In field hockey, a penalty corner can provide instant offense, presenting the attacking team with a glorious scoring chance. Yet a set of strict rules govern all penalty corner plays, making goals far from automatic. Understanding the rules can help teams execute penalty corners with confidence and come away with more goals than frustration.
Function
Field hockey officials award a penalty corner when the defense intentionally plays the ball over the backline, commits a foul inside the defensive circle or commits a deliberate foul anywhere within the defending quarter of the field. The penalty corner serves to punish defenses for dangerous, overly aggressive play.
Location
Unlike a long corner, which initiates at either corner of the field, a penalty corner starts with the ball placed on the backline 10 meters from the goal. The offensive team can choose whether the ball originates from the left or right of goal, positioning the ball according to the individual strengths of the passer and the likely shooters.
Features
On a penalty corner, five defenders, including the goaltender, must start along the backline, while all remaining defenders have to stand behind the field's center line, effectively removing them from the play. The attacking team positions one player along the backline to put the ball in play and all remaining players spread across the arc of the defensive circle. The defenders can't leave the backline until the attacking team puts the ball in play.
Shooting
The attacking players can enter the circle as soon as the player along the backline puts the ball in play, but no shot can be attempted until the ball leaves the defensive circle. One player typically will stop the initial pass just outside the circle and deaden the ball for a teammate, who quickly whips a shot on goal. The shot can only be pushed, flicked or scooped. If the shooter takes a slap hit, the ball cannot rise higher than 460 mm, or roughly 18 inches. Field hockey rules deem any slap shots higher than that to be dangerous and they result in the defensive team taking possession with a free hit.
Timing
Even if time has expired in a half or full game, the umpire will allow a penalty corner to be taken until completion. The umpire designates a penalty corner complete when a goal is scored, an attacker commits a foul, the ball travels 5 m outside the defensive circle, the ball exits the circle for a second time, the offense plays the ball over the backline, a defender commits a foul or a penalty stroke is awarded.
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