Player's Guide to England Hockey Indoor Hockey All Ages 2026/27

You can't hit it. FIH Rules of Indoor Hockey Rule 9.5: players must not hit the ball. Free pushes, centre passes and restarts are all taken with a push, and the ball may only be raised for a shot at goal.

The other basic stick rules are the same as outdoors:

• You must not play the ball with the back of the stick.
• Field players must not stop, kick, propel, pick up, throw or carry the ball with any part of the body. Contact with the foot, hand or body is only an offence if you gain an advantage or positioned yourself to stop the ball that way. A ball touching the hand holding the stick isn't an offence if it would otherwise have hit the stick.
• You must not play the ball dangerously. Playing it deliberately and hard into an opponent's stick, feet or hands when they're set, or deliberately trying to play through a close defender, is dangerous play.

Only for a shot at goal. Under the FIH Rules of Indoor Hockey:

• Rule 9.9: you must not raise the ball off the floor except for a shot at goal. It isn't an offence if the ball rises unintentionally by less than 100 mm, unless an opponent is within playing distance.
• Rule 9.10: you must not play the ball while it's in the air, although stopping it is allowed in some situations. Under the 2023 edition, only a player from the team that didn't raise the ball may stop it, except after a legitimate shot that rebounds off the goalkeeper, a defender or the goal. The 2027 edition (effective internationally from 1 November 2026) allows any player to stop it, including pressing it down with the flat of the stick. It also makes clear that a goal only counts if the ball was on the ground at the attacker's last touch.
• Dangerous play (Rule 9.8): a ball that causes legitimate evasive action by an opponent is dangerous and is penalised.

No. Under the FIH Rules of Indoor Hockey (Rule 9.7), you must not play the ball with any part of your stick when it's above shoulder height.

The exception is for defenders, who may use the stick to stop or deflect a shot at goal at any height:

• A defender who stops or deflects a shot above the shoulder isn't penalised just because the stick is moving towards the ball.
• If the defender genuinely hits the ball and that prevents a goal, a penalty stroke is awarded.
• If the shot would have missed the goal, any use of the stick above the shoulder is penalised with a penalty corner.
• If dangerous play follows a legitimate stop or deflection, a penalty corner is awarded.

Side-boards run along the two long sides of an indoor pitch, and the ball can be played off them. Under the FIH Rules of Indoor Hockey:

• Trapping: you must not trap or hold the ball against the side-boards.
• Cornering a player: opponents must not trap a player in possession in a corner or against the boards with their sticks flat on the floor. They must leave a reasonable outlet for the ball.
• Accidental traps: if the ball gets unintentionally trapped against the boards, or between players' sticks, play restarts with a bully. Repeatedly trapping or holding the ball against the boards is treated as intentional and penalised.
• Into the circle: from an attacking free push, the ball may enter the circle off the side-boards once it has travelled at least 3 m.
• Out of play: the ball is out when it goes over the side-boards.

Pitch size: the recommended indoor pitch is 44 m x 22 m. Competition regulations can allow a smaller one, down to a minimum of 36 m x 18 m.

Indoors, a free push replaces the outdoor free hit, and the distance is 3 metres instead of 5. Under the FIH Rules of Indoor Hockey (Rule 13.2), which also covers centre passes and restarts after the ball goes out:

• The ball must be stationary and moved with a push.
• Opponents must be at least 3 m from the ball. An opponent inside 3 m must not interfere or try to play the ball.
• For an attacking free push in the half you're attacking, all players other than the taker must be at least 3 m away.
• Self-pass: the taker may play the ball again themselves.
• Into the circle: from an attacking free push in your attacking half, the ball must not enter the circle until it has travelled at least 3 m (not necessarily in one direction) or been touched by a defender. It may also go into the circle off the side-boards, provided it has travelled 3 m before rebounding.
• On a self-pass, you can play the ball as many times as you like, but it must travel 3 m before you push it into the circle.
• Free push within 3 m of the circle, taken immediately: defenders inside the circle within 3 m may shadow the self-passing player around the inside of the circle, but may not play the ball or interfere until it has travelled 3 m or been touched by a defender. If it isn't taken immediately, everyone else must first be 3 m away.

Under the FIH Rules of Indoor Hockey:

Tackling

• You must not tackle unless you're in a position to play the ball without body contact.
• Sliding tackles and other overly physical challenges that take an opponent to the ground, and could cause injury, should attract match and personal penalties.
• You must not touch, handle or interfere with other players, their sticks or their clothing.

Obstruction: you obstruct if you:

• back into an opponent;
• physically interfere with an opponent's stick or body;
• shield the ball from a legitimate tackle with your stick or any part of your body;
• run in front of or block an opponent to stop them playing the ball (third-party or shadow obstruction). This includes attackers blocking defenders or the goalkeeper at a penalty corner.

A stationary player receiving the ball may face any direction. A player with the ball may move off in any direction, except bodily into an opponent or into a position between the ball and an opponent who is within playing distance and trying to play it.

Also: no lifting your stick over other players' heads, and no playing the ball while lying on the floor or with a knee, arm or hand (other than the stick hand) on the floor.

Under the FIH Rules of Indoor Hockey (Rule 10):

• A goalkeeper in protective kit must not take part in the match outside the half of the field they are defending, except to take a penalty stroke.
• Protective headgear must be worn at all times, except when taking a penalty stroke.
• Inside their own circle, a goalkeeper may stop or deflect the ball with stick, feet, kickers, legs, leg guards or other parts of the body, and may push the ball away with the body as part of a goal-saving action. They must not do this forcefully enough to send the ball a long way, and must not use their protective equipment to play dangerously.
• Outside their circle, a goalkeeper may only play the ball with the stick.
• Goalkeepers must not lie on the ball.

The rules on raising the ball and on not hitting it apply to goalkeepers as well as field players.

Under the FIH Rules of Indoor Hockey (Rule 14.1), a player may be:

• cautioned (spoken words);
• given a green card: temporarily suspended for 1 minute of playing time;
• given a yellow card: a longer temporary suspension;
• given a red card: permanently suspended from the match.

Your team plays one player short for the length of every green or yellow card suspension, and for the rest of the match after a red card.

The 2027 FIH indoor edition (effective internationally from 1 November 2026) sets a yellow card at 2 or 4 minutes. It also says the same player shouldn't get two green or two yellow cards in a match; a repeat offence gets the next card up. The 2023 edition set a minimum of 2 minutes for a yellow. The exact yellow card length therefore depends on which edition your competition is using.