| How to play hockey
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How to play hockey
Hockey exists in many different forms from Ice Hockey and Field Hockey to Roller Hockey and Road Hockey and has been enjoyed by thousands of players and millions of fans for a few millennia. Four thousand year old Egyptian drawings depict a sport similar to hockey. Although we cannot be sure of the rules of that game, the sport where players try to shoot an object into a type of goal using a stick has been around for thousands of years. Field hockey, as we know it today, was invented by the British in the mid 1700\'s, while students of McGill University Montreal, Canada began playing modern ice hockey in 1875. Since then the game has gained world fame and enthusiasm as well as an organized set of rules and an elaborate array of necessary protective equipment. You might now wonder how to play hockey then.
Hockey or Field Hockey as it is known in some parts of the world, is a stick and ball game with origins dating back thousands of years. It is traditionally played on grass, but more often these days - especially at the top levels and in certain countries - hockey is played on synthetic surfaces.
In hockey, two teams of 11 players compete against each other using their \'hooked\' sticks to hit, push, pass and dribble a small, hard, usually white, ball, with one aim in mind - to score by getting the ball into the opponents\' goal – one should know this much before going for how to play hockey
To do that, they have to get the ball past the other team\'s goalkeeper, who protects the goal, and logically, tries to keep the ball out!
Player positions
Before you start on how to play hockey, look at positions. As already mentioned, every team must have a goalkeeper. The other 10 players are referred to as \'field players\', and are dispersed over the field of play. The field players can be put into three general categories - attackers, defenders and midfielders. While no player (other than the goalkeeper) has an exclusively defined role, the attackers are generally on attack, the defenders are generally on defense, and the midfielders do a bit of both!
Stick handling
An essential skill necessary for playing hockey is the ability to control, pass, push, stop and shoot the ball with your hockey stick. This is known as stick work, or stick handling. It is both beautiful and impressive to watch a player with good stick handling skills control the ball while sprinting the length of the field, or weave through the sticks and legs of defenders to create an open shot. Take care before you actually get into how to play hockey.
It is important to know that the head of a hockey stick has a rounded side (the right side) and a flat side (the left side). It is only with the flat, left hand side of the stick that you are permitted to play the ball.
No Feet!
A person who seeks for how to play hockey must know that it may seem like common sense, but it is worth mentioning that in hockey, field players are not allowed to use their feet (or any other parts of their bodies for that matter) to control the ball. Only the goalkeeper is allowed to use stick, hands, feet, etc. to stop the ball when defending in his or her own circle.
How to play hockey >
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