Positioning & self pass

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[ivyleague]

i may be a bit premature in asking this question but...

do you think that traditional & recommended positioning for umpires will change with the introduction of the self pass?

e.g. umpires are encouraged to come further up field (in their colleagues attacking half) thus being closer to play. will this make it more difficult to get into the optimum position if a free hit is given and taken quickly? also we're encouraged to get to the back line quickly when play is attacking "our" circle, is this still the most relevant/credible place to be to make decisions? or would a trailing position be more appropriate? (positioning for umpires changed beyond recognition after offside was removed & i think the self pass is just as game changing as no offside)

i don't have any firm views on the matter (yet) but would be interested to know what others think - i've been umpiring the new rules for half a season and not noticed any difference in my positioning but to be fair the teams have taken a while to take full advantage of the free pass. is there any EHL umps in site that could expand on this or put it to bed?

i realise fitness is becoming much more important at all levels of umpiring but wonder if that's enough or we need to look at something else

thanks in advance

Irene

[keely]

I've been thinking about this myself quite a bit, ivy (great minds, etc...). I had the chance to really play with it a few weekends ago at a Canadian national team camp where the guys were using the self-pass fairly intelligently, there were lots of aerials and the pace was very high.

The faster the game, I've noticed the further away I feel from my colleague. Given that there's almost no time to be communicating off the ball it's more that I realize when the ball's gone off the endline, or we need to help each other on a PC, I'm thinking "Wow, that's the first time I've seen you in 15 minutes!"

I'm a lot more careful about when I come up into my colleague's end to support, really watching for the shape of the attack and defense to calculate possible transition breaks. Also, I find that I'm "going over" closer to the opposite sideline even more to cover the quick outlets that my colleague can't possibly catch up with.

I've found myself trailing the play more often as well, but I'll admit that's more on necessity than choice (as I watch some 18 year-old kid whiz by) and yes, it does help you to see different things.

Combine that with a regular use of aerials, and I'm seeing a general shift in areas of responsibility away from the diagonal-ish line down the pitch towards more of a horizontal division (your half, my half). I guess that's pretty old school, because I have faint memories of being told that was the old way when I was just starting out!

So I'm not sure if it's a change of positioning, per se, but more of a change of responsibilities which then changes how you go about positioning yourself to deal with those responsibilities. More inside the pitch when the ball's on the far side, more adjusting angles by stepping outside the pitch, and less trying to be very close when the ball's moving away (and trying to get farther away from it when it's coming barreling at you!).

Fitness is big, but it's also combined with an even higher level of focus. There seems to be less "active rest" time and a lot more continuing analysis of space, movement, structure and pace so that you're anticipating. Like always, the better we're anticipating, the less running we have to do and to me, the self-pass takes it up to the next level. I find with lower-level teams I get almost frustrated because I'm seeing when a self-pass should be happening quickly and what could be done with it, but the players have different ideas and I'm having to re-adjust even more often.

What's going to be really interesting this summer is to see how much latitude we get, so to speak, to experiment with positioning at our tournaments. I haven't spoken to any of the guys who just came back from the JWC, for example (still a bit early with the jet lag, I think? ) but I'd dying to know how their guidance changed, if at all, and what kind of feedback they got from deviating from what we've been coached to do for the past few years.

[Twister]

I agree Keely - I've only done two games, but found myself a lot further away from my colleague.  I think you can still push high in support if necessary - you just have to be careful to time it right.

I also think the area of the pitch between the 23m lines becomes less important.  Removing the breakdown tackle through self pass means the transition between 23m areas has become faster and decisions in this area are even less important - you can almost afford to hang back and deal with your own end of the pitch.

What does perhaps suffer is communication between colleagues - an area we may have to try and do things differently in.  Radios would be of even more benefit.

