FOR DECADES, penalty corners have showcased thrilling motion sequences on a hockey area — from the cannonball-like pictures hurled by drag-flickers and “suicide runs” from defenders to dam them to the goalkeepers diving and lunging to maintain the ball out.
But now, the way forward for one among hockey’s most integral components is being reconsidered, at the very least in its present avatar. The motive? Rising danger of accidents and a diminishing success price.
The International Hockey Federation (FIH) has launched a session undertaking titled, “Future of the Penalty Corner”, which goals to “balance between safety and the spectacle” of the set-piece.
Although there shall be no rule change till after the Paris Olympics in 2024, the FIH has informed nationwide federations: “We must consider making changes to the penalty corner rules BEFORE serious or fatal incidents occur and not wait to react until afterward.”
The transfer, relying on the path during which this dialog flows, might have a profound influence on the sport.
Penalty corners are the go-to methodology for scoring objectives and drag-flickers are sometimes celebrated as heroes of their groups. At the final two Olympics, 4 out of the top-five goalscorers have been penalty-corner specialists.
Jon Wyatt, the previous England captain who’s now FIH’s sport and improvement director, insisted the aim of their undertaking is to “start a debate and raise awareness”.
“Personally, I do think there needs to be a change but that change doesn’t have to be removing certain parts of the game,” Wyatt informed The Indian Express. “We will still have something called a penalty corner… we have to have some sort of penalty for a foul in the circle but what that looks like is the discussion.”
The security facet of penalty corners has grow to be a debate resulting from drag flicks — when an attacker, in a single movement, collects the ball simply exterior the ‘D’, drags it into the circle and flicks it in direction of one of many 4 corners of the purpose . The flicks, unleashed from a distance of roughly 14m from the purpose, can journey as much as 150kmph.
While goalkeepers put on full protecting gear, the defenders are left weak, particularly the primary participant who rushes straight in direction of the drag-flicker to dam the angle and people standing close to the purpose publish because the final line of protection.
In 2004, whereas taking part in a match towards Pakistan in New Delhi, former India captain Dilip Tirkey almost misplaced imaginative and prescient in his proper eye whereas making an attempt to cease a drag-flick from Pakistani legend Sohail Abbas, arguably the best exponent of the artwork.
Future of the Penalty Corner – Global session undertaking
We invite you to fill in a brief on-line questionnaire to seize opinions on the present penalty nook guidelines, in addition to concepts for the longer term.
Follow the hyperlink to take part: https://t.co/UpjKoOG4cZ pic.twitter.com/RYnyXBoKwF
— International Hockey Federation (@FIH_Hockey) May 6, 2022
“I suffered a hairline fracture below my right eye and even today, I experienced pain, especially during winters,” Tirkey, who was positioned close to the purpose publish, informed this paper.
The defenders are these days allowed to put on protecting gear — gloves, visors, knee pads, and so on — however the FIH stated it offers them “an unnatural sense of safety” and places themselves in harmful positions to cease the ball from going into the purpose.
In late 2020, the members of FIH’s well being and security committee analyzed 295 matches from 11 worldwide tournaments that happened in 2015 and 2016. Their analysis confirmed that penalty corners have been accountable for 13.9 per cent of the general accidents (49 out of 352), and included blows to the top.
Wyatt stated that at an elite stage, the place the strategies of attackers and defenders are superior, the numbers may be low.
“(But) we’re accountable for setting guidelines for all ranges of the sport. At the grassroots stage, the abilities aren’t that top. Maybe meaning the ball would not journey as quick however are the defenders sporting the absolute best protecting tools? Are they educated and in a position to react as rapidly as potential? Are shooters totally in command of what they do?” Wyatt stated.
The sight of gamers strolling wounded on the sector, or them simply sporting all of the protecting gear, “gives the image of hockey being a dangerous sport, detracting from parents wanting their children to start playing”, the FIH famous.
And at the same time as the protection facets of the penalty corners have been being examined, the conversion price on the Tokyo Olympics final 12 months additional pressured them to rethink the foundations.
“The amount of protection that is now allowed for defenders to wear means at Tokyo, most teams were sending two runners directly at the flicker, thus blocking half of the goal while the goalkeeper had to just take care of the other half or maybe two- thirds of the goal,” Wyatt stated. “That resulted in fewer goals scored from penalty corners. So, the penalty of giving a penalty corner was reduced.”
From lowering the variety of defenders to proscribing the peak of the drag-flicks to the extent of the backboard, the FIH has acquired plenty of strategies to make the set-piece safer. Wyatt stated he hopes to check out new guidelines in leagues and lower-level tournaments subsequent 12 months earlier than implementing them post-Paris Olympics.
But given how essential penalty corners are to groups and gamers, he’s conscious that any choice the FIH takes will generate extra debate. “We are not going to please everybody,” he stated. “But we have to put safety at the heart of the decisions we make.”
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With inputs from TheIndianEXPRESS
