Field hockey and indoor hockey are close cousins \u2014 but anyone who has played both knows they are two different worlds. Different surface, different pace, different rules and \u2014 most importantly for us \u2014 different equipment. In this post we explain how the two formats differ and how to put together a kit that will serve you well both on the pitch and in the hall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Outdoor field hockey is played on artificial turf roughly the size of a football pitch \u2014 91.4 \u00d7 55 m, with 11-a-side teams. Indoor hockey takes place in a hall of about 36\u201344 \u00d7 18\u201322 m, with 6-a-side teams and the characteristic side boards the ball can rebound off, much like in ice hockey. The result? Indoor is faster, tighter and more technical \u2014 there is no time to trap the ball and think.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The most common beginner mistake: playing indoors with an outdoor stick. An indoor stick is lighter and slimmer<\/strong> \u2014 it usually weighs 480\u2013560 g (an outdoor stick can exceed 700 g), with a thinner profile and less bow. That makes it easier to keep the ball flat on the floor and play quick push passes. The construction differs too: sticks with a higher fibreglass content work brilliantly indoors, giving better ball feel on pushes \u2014 full carbon is built for powerful hits, which you will not be using indoors anyway.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you are just starting your hockey journey, have a look at our guide on how to choose your first stick<\/a> \u2014 the length-selection rules are the same for both formats, and our size guide will help too<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n An indoor ball is lighter than an outdoor one and usually smooth (without the characteristic dimples). Shinguards are useful in both formats \u2014 indoors, with tight play and the boards, they are an absolute must. The biggest difference is footwear: for artificial turf choose turf shoes with a fine-studded sole, and for the hall \u2014 indoor shoes with a light, non-marking sole and good lateral stability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In Poland (and most of Europe) the indoor season runs through winter \u2014 roughly from November to February \u2014 when the weather does not favour outdoor pitches. In spring and autumn the game moves back onto the turf. That is why most players and clubs effectively need two sets of equipment: an outdoor one for the main season and an indoor one for winter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In our store every product is marked as outdoor, indoor or universal. At the top of the page you will find the Outdoor (turf) \/ Indoor (hall) \/ Everything<\/strong> switch \u2014 one click filters the whole range for the format you play, with no digging through products you do not need. Visit the shop<\/a> and see for yourself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Not sure which stick or which shoes to pick for the start of the indoor season? Drop us a line \u2014 we will help you decide before you spend your money.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3833,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[449],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3831","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-poradniki"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fieldhockeyzone.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3831","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fieldhockeyzone.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fieldhockeyzone.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fieldhockeyzone.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fieldhockeyzone.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3831"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/fieldhockeyzone.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3831\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3832,"href":"https:\/\/fieldhockeyzone.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3831\/revisions\/3832"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fieldhockeyzone.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3833"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fieldhockeyzone.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3831"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fieldhockeyzone.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3831"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fieldhockeyzone.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3831"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Ball, protection and shoes<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
When is indoor hockey played?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
One account, two worlds \u2014 how to shop at FHZ<\/h2>\n\n\n\n