Reading a Successful Forward Pass 
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| Planet Field Hockey |
March 27, 2000 
Peter D'Cruz
> Page Views 6941
For a forward pass to be successful, both the person passing the ball (the “passer”) and the person receiving the ball (the “receiver”) need to have an understanding. This understanding is defined by three items:
- The passer will not force the ball through opposing the players. Therefore, the passer will be the only person who must decide whether to pass the ball to the receiver.
- The velocity of the pass is very important. The harder that a pass is made, the more likely it will be successful every time. It is rare that a soft, gentle pass will be successful every time.
- The angle of the pass between the passer and the receiver is also critical. The more acute the angle between the passer and the receiver will reduce the success rate of a pass.
Below are some examples of types of passes and the expected success rate. The direction of pass is shown as a solid line and receiver running off the ball to receive the pass is shown as the dotted line.
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A very acute angle pass.
The pass will need to be at the same velocity as the receiver running to get to the ball, therefore it must be very slow even if the receiver is a world class sprinter.
If there are any opposing players nearby, they will easily intercept the pass. The success rate of this pass is very low. |
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A 45 degree angle pass.
The pass must be timed so that the receiver arrives at the same time as the ball, therefore it will be a soft pass.
It is easy for opposing players to react and intercept. The success rate of this pass is quite low. |
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A 90 degree angle pass.
This pass must also be timed, but the velocity of the pass will not be slow.
It harder for opposing players to react and intercept. The success rate is defined as medium. |
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An angle close to 135 degrees.
Although this pass still needs to be timed, the velocity of the pass can be close to maximum.
It is hard for opposing players to react and intercept. The success rate of this pass is high. |
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The 180 degree pass between the starting point of the passer and receiver.
This pass can always be made at maximum velocity.
Since the ball is travelling at maximum velocity, it is next to impossible for an opposing player to react and intercept. The success rate of this pass is very high. |
The acute angle pass is normally implemented as the “through” pass. It is a very difficult pass to achieve given that it is extremely easy for an opposing player to read and react to this action and intercept the pass.
The closer to 180 degrees between the passer and the receiver will ensure successful passes almost all of the time.
Finally, we must respect that the passer will make the final decision on making a pass.
So, I suggest that you read the situations on the field and undertake the successful forward pass. 
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