In terms of fitness, NPUA have been doing some GPS & heart rate analysis of umpires over the summer, looking at pitch movement, running speed and distance covered.  Although it's only a limited sample size, the data so far doesn't show a great difference between games under old rules (HA Cup Final) and the international matches under new rules.  In all cases the umpires are covering around 7km per match, with around the same pattern of walk/jog/run/sprint intensity.  Will be interesting to see more as more data is gathered.

[keely]

That is interesting. I wonder how much of that is due to the increased distance and caution? So, the extra running it feels like I'm doing is off-set by the fact that I'm further away from my colleague and the play, which causes me to do less running? Do we automatically regulate that internally somehow?

[Diligent]

Is it that the dilemma is even more stark: do I help with the 5m etc in my partner's far corner, and risk getting left behind a break towards my goal; or do I stay the safe side of halfway and leave that corner to be umpired from a distance?

Maybe that 7km now involves travelling more often over a shorter range? Or maybe Ivyleague is right that last year's positioning still works pretty well? Something for English umpires to look out for as summer hockey gives way to competitive leagues in September.

[mosley59]

I've found the only change this forces me to make is to move off the baseline faster than I previously did, so I can spot and award FHs faster to keep the extra flow going that you get from the self-pass, and that I can't come up as far as I used to for long periods of attacking play in the other umpire's circle - one FHD, a tap-overhead, and suddenly I'm half a pitch out of it.

[UmpireHockey.com]

I've done a few more than two dozen games since starting to use the new rule here in April.

I haven't noticed any substantive difference in terms of positioning. Largely, I think because there aren't many long aerials -- near zero -- in the overwhelming percentage of games.

What I have noticed is a steep reduction in little MENTAL BREAKS that I used to grab, typically afforded by all the "setting up" that would take place before a restart. There was practically a committee meeting held before each free hit, hit-in, and side-in. Now it's just GO!!!

Unfortunately, the self pass won't be in the high schools here until at least 2010 so, there will be some games during which mental breaks -- even short naps -- will be possible. 

Cheers...Cris

[foozbear]

After doing the national team camps I had a new understanding of running. We had been using the "new" rules since the start of our junior season so I had plenty of prctice in interpretations...

Keely is spot on about awareness and reading the play. We both tried to anticipate the overhead passes and I think we got those pretty good.  I did feel a bit further away coming from defence but I tried to offset that by coming wider than usual on the side lines so I had a good view of my side attaking corner so I "could" help if needed.

What I did notice was both Keely and I were drawn in to the middle zone of the circle a bit more, IF the ball was on the opposite side. this allowed us to view the majority of the play.

What My mind has started doing since playing the new rules is, I havent been focusing on the ball on the players stick as much. My mind is watching the play...and adjusting while keeping the player in peripheral vision. IF a defender comes to tackle I re focus on the tackle area and then use my peripheral to scan the field for the players options.  So far it has allowed me to stay with the play more times than I used to and I feel more comfortable in calling some fouls.

[Ballingdon]

In terms of fitness, NPUA have been doing some GPS & heart rate analysis of umpires over the summer, looking at pitch movement, running speed and distance covered.  Although it's only a limited sample size, the data so far doesn't show a great difference between games under old rules (HA Cup Final) and the international matches under new rules.  In all cases the umpires are covering around 7km per match, with around the same pattern of walk/jog/run/sprint intensity.  Will be interesting to see more as more data is gathered.

I wonder if anyone will check the medical stats for us mere mortals (ie L1)? 

There is another easier angle on this - that's simply that more running will mean fewer matches umpired .  Last season I occasionally did 3 matches on a Saturday, spread through the day. I'm pretty fit but older. If the pace of the game increases with adoption of the self-free ( and I have noticed it in some of the Summer League games already). I know I won't be doing 3 in a day again. 2 will be carefully selected  - a couple of captaiins won't be getting so much help, which will force them to get more umpires trained/use more umpires

Yes, you do get further from your partner, not going so close to his 23 / circle, waiting for the break out further up field, staying closer to one's own circle for longer as the ball moved up field.