Field Hockey Penalty Shootout Interpreter

A field hockey shoot-out is five attempts a side, eight seconds each, from the 23-metre line. It can end before all ten are taken. Enter the score and the attempts taken and this says whether it is already decided.

Last updated 12 Oct 2026

Is the shoot-out decided yet

Shoot-out state

Shoot-outs scored by Team ASuccessful shoot-outs, not goals. A shoot-out decides a drawn match and does not change the score, so these never reach goals for and against and never reach goal difference.

Shoot-outs taken by Team AAttempts taken so far, out of five in the first series. Each is complete when a goal is scored, when 8 seconds have elapsed since the starting signal, or on one of the other events listed in Article 12(g).

Shoot-outs scored by Team BAs for Team A. Five named players take the first series and, if a second series is needed, Article 20(a) says it is taken by the same five players.

Shoot-outs taken by Team BThe two teams take theirs alternately under Article 11, so this can never differ from Team A’s count by more than one. The page refuses a pair that could not have arisen.

Team A has wonExample

Team A 3 scored from 4 taken, Team B 1 scored from 4 taken

The FIH shoot-out, outdoor and indoor

Two documents from the same governing body, and they differ on both the number of takers and the clock. Do not carry an outdoor figure into an indoor match or the reverse. This page implements the outdoor procedure only.
	Outdoor	Indoor
Players in the first series	Five a side	Three a side
Time limit per attempt	8 seconds from the starting signal	6 seconds from the starting signal
Where the attempt starts	Ball on the 23-metre line nearest the goal, opposite its centre	Set by the indoor regulations, which are a separate document
If still level	A second series of five, with the same players	Further series of three
Can it end early?	Yes — Article 14 when a team leads by more than the other has left, and Article 20(d) once both have taken the same number	The indoor regulations carry their own equivalents
Where it is written	General Tournament Regulations, 26 May 2025, Appendix 12 Articles 11, 12, 14, 20 and 21	Tournament Regulations — Indoor, August 2024, Appendix 8 Articles 11, 12 and 19

When a shoot-out is already over

Row four is the one worth reading twice, because it is where the natural mistake shows. Team A leads by 2 with only one attempt of its own left, which looks final — and is not, because Article 14 compares the lead with the TRAILING team’s remaining attempts, and Team B has two. Count the wrong side’s attempts and you stop a shoot-out that still has a result in it. Every state in this table is what the calculator above returns for those inputs.
Team A	Team B	State
3 scored of 4 taken	1 scored of 4 taken	Decided. A leads by 2 and B has 1 attempt left
3 scored of 4 taken	2 scored of 4 taken	Live. A leads by 1 and B has 1 attempt left — exactly enough to level
2 scored of 3 taken	0 scored of 3 taken	Live. A leads by 2 and B has 2 attempts left
2 scored of 4 taken	0 scored of 3 taken	Live. A leads by 2 and B has 2 attempts left — exactly enough, so B must convert both
4 scored of 5 taken	4 scored of 5 taken	Level after five each. A second series of five follows
5 scored of 5 taken	4 scored of 5 taken	Decided. A has won

Five a side, eight seconds, and an early finish

This page is about field hockey, the eleven-a-side game played on a turf pitch and governed by the International Hockey Federation (FIH). It is not about ice hockey, whose rules, periods and statistical definitions are different and are set by the IIHF and by individual leagues.

A field hockey shoot-out is not a penalty stroke and is not a penalty shootout in the football sense. Appendix 12 of the FIH General Tournament Regulations sets it out: five players from each team take a shoot-out alternately, ten in all in the first series, each starting with the ball on the 23-metre line nearest the goal, opposite its centre. The attacker has 8 seconds from the starting signal to score, running at the goalkeeper with the ball rather than striking from a spot. If the scores are level after five each, Article 20(a) provides for a second series of five taken by the same players, and Article 21 for further series after that with the teams alternating who starts.

The arithmetic worth having a page for is when it stops. A shoot-out does not always run to ten attempts. Article 14 ends it as soon as one team leads by more goals than the other team has shoot-outs remaining, and Article 20(d) ends it once both teams have taken the same number and one of them is ahead. The comparison that matters is the leader’s margin against the TRAILING team’s remaining attempts, and that is precisely the thing a scorer gets backwards under pressure. Three scored from four taken against one scored from four taken is over: the lead of two exceeds the single attempt the trailing side has left. Three from four against two from four is not over, because the lead of one is exactly what one remaining attempt can erase.

