Marking

Marking is one of the core defensive tools used in field hockey. It can be used throughout the field, but is mainly employed in the defensive zone.

There are three types of marking strategies.

Zone marking.
Man-to-man marking.
Match-up marking a combination of the two

They require a lot of discipline as if one person steps out of her zone or leaves her mark, the whole system could break down.

How to position yourself

There are 3 areas to focus on:

Where is the ball
What is the defender
Where is the goal.

Where do you go?

Always position yourself between the opposing player and the ball, or between the opposing player and the goal. This way, you can prevent the opposing player from getting to the ball before you can, and you can prevent them from shooting at goal.
Always face away from the goal. Doing so will keep you in position to defend the goal and clear the ball of the defensive zone.
Also, position yourself about a stick’s distance away from the attacking player. By doing this, you’ll be close enough to defender her, but also ready for unexpected passes and possible interceptions.

Zone Defense

In zone defense, you do not mark a specific person, but rather cover an area in the defensive zone. Here you are responsible for marking any player that comes into your zone. With this type of defense, you are positioned to guard your area against potential danger (an open, opposing player). You will also be able to defend any other areas should the point of attack shift in front of the goal.

Good/bad:

Maintaining discipline and organization – if part of the zone breaks down, your defense may be compromised.
Done correctly, zone defense can lead to counterattacks.
Is physically less demanding than man-to-man marking.

Man-to-man (M2M)

Each defender chooses an attacker on the opposite team to mark. The defender has to stay ball-side and goal-side when going against the opposing player so they can intercept the balls and block any potential shots.

If you are marking a player,

Stand about a stick’s distance away from them and to their side.
You now have the option to either intercept or guard the attacker should they get the ball.
Watch the ball and not the attacker.

The offense will try to distract you through fancy stick work — focus on the ball, not the player.

Match-up Zone

This is a combination of both zone and man-to-man marking. It is a very effective defensive tactic.

With this strategy, each defender has a specific zone she is in charge of and must man-to-man mark any player who enters.

This tactic efficiently marks the attacking players around the ball to block any shots on goal. This type of marking also covers the extra space that may not involve the ball, but is still in a player’s zone.

For this tactic to succeed, the defense must thoroughly understand their roles and the basic principles of zone and man-to-man marking. Otherwise, this type of marking can cause confusion within the circle.

25yd zone of bottom 1/3rd

Generally teams when in the 25-yard zone, will use marking as their main strategy of defense. Unless otherwise specified, use man-to-man marking in the defensive zone.

When you are outnumbered in the defensive zone, use zone marking or match-up zone; these will generally be used by the defense on a short corner.

By marking, you are constantly pressuring your opponent to make a move with the ball, often causing her to mishandle it. If you keep applying the pressure, you are more likely to prevent your opponents from scoring, and you’ll have an easier time getting the ball out of your defensive zone.