Formations

Formations provide structure to a hockey team on the pitch. They help players understand and share the defensive and attacking responsibilities. Although higher level teams may select from a wide range of formations, teams containing inexperienced players or teams which see frequent changes to their players are likely to select from a more limited range of formations such as 4–3–3, 5–3–2 and 4–4–2. (The numbers refer to the number of players arrayed across the pitch, starting in front of the goalkeeper with the defenders, then midfield and then attack.) The 2–3–5 formation, used predominantly in Australia from relatively lowly interschool to professional interstate competitions, provides common language for many players and helps explain why "centre half" is often a name used for a player in the centre of a defence with four or five players.

Because hockey teams have one goalkeeper plus ten outfield players as does association football (soccer), there are many common formations between the two sports. See formation (football).

One important difference in modern hockey is the absence of an offside rule. This allows attackers (often a lone attacker) to play well up the pitch, stretching the opponents' defence and using the large spaces to be found there. To counter this, defences usually keep a matching number of defenders near those attackers. This can frequently lead to formations such as 1–4–4–1 which is an adaptation of 4–4–2.

When play begins, it is common for the midfield and defensive positions to take a diagonal approach. When the ball is played on the right side of the field, the defensive players on the right side move up field. Consequently, players on the left side would stay back until the ball shifts to their side of the field. This formation allows for quicker recovery in the event of a missed play.