None of it touches the score. The match was a draw and stays a draw; shoot-out conversions are not goals and never reach goals for, goals against or goal difference. What the shoot-out can change is the table, and only in a competition whose own regulations say so. The FIH’s General Tournament Regulations award no shoot-out bonus in pool play at all — Appendix 3 Article 1 is three points for a win, one for a draw, none for a loss — while the FIH Pro League and the Hockey India League pay two points to a shoot-out winner and one to its loser. The league points page works both schemes and shows a real table changing order between them.

Indoor hockey is a different procedure and this page does not implement it: the FIH’s indoor tournament regulations give three players a side with 6 seconds each, and further series of three. Do not carry an outdoor number indoors. For which clock ran out to produce the draw in the first place, the match format page lists the periods for each FIH format, and for what happens at the other end of the pitch when play is live, the penalty corner page covers the set piece that produces a large share of the goals a shoot-out is there in place of.

Frequently asked questions

How many shoot-outs does each team take in field hockey?

Five in the first series, taken alternately — ten in all — under Article 11 of Appendix 12 of the FIH General Tournament Regulations. If the scores are level after that, Article 20(a) provides for a second series of five taken by the same players, and Article 21 for further series, with the teams alternating who starts each one.

How long does a player have to take a shoot-out?

8 seconds from the starting signal, under Article 12(g)(i) of Appendix 12. The attempt also ends earlier if a goal is scored or on one of the other events the article lists. The ball starts on the 23-metre line nearest the goal, opposite its centre, and the attacker carries it at the goalkeeper rather than striking from a spot. Indoor hockey allows 6 seconds and three takers a side instead.

Can a shoot-out end before all five attempts are taken?

Yes. Article 14 ends it as soon as one team is ahead by more goals than the other team has shoot-outs left to take, and Article 20(d) ends it once both teams have taken the same number and one is ahead. The remaining attempts are not taken. The comparison is always the leader’s margin against the TRAILING team’s remaining attempts, which is the part that is easy to get backwards.

Do shoot-out goals count in the match score?

No. A shoot-out decides a drawn match and does not alter the score, so shoot-out conversions never reach goals for, goals against or goal difference. That matters because goal difference is the FIH’s second tie-break for a league table, and it would be odd to settle it with a procedure that is not hockey.

Is a shoot-out the same as a penalty stroke?

No. A penalty stroke is a push, flick or scoop from the spot 6.40 metres from the inner edge of the goal-line, awarded during play for a defensive offence in the circle, and a goal from it counts in the score as a penalty stroke goal. A shoot-out is a one-on-one run from the 23-metre line taken after the match to settle a tie, and it scores nothing.

Is a shoot-out win worth a league point?

It depends on the competition, and the FIH’s own answer is no. Appendix 3 Article 1 of its General Tournament Regulations awards three points for a win, one for a draw and none for a loss, with no shoot-out bonus in pool play — a shoot-out appears there only as a last-resort tie-break between tied teams. The FIH Pro League and the Hockey India League do pay a bonus: two points to the shoot-out winner and one to its loser.

Related calculators

References

International Hockey Federation. General Tournament Regulations for Outdoor Competitions, 26 May 2025. Appendix 1 Article 2, Appendix 3 Articles 1 and 2, Appendix 12 Articles 11, 12, 14, 20 and 21.
International Hockey Federation. Tournament Regulations — Indoor, August 2024. Appendix 1 Regulation 2, Appendix 3 clause 1, Appendix 8 Articles 11, 12 and 19.
International Hockey Federation. Rules of Hockey, effective from 1 March 2026. Lausanne: FIH; 2026. Rule 1 and Field Specifications, Rule 5.1, Rule 12.3, Rules 13.3, 13.5 and 13.6, Rule 14.
International Hockey Federation. General Tournament Regulations, October 2023. Appendix 1 Regulation 2a, Appendix 3 Article 1. Read as a second edition so the points scheme does not rest on a single document.
England Hockey. “FIH Hockey Pro League explained.” Three points for a win in regular time; after a drawn match a shoot-out awards two points to the winner and one to the loser.
Hockey India League. Master Pool standings, 2025–26 season, as published in the Hockey India results system (hockeyindia.altiusrt.com, competition 180), showing Wins, Wins (SO), Losses (SO) and Losses as separate columns.