Field Hockey Stick - Set-back Heads, Ball Position & Stopping

Set-back Heads, Ball Position & Stopping

The illustration called 'Stopping and Hitting' shows that when a vertical stick shaft is aligned to the centre of the ball part of the ball protrudes to the heel side, this would happen even if the heel was not a bend but a 90° corner and the only way to cover the entire ball with the shaft held vertical is to use a set-back head - that is a head that is set-back to the heel side of the shaft.

A stick with a set-back head and toe-side protrusion, with the handle positioned vertically, covers substantially more of the ball and can reduce off heel deflection errors in stopping. Using the set-back head in the more comfortable or natural stopping angle puts a vertical area of shaft above the ball while at the same time aligning centre ball and a line projected through the centre of the handle handle.

In the upright hitting position, which is generally between 15° and 25° off vertical, the heel bend of the Indian stick of the 1970s will cover the whole ball. As the heel bend gets tighter in the 1980s and 1990s the ball is controlled closer to the centre line of the stick but it is not until the setback stick appears that the centre of the shaft is aligned (or nearly so) with the centre of the ball. The ball appears to move back along the length of the various stickheads as the heads become shorter and the heel tighter, in fact the playing position of the ball is moved further and further from the feet as playing reach is increased.

There are presently two styles of outfield set-back stick, the degree of setback to the head is a feature they have in common; they differ in that one has a 'kink' or shaft protrusion on the toe side above the head of the stick while the other does not. In the goalkeeper versions some also have the toe of the head cut flat (parallel to the handle) rather than rounded to allow the user to present the stick closer to the ground when stopping in a horizontal position on the reverse side, this is to more easily prevent the ball from going under the handle of the stick.