The 4-3-3 on a hockey pitch, drawn properly
Field hockey · Formation · 11 of your players
Four at the back, three in a midfield band across the 23 m line, and three forwards holding the width up on halfway. The shape most club sides start from, and why.
Opens on a field hockey pitch with the shape already drawn. Free, no signup.
How the four, three and three sit
The back four spread across the width of the circle and a bit beyond it: two centre backs either side of the goal, two backs wider and slightly deeper, which is what lets them turn and defend a ball played into the channel rather than having to spin. The midfield three sit on and just past the 23 m line, roughly fourteen metres apart, and the front three take the full width — both wings near the sideline, the centre forward central and highest.
That midfield spacing matters more in hockey than the diagram suggests. Fourteen metres is a reachable pass but not a safe one, so the centre midfielder has to be the player who drops between the two centre backs whenever the ball goes back, turning three into four without anyone else moving.
Matchups it wins
It is the shape to pick when you want a settled team rather than a clever one. Four at the back covers the width against a side that switches, three in midfield matches most opponents in the middle, and the front three give you three pressers the moment the ball is turned over near their circle.
Against a 3-3-3-1 you are a player short in the middle third, and you feel it: their nine outfielders in three lines will pass around a flat three. That is the game where one wing tucks in and you play a 4-4-2 in everything but name. Against a 5-3-2 the opposite is true — their two forwards cannot press your back four, so your centre backs get time and your wings get the ball early.
What to work on at training
- Wings on the paint. Leave both wings where the template puts them for a whole session. A wing five metres infield hands the opposition back the pitch you just paid for with a back four.
- The centre midfielder dropping. Draw that one movement, animate it, then draw the outlet it creates. It is the difference between building out and hitting long.
- Rest defence. Move only the two centre backs and the centre midfielder and look at the picture. That triangle is your whole defence when the backs are up.
Open the template, move your own four, then draw the overlap your back and wing keep arguing about and send them the link.
Also known as
- formation
- back four
- front three
- field hockey
Shapes to look at next
3-3-3-1
Formation · 11 players
The Dutch structure — three lines of three behind a single striker. Short passing distances in every direction, which is what makes it the shape most possession-based hockey is coached from.
Read the setup
3-4-3
Formation · 11 players
Three at the back, four across midfield stretched to both sidelines and a front three. Attacking by default: the wide midfielders give you five in the front line whenever you have the ball.
Read the setup
5-3-2
Formation · 11 players
Five across the back with three in midfield and two forwards. The extra defender covers the width of the pitch and lets the outside backs join the attack one at a time.
Read the setup
Full press (2-3-3-2)
Defence · 10 players
Pressing high in the opposition half: two on the circle edge forcing the outlet, three behind them, three across midfield and two holding. Ten outfield players — a full press leaves the keeper in your own half, off screen.
Read the setup
Penalty corner attack
Set piece · 10 players
The injector on the backline 10 m from the post, with the trapper, striker, both slips and both post runners lined up on the edge of the shooting circle — every attacker but the injector has to start outside the circle, and these do. Ten outfield players; the keeper is back in your own half, off screen.
Read the setup
Penalty corner defence
Set piece · 18 players
The legal defensive set: goalkeeper plus four defenders on the goal line ready to break, and the remaining six beyond the 23 m line where the rules require them. Shown against a full attacking penalty-corner set-up.
Read the setup
Put the 4-3-3 on a pitch
It opens with the shape already drawn. Move the players your team does differently, drag the runs, and send your squad a link that animates.
Open in PlaymakerPage updated · Field hockey play designer · All templates