Floorball: The Fastest Growing Team Sport

I have my friends at the Sports Connection to thank for this extremely informative article.

I love that they’ve provided a brief history for floorball, and that they go even more into the rules than other articles I’ve published here.

So thanks, Sports Connection!  And I hope my CoachChic.com friends find this enjoyable and helpful!

– Dennis Chighisola

Floorball: The Fastest Growing Team Sport

Floorball originated in the Scandinavian region in the 1970′s. Floorball is a fun,fast paced hockey game that is played on foot with lightweight sticks and a plastic ball. One of the absolute advantages of Floorball is that it is very easy to become a player. Anyone regardless of age, physical condition, or gender can grab a floorball stick and join in the fun. The object is to score a goal by directing the ball into the opposing team’s goal. This sport is growing fast and becoming very popular. Floorball is most popular in Sweden, Finland, and other European nations. It is actively played around the world in over 50 countries, including Australia, Japan, Canada, and the United States. The game is safe and fun for everyone.

It is commonly recognized that the roots of Floorball are to be found in the game of street hockey that was being played in Canada and The United States during the 1960′s and 70′s. Following the growth of the National Hockey League (NHL), street hockey developed as a cheap alternative to ice hockey for youngsters.

A Brief Introduction to Floorball

Game Area:

Floorball can be played indoors or outdoors, preferably using a rink of size 40 x 20 meters (131 x 65 ft). Height of the surrounding board is 50 cm or 20 inches. The goal is 115 cm high and 160 cm wide (45” x 63”).

Play Time:

Just like ice hockey, the game time is made up of three 20-minute periods with a 10-minute intermission between each period.

Teams:

A team is allowed 20 players on its roster. Five field players per team are allowed in the rink plus a goalie who plays without a stick. You can play without a goalie in which case the team can play with 6 field players. Each field player has a stick and attempts to pass and shoot a plastic ball which weights 23 grams and is 7 cm in diameter (2-3/4”).

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Rules:

If a field player commits one of the following infractions, a referee will award a free shot to the opposing team or remove the offending player from the rink to serve a 2-minute minor penalty:

–Holding, shoving, checking, blocking or tripping an opponent

–Hitting, blocking, lifting, pushing down or kicking an opponent’s stick

–Hitting the ball with the stick or foot above the level of the knee

–Lifting the stick above waist level

–Kicking the ball twice

–Touching the ball with the hand

–Jumping up to reach the ball

–Playing the ball with any part of the body other than feet

Equipment:

Field players have a stick which can range from 65 to 104 cm long. When buying a new floorball stick, the length is very important. The stick should reach your belly button or just a little above. If the stick is too short, you have less playing range and it adds stress to your back since you will be constantly leaning over. If the stick is too long, your stick handling will be slower and you will lose power in your shots.

When determining shaft stiffness or flex, we are referring to how much the shaft is bent when you apply force to the stick. For all floorball manufacturers, the force is standardized at 30Nm. Stiffness is measured in millimeters of bend. The less the shaft is bent for the given force, the stiffer it is. Flex range for our sticks ranges from 24 for an extra stiff stick to 36 for a soft stick.

Face, Lie and Cavity:

These refer to various blade categories. Blade face ranges from 2X to 7X and indicates the curvature of the blade from heel to toe. An open face allows you to get the ball up in the air more easily. Too much open face might lead to shooting the ball too high. Cavity is a measure of the curvature of the blade from top to bottom when held horizontally. More cavity increases the ball velocity when firing wrist shots. Less cavity improves passing ability. You can modify the face and cavity of your stick by heating the stick with a hair dryer and forming it around a solid ball. Lie is the angle between blade and shaft. With a higher angle, you play the ball closer to your body.

Not just a team sport! Pro’s all over the NHL are using floorball sticks as training aids or warm up tools to helps “soften” their hands before a game. Its a great way to SAFELY work on stick handling indoors or outdoors. Best of all, Mom and Dad’s drywall will be safe!!

