Floorball 4v4: Advantage, Free Hits and Penalty Time

4v4 games in which fouls have real consequences: free hits, advantage and a 1-minute penalty that creates a power play. During timeouts, teams plan how to attack with an extra player and how to defend a player down.

How to play

1. Explain the three levels of punishment: a free hit for a minor foul, advantage if the fouled team still has a clear chance, and a 1-minute penalty for a dangerous stick, hitting an opponent or repeated fouls (4 min).
2. Six teams of four plus four officials (referee and timekeeper on each court); two teams play on each court while a third rests and plans tactics (2 min).
3. Before playing, each team uses a timeout to choose its plan for 4v3 (move the ball fast, look for the back post) and 3v4 (triangle defense close to the goal) (4 min).
4. 5-minute games with rotation: the resting team comes on against the winner of the previous game; each team has one 30-second timeout (16 min).
5. Review: how many power plays each team drew, how many they converted and which fouls caused them (4 min).

Rules

• A penalized player serves the minute sitting on a bench next to the timekeeper.
• If the team on the power play scores, the penalized player returns early, as in the official rules.
• Stick below the waist and no body contact except shoulder to shoulder without pushing.
• On a free hit, defenders stand 3 m away, and in this adaptation the hit cannot go straight at goal.

Variations

Adaptations

• Limited mobility: works as timekeeper and timeout coach, or plays on a court with a protected zone around the chair.
• Hearing impairment: the timekeeper signals the end of a penalty by raising a colored pinnie.
• Autism: the team's tactical plan is drawn on a whiteboard or sheet so the student can check it.

Learning goals

• Know and apply floorball's levels of punishment.
• Plan and carry out power play and shorthanded play.
• Understand what fouls cost their own team.

Equipment for a class of 25

• floorball sticks: 28
• floorball balls: 6
• floorball goals: 4
• pinnies: 16
• stopwatch: 2
• whistle: 2
• cones: 16

Teacher tip

Teams soon find out that a careless foul costs them a goal; build on that idea in the review. With four field players and small goals, no goalie is needed.

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