Rules are constantly evolving in order to improve the sport through aspects such as;
making the game more exciting for players and spectators or by reducing risk of injury,
which aims to make the sport safer for all. In 2015 the International Hockey Federation
introduced a long corner rule change in order to open up play and provide more
attacking opportunities. The purpose of this study is to identify how the long corner
rule change has impacted elements of field hockey, through the use of performance
analysis. The 2014 and 2016 Men’s Champions Trophy tournaments were analysed, in
which 276 long corners (under the old rule) and 146 long corners (under the new rule)
were reported. Time taken to engage the long corner, passing sequence length (short or
long), area of circle entry and outcome were analysed. Results suggest that time to
engage the long corner was significantly increased (p = 0.001), which could lead to a
decrease in open play time and lower spectator enjoyment. A significant difference was
seen in the area of circle entry (p< 0.05), with the most common area shifting from the
right/middle to the left/middle (L/M: 23% in the old rule and 44% in the new rule).
Other performance variables such as number of passes (p > 0.05), and outcome (p >
0.05) remained similar post rule change. Therefore, the results suggest that the
International Hockey Federation did not achieve their aim of increasing attacking
opportunities, alternatively the rule change caused unforeseen alterations regarding the
strategies of circle entry area and increasing the time taken to engage in the long corner.
Future considerations should include looking at impacts over a few seasons to
determine whether these changes are long-term or short-term, and if the same
alterations are found at grassroots level.