Sports Connection

Scenes from the World Floorball Tournament

Although I’ve certainly enjoyed many of the videos I’ve seen on floorball, the camera work often proved distracting, as did the audio tracks (like awful music).

On the other hand, I think the following video shows this great game in all its beauty.  And wait until you see some of the skills demonstrated by the world’s top floorball players.  (Ya, I’d love every young hockey player to learn the skills and the playing principles nurtured in this relatively new sport.)

So, enjoy, and let me know (in the Comments area below) what you think…

– Dennis Chighisola

Scenes from the World Floorball Tournament

2010 FINAL FINLAND-SWEDEN 6-2

I have my good friend, Michael Borg, to thank for sending me the link to this one.  And, besides the beauty of this game, I think the following video shows the excitement of this awesome tournament…

By the way…  Just so members gain a sense of how this old coach views such things, I couldn’t help but make some mental notes as I watched the above game action.  I mean, I am already thinking about some drills I’ll run with floorball-ers.  Better yet, I suspect I’m also going to ultimately show you the way I’ll use those drill ideas with my ice hockey players.

Just a Few Reasons to Start a Floorball Program

With the help of others, I continue to study this exciting new sport.

I was fortunate to find the following video, which is an interview with an elementary school principal.

As my title suggests, it offers some valid reasons why floorball might be a better choice than floor hockey or street hockey.  However, I like some of the insight offered (between the lines) about equipment options and the way the game is played.

– Dennis Chighisola

Just a Few Reasons to Start a Floorball Program

Another Introduction to Floorball

I have our friend Michael Borg to thank for the following video.  And, as you’ll see, there’s some added information offered in this one…

– Dennis Chighisola

Another Introduction to Floorball

Simplified Floorball Rules

I just ran across this collection of floorball rules.  I have a feeling they are an over-simplified version, and that they’ve been doctored by various authors across the Internet.  That pretty much explains why I’m not sure who to attribute these to (although it does say down below that they were “prepared by the Ontario Floorball/Inihockey Federation”).

Anyway, I think they’ll prove helpful for all of us who are new to this seemingly great sport, and they just might give us a place to start if we’re considering organizing a team or a league of our own.

– Dennis Chighisola

Simplified Floorball Rules

Prepared by the Ontario Floorball/Unihockey Federation

1. Games can be played with three to five players and a goalie on the court for each team. The goalie may be substituted for an additional player if desired. For an official game, five players and a goalie for each team is required.

2. No catching ball or hands on ball, except for goalie, infraction results in a 2 min penalty.

3. No foot passes to another player, infraction results in a possession change, but players may kick the ball once onto their own stick.

4. No jumping (one foot must be on the ground when receiving the ball), infraction results in a free hit.

5. Players may not go down on two knees to make plays or block shots. Only the goalie may play from their knees, infraction results in a 2 min penalty.

6. Ball must be received on a stick below knee level, infraction results in a possession change. If contact is made with the ball above the knee, infraction results in a 2 min penalty.

7. Sticks must stay below waist level when shooting with a similar follow through allowed. Stick above waist on a shot will result in a 2 min penalty.

8. No stick checking, lifting, or slashing. A minor infraction results in a possession change, an infraction in a scoring position or repeated infraction results in a 2 min penalty.

9. No holding of stick, players, or shirt or general interference, infraction will result in a 2 min penalty.

10. No playing your stick between another player’s legs. Results in a possession change.

11. No body contact with the exception of incidental shoulder contact, infractions will result in a 2 min penalty.

12. No playing the ball with the head – infraction results in a 2 min penalty.

13. Face-offs: Face offs will be used to start the game at the beginning of each period and to re-start after each goal or if the ball is damaged. For a face-off, stick blade must be on the ground and perpendicular to centerline, feet parallel to centerline ball and the middle of the two players’ sticks. Players cannot reverse their grip or hold the stick below the face-off line. Play starts with a whistle blow.

14. Possession changes: Occurs in the situations cited above. Ball is played as a direct free shot similar to a soccer free kick, where the offending players must be 3 meters away and the ball must be shot or played to another player upon the officials whistle blow with a solid hit – not a sweeping motion.

