIH ranking for September 2005, Spain is 4th (men) en 10th (women), while Korea is 7th (men), 9th (women). I reput Spain instead of South Korea, which is already listed further in the artile. Lvr 09:38, 21 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Regarding Malaysia, please check the above FIH rankink link: Malaysia is merley 14th in the world for men and is not ranked in 12 first nations for women ! If we include Malaysia, we should include beforehand other countries like South Korea, Poland, ... even my own Belgium !

External link for Stick History

This external link has been moved to the field hockey history article. Please don't add it here again. Lvr 09:19, 11 January 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Metrification and field of play

The conversion to metric units is slightly more complicated than given here. The dotted line is 5m from the circle line, not 5 yards (4.55m), similarly new pitches, or remarking of existing pitches, is supposed to give the attacker's and defender's PC marks being 5m and 10m from the inside of the goal posts, rather than 5 and 10 yards, and the long corner mark is 5m from the backline. Also the marks 5m from the sidelines on the 23m lines and centre lines are no longer required. See pages 14-17 of the FIH Rules of Hockey I'm not sure how best to word this (which is why I haven't edited it), perhaps something along the lines of units were originally in whole numbers of yards, these have generally been changed to the exact metric equivalents, with the exception of some 5 and 10 yard distances which have been increased to exactly 5 and 10 metres

I think the best way of wording this is to give the actual and offical measures instead of the old ones and to update the picture. I think to mention the change in this page is not relevant. Only the latest rules should be described here. The rules modifications should be mentionned in the second section of the field hockey history page. This is still in a list state, but we are trying to get enough valuable data before writing something neat.

I can cope with modifying the picture if Robert Merkel (who did the original drawing) doesn't do it. Lvr 11:37, 10 February 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I see an anonymous user has removed the imperial measurements, but not changed the preceding paragraph that refers to them, which makes a bit of a mockery of it, plus it now uses the word "times" when describing the dimensions, rather than × which looks ugly in my opinion (i.e. using ht eword rather than the character is ugly). David Underdown 11:32, 28 February 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Dangerous play

As an umpire I can see no justification for the 3m distance given for deciding on dangerous play on shots at goal, the only references in the rulebook are to 5m. I've not edited immediately as the whole concept of danger as related to shots on goal can get a bit heated, as can be seen on any of the hockey web forums. David Underdown

Please edit appropriately. I'm not up on the latest interpretations; my understanding as a fullback has been if I'm anywhere near the goals forward are free to regard me as a target :/ --Robert Merkel 11:52, 28 February 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Well that's precisely the idea that causes most of the arguments on the talk boards, there are those who say that the defender accepts any danger by standing on or around the goal line, and those that find that rather hard to square with how the dangerous play rules are actually written. Anyway, the main point was that the only "cut-off" distance mentioned is 5m, e.g. "If a defender is within five metres of the first shot at goal during the taking of a penalty corner and is struck by the ball below the knee, another penalty corner must be awarded.

If a defender is within five metres of the first shot at goal and is struck above the knee in a normal stance, the shot is judged to be dangerous and a free hit must be awarded to the defending team."

Still not entirely sure how to edit it without heading towards POV. I'll think about it some more. Just realised I hadn't signed this originally, or above comment. David Underdown

Well, since an anon had made some changes to this anyway, I have made a few changes myself now. In doing so, I've also realised that we don't currently explain what a hit, push etc are and the differences between them, don't want to end up copying large chunks of the rules though. David Underdown 16:04, 13 March 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Popularity?

"Field Hockey is the second most played sport worldwide after football/Soccer"

Is this really true? I've never seen it on tv, and I personally know only one person who plays it... a source would be nice. - Jacen Aratan 21:00, 22 March 2006 (UTC)[reply]