{"id":273420,"date":"2025-04-03T20:56:52","date_gmt":"2025-04-03T20:56:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2025\/04\/03\/six-second-rule-on-hockey-field-how-india-women-are-borrowing-a-football-principle-to-hassle-rivals\/"},"modified":"2025-04-03T20:56:52","modified_gmt":"2025-04-03T20:56:52","slug":"six-second-rule-on-hockey-field-how-india-women-are-borrowing-a-football-principle-to-hassle-rivals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2025\/04\/03\/six-second-rule-on-hockey-field-how-india-women-are-borrowing-a-football-principle-to-hassle-rivals\/","title":{"rendered":"Six-second rule on hockey field: How India women are borrowing a football principle to hassle rivals"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Six-second<\/div>


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The calm waters of Kannur was an unlikely place to launch the road to Los Angeles. But last July, when the Indian men\u2019s hockey team were preparing to open their Paris Olympics campaign \u2014 which ended with a second-successive bronze medal \u2014 the women found themselves in Kerala\u2019s coastal town. Still reeling from the Olympic qualifier debacle, the players did not know what they were doing there. And as coach Harendra Singh admits, \u2018they perhaps did not even want to be there\u2019.<\/p>\n

\u201dThere was a lot of resilience and scepticism. They wondered, \u2018what are we even doing here?\u2019\u201d Harendra says. Within a few hours of landing there, they discovered it wasn\u2019t a pleasure tour. The country\u2019s best players spent almost a week at the Indian Naval Academy doing things they never imagined. \u201cThey had to run while carrying giant barrels on their backs, spend sleepless nights in the jungle, live in a tent while it was raining hard, mosquitoes all over\u2026 The idea was in minimum facilities, they had to show the determination to do well,\u201d Harendra says.<\/p>\n

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The week-long camp was to set the base \u2014 fitness and mentality-wise \u2014 for a profound change Harendra wanted to see in the way the team played. During the European leg of the FIH Pro League in May last year, he had noticed that India\u2019s players were oftentimes too slow to react when they lost possession in a match. This belief got firm when he saw the players during the Asian Champions Trophy in September.<\/p>\n

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Six-second rule<\/h2>\n

\u201dWe won that tournament in Rajgir but as the team\u2019s coach, I was not happy. It made me realise we had a lot of ground still left to cover,\u201d Harendra admits. Especially when India lost the ball in the middle of the field, or in the opponent\u2019s half.<\/p>\n

India\u2019s turnover rate remains high because the players are \u2018too eager to go vertical each time rather than passing horizontally, playing cool and making the opponent chase you\u2019. By trying to force their way into the opponent\u2019s \u2018D\u2019, the possession is cheaply surrendered.<\/p>\n

The midfielders and the forwards were too slow to win back the ball, handing over the advantage to their opponents. \u201cI looked at the play and thought, \u2018Why is the opponent having more than six seconds (on the ball)?\u2019 I want to have the privilege to have the ball within six seconds from the opponents. So, we began work on that,\u201d Harendra says.<\/p>\n

The six-second rule has been deployed by football coaches for more than a decade. Harendra, who has often looked at football for tactical inspiration during his two-decade-long career as hockey coach, wanted his players to increase their work rate in getting the ball back whenever they lose it.<\/p>\n

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It starts with the forwards as the first line of defence. The idea is to close down the opponent the moment when a player loses the ball, giving them little time to settle and regain possession. If the ball isn\u2019t recovered within six seconds, then the players retreat and defend their spaces to stop a counter-attack.<\/p>\n

As much as fitness, it requires a strong mentality to implement this style. \u201cWhen you lose the ball, you instantly feel bad about it,\u201d says former India captain Savita Punia. \u201cBut the game nowadays has become so fast that you can\u2019t even pause for a millisecond to think about your mistake. So, from a player\u2019s point of view, rather than thinking about the mistake, it is important to stay in the moment and regain possession within six seconds so you don\u2019t cede the advantage. Mentally, physically you have to be very fit.\u201d<\/p>\n

At all times, this demands that the players remain \u2018switched on\u2019. And to gauge how tough that is \u2014 for a team that is still in progress \u2014 one just needs to look at the two matches against Germany in the Pro League.<\/p>\n

On Friday, every time India\u2019s midfielders and forwards lost the ball, they barely reacted. \u201cFor instance, in the third quarter, we were all over Germany but every time we made a small mistake, we went into our shell,\u201d Harendra says. They \u2018showed too much respect\u2019 to Germany and gave them the time, space to get comfortable on the ball. India lost that match 0-4. Harendra insisted after that match that India were fitter than Germany but didn\u2019t show the hunger to win.<\/p>\n

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Twenty-four hours later, the two teams faced off again. This time, India won the midfield battles, the second balls and efficiently closed down the Germans each time they had the ball. The match ended with a clean sheet and India\u2019s first regulation-time win over the 2022 World Cup semifinalists in a decade.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s crucial for India to not read too much into the win, for Germany are here with an experimental squad under a new coach. The challenge will be to make this a habit and repeat the performance in a high-stakes environment. But as Harendra says, \u201c\u2026at least it\u2019s a reassurance that we haven\u2019t deviated from the path taken during the trip to Kannur.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n