15. Substitutions may occur at anytime.

16. Repeated infractions result in a 2 min penalty.

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Floorball Rule Clarifications

To help us all better understand floorball, I am going to ask a number of current coaches (or otherwise experienced people) to clarify each of the 16 points shown above.  So, keep checking back, as these should be added every day or so.

VICTORIA MUSSELS LAUNCH FLOORBALL CLUB

Over coming weeks and months, I sense we’re going to hear a lot of stories about how new North America-based floorball clubs are being formed.  That ought to be a really good thing, because I also sense that a lot of us readers (me included) are going to want some ideas, some advice, and some inspiration.

Thankfully, Craig Shaw has been a very active member here at CoachChic.com, adding numerous great Comments and even authoring a previous article for us.

With that, I knew that Craig was experimenting with the idea of getting a floorball program going in his area, so I asked him if he might let us know how things have gone so far.

– Dennis Chighisola

THE VICTORIA MUSSELS FLOORBALL CLUB IS LAUNCHED
By Craig Shaw

During the past year, the idea of floorball has been gradually making its way into my consciousness.

As hockey-mad young boys growing up on the balmy west coast of Canada, playing ice hockey outside was usually not an option for my friends and me.  Our parents thought that we were crazy, but we yearned for the cold, dry winters found in places like Saskatchewan.  Indoor ice was in short supply. As necessity is the mother of invention, we found other ways to play hockey any way we could: street hockey, field hockey, floor hockey, ball hockey (orange ball in a rink without the ice), basement hockey, attic mini-hockey, table hockey, kitchen hockey and roller hockey (back in 1979, there were four of us who skated for hours on our rollerblades … ordered them from a Hockey News ad … people had never seen such things)!  Some of my fondest memories of hockey are not ice hockey, but the wide-open, fast-paced games that we played that had their roots in ice hockey.  If we had floorball, I’m sure it would have been our favourite variation of our national winter game.

Flash forward thirty years: my five-year-old son is not only hockey-mad, but he is sports-mad.  During the past year, I have coached him in ice hockey, t-ball, field hockey, lacrosse and soccer.  As you can imagine, I talk to a lot of parents.  Many of these parents are hesitant to enroll their children in hockey for the usual reasons: cost, early mornings, crazy parents and injuries.  But their children adore hockey and hockey is a big part of Canadian culture….  Enter floorball.

While surfing the net looking for field hockey drills, I happened across floorball.  A local sports store owner mentioned it to me several months earlier, but I did not think much of it.  After researching floorball on Wikipedia and watching videos on the net, I became a bit of a convert without ever actually holding a floorball stick!

I decided to invite similarly sports-mad five and six-year-olds to a local gym once a week for 20 weeks to play floorball.  I had no trouble finding interested families.  Of the eleven players, six have played organized ice hockey and the others have played organized sport of one type or another.  We booked the gym, ordered the sticks and balls and named the team “The Victoria Mussels.”  Being a fan of Long Term Athlete Development, I modeled the practice sessions very similarly to the American Development Model  (www.admkids.com).  There would be no goalies as the players would shoot on mini-nets.  There would be no formal games, but plenty of informal three-on-three competitions without keeping score.  These 10-15 minute games would be inserted in between 10-15 minute skill sessions.   There are no uniforms, but I did invest in some pinnies.  The players were all asked to wear the protective glasses worn by squash players.

We have had four sessions now and the kids and parents love it!  It is fun, safe and accessible.  Even the less-athletic players love it.  The word is spreading and other players are asking to join.

I believe that the light weight of the stick and ball promotes fine motor control and ‘softer hands’ for ice hockey.  I have been playing a lot of floorball in our kitchen with our son and feel that my ice hockey puckhandling has never been better.  I played one afternoon with some university players, a few being experienced floorball players from Europe.  Not only was it a great workout and a lot of fun, but the speed at which the ball travelled from stick to stick promoted very quick decision-making and hand-eye coordination.

