What can I do to start playing field hockey?

I've never played field hockey in my life before but it seems like a lot of fun because my friend was trying to teach me one day. I want to be able to control the ball well. What can I do in order to have the skills I need over the summer? Workouts and drills would be perfect.





Extra info: I've been playing softball basically all my life and have pretty good speed.|||I use to play field hockey in high school.To me it's the best sport ever.You have to run your a-- off ! You need lots of speed and conditioning.It's not like ice hockey where you have skates to move fast.You use you legs to run back and forth for two hours.My gym teacher use to say that "if any of you pansies get injured or pass out,you'll lay on the sideline until the games over!" She liked having a winning team! I always wanted to coach a team where I'm from as I never heard of any teams where I live now.Field hockey was primarily a Catholic school sport where I used to live.Try to get on the web and look for supplies and get together some of you friends and learn.Once again,it's the greastest sport and one of the least dangerous.|||Go to camps if you can afford it or find one that is still open for newcomers.





Or just practice everyday. Leave your right palm open to get the feel of controlling the stick with your left and then when you feel comfortable, return gripping the stick.





Hit the ball against a wall and try stopping it. You can't control a ball if you can't stop it.





Just move around obstacles while pushing and dribbling the ball to get used to the movement of the stick's turns and the control of it.





I'm not a field player so that's all I can suggest. Hope this helps some.|||If you look on "youtube" you can find some good practice drills. Just put field hockey in the search and see what pops up.|||Well, I started playing field hockey 2 years back, and I just love the sport! I think its great that you like the sport, but it's going to take a lot of hard work to get the necessary skills. You said you have godo speed from softball, but you may want to freshen up and build stamina. Field Hockey is all running. Next try to focus on learning how to dribble the ball. You can get videos from Youtube or just about any field hockey website. I don't know if you have bought a stick yet, but my advice is to buy a composite stick. These are a tad bit more expensive but are light weight and easier to hit with. When you practice hitting, get in front of a wall and work on getting a hard accurate swing. Align your left foot with your target and swing to about your waist. Make sure you follow through! Hitting for me is by far the most difficult, but there are tons of videos to learn from. Once you decide what position you'd be most interested to play in, work on those specific skills. I, as a forward need to focus on dribbling. Mid fielders on stopping and delivering the ball, and defense on hitting and stopping opposing attacks. I hope Field Hockey works out for you just as much as it did for me!