As someone who has been obsessed with ice hockey for three decades, I didn’t expect to find a new, arguably better, version of the game I love.  I suspect there will be many hot, sweaty nights running around after a little white high-end wiffle ball in the future!

By the way…  If you noticed Craig using a few scientific terms, it’s because his background is in the sciences — ya, he REALLY knows his stuff when it comes to motor learning and such.  It should also be helpful for you to know that he played ice hockey to a fairly high level, so it’s likely he knows which athletic traits best transfer from floorball to ice hockey.

Do you have a story about how floorball is being organized in your area?  I know we’d all love to hear it.

An Open Letter to Hockey Canada (Floorball)

Today, October 1, 2010, brings a new and exciting category to CoachChic.com.

I’d like to think that I’ve pioneered a number of truly helpful alternative hockey training methods over my 40-years in our game, beginning way back in the 1970s with some unique hockey skills training sessions, later showing all those in (at least) the New England area new concepts in Soviet style off-ice training, and still later promoting the benefits of in-line workouts.

So, sensing I know something hot and hugely beneficial when I see it, today gives me great pleasure to begin spreading the word about floorball.  And, no one could help me do that better than my good friend, Greg Beaudin.

– Dennis Chighisola

An Open Letter to the North American Hockey Community

By Greg Beaudin

Introduction

Five Years ago, I learned about Floorball from Hockey Legend Borje Salming.  At that time, I picked up a Floorball stick and felt the future of Hockey in my hands.

Some observations:
When introducing Floorball to new people, as I have done so many times, a common first reaction is to dismiss aspects of the game; The Stick is too short, The Ball is too light, The goalies have no stick?, But where is the ice? I would say a typical Canadian reaction to learning about Floorball is to pick it apart.  Maybe that’s why we are the best Hockey Nation in the World, I don’t know, we are sensitive about our brand of hockey, and so we should be.

The key points get blurted out, affordability, accessibility, easy to play, a sport for everyone, the soccer of Hockeys, all you need is a stick and ball, it’s fast, fun, and safe, no hacking and whacking, adaptable, global, an Olympic provisional sport, professional leagues in Sweden, Finland, Switzerland, The Russian Olympic Hockey team used Floorball to get ready for Vancouver, NHL stars like the Sedins, Sellanne, Gaborik, the Hossa brothers all played Floorball growing up and many still play in the Summers…blah, blah, blah….the points come out, in staccato like fashion, and the words become just that — words.

And then, we take a shot… and it rips top shelf with a flick of the wrist.  Then we stickhandle and feel, and tap, bounce and twirl, adjust, and shoot, and attempt to corral the ball, at first mostly getting air.  For Canadians, this is not the Floor Hockey stick of the past, the one we all grew up with, it’s something new, fresh, cool, hip, ergonomic, familiar yet distant — It’s a Floorball stick, a “euro thing” that permeates through the hockey communities of Sweden, Finland, Switzerland, The Czech Republic and beyond.

…there is something about a Floorball stick, a certain magic to it.

Canada does have a national federation that belongs to the International Floorball Federation, it’s called Floorball Canada.  There are Provincial organizations, leagues, Hockey Academies, Hockey Schools, Elementary Schools, Secondary Schools, Indepedent Schools, Universities, Private Clubs, Corporate sport groups.  There is a National Championship, and a few big tournaments that take place every year.

Canada is becoming a Floorball nation, and it’s happening, virtually under the radar, with no funding, no corporate support, and very little media recognition.  We need to talk about this, we must discuss why Floorball is succeeding wherever it goes, and why our Hockey Canada Skills Academy talent, AAA girls and boys, across the country, are honing their skills in school gyms and local rec centers with Floorball.

Recently, I conducted two week long Floorball Camps where parents would approach me afterwards and say that they preferred Floorball to Hockey, citing violence, the cost, and the early morning practices.  The smiles, the sweat, the drills, the games, the growth that their kids displayed just validated to them that there could be an alternative to Hockey, that is technically Hockey without the skates and the smelly bags.

Many Parents feel mixed emotions about floorball because they played Hockey growing up and it shaped them as people like nothing else could, and although they want their own kids to learn about Team, Hard work, Dedication to Sport, Canadian culture and all of the wonderful things that Hockey brought them, they see so much madness connected to the game now.  They crave the simpler times of Hockey, where it just happened without all of the big expense and the big fuss…and enter Floorball.   Floorball is going to provide tens of thousands of Canadians an opportunity to “feel” Hockey and the sensations of scoring a big time goal and making a poetic pass.

No matter how much doubt and scrutiny you throw at the stick and the sport of Floorball, as it relates to Hockey, it counters back with an explanation, a smart take, a scientific observation, and a model of proof from blossoming Hockey communities like Gothenburg, Helsinki or Zurich.

For here is a version of indoor hockey that requires minimal equipment- a stick and a ball.  It is played as a team game, it is very high tempo, high scoring, high energy, physical but safe, it’s easy to learn yet develops amazing skills.

Floorball should be in every school in Canada.  Floorball is currently being utilized as an off-ice training system for Hockey Canada Skills Academies, coast to coast.  Do your homework people, You will see!  Floorball has arrived in Canada but needs a helping hand, as Floorball is a Sport for Everyone.

I remember reading the summary from the last Hockey Summit in 1999, and am happy to see the 11 recommendations come forward in a real way to develop Hockey players and enrich the Hockey experience.

I have personally witnessed thousands of smiles of bewilderment, as Young Canadians, New Canadians, Old Canadians, Disabled Canadians, pick up a Floorball stick for the first time.  At first play, the ball is bouncing everywhere and you can see the power shift from the hockey players to the newbies. from the hack and whackers to the runners and the thinkers….it’s a mind shift that provides agility and skill to the Hockey player that already has the strength and force, and it’s empowering to an athlete who has never skated, and now can “snipe” one from 30 feet at 90km+/hr.

Floorball is an exhilarating game.  It speaks to everyone.  It enhances skills in a Young Hockey player and it brings skilled players into Hockey.

Canada has the infrastructure, the will and the desire to breed Hockey talent like no other nation.  You will see Floorball as a solution at every school, rec center, sport club, minor hockey program, skills development center, high-performance academy, Olympic training program, and corporate fitness programs.     Floorball is an important component of the Player Development matrix. It is also a potential gateway sport to assist many Hockey enthusiasts who are a bit hesitant to enter the world of Hockey participation.  I have had many discussions with families that are using Floorball to hedge their bets that their children will one day wish to play Ice Hockey.  So, by developing Hockey Smarts and Skills through Floorball, a young player can join-in on Ice Hockey years down the road, if the interest and/or passion is brimming.

Yes, Floorball is a global sport and it is used by Professsional Hockey players to maintain fitness and enhance skills.  At the Top level, Floorball is vying for a permanent spot in the Summer Olympics.  Universities dole out scholarships, and there is even opportunity for elite players to advance to Professional levels.  However, this is not why I write this letter to you…

This letter is a call to action, it’s to initiate discussion about Floorball and other types of off-ice Hockey.  As a nation, it’s like we are still skiing on wooden skis, when other countries have switched over to high tech parabolic ones or playing Tennis with “Bjorn Borg woodies” whilst there are oversized carbon graphite ones.

Author Profile:

Greg Beaudin is the founder of Modern Hockey, a forward thinking Hockey company with deep roots in Ice Hockey and Floorball.  Modern Hockey has worked with dozens of Hockey Canada Skills Academies to develop their Floorball cross-training programs.  Greg is the son of the “Original Jet” Norm Beaudin, and grew up in a household where Finnish, Swedish and Swiss Hockey was always highly respected.  Like the Oilers of the ‘eighties, Greg’s hockey philosophies were also shaped by the formidable International elements of the Winnipeg Jets of the seventies.  It is this base knowledge that brings Modern Hockey to Floorball and why the push is on to grow Floorball in Canada.

To visit Greg’s site:  ModernHockey.com

Oh, and just in case you’re wondering if floorball could help some of your hockey play (and your overall athleticism), take a look…