Field Hockey Shooting Circle Area Calculator

The field hockey shooting circle is not a semicircle. It is two arcs centred on the goal-posts joined by a straight line, and treating it as a semicircle loses the rectangle between the posts — 53.55 m², or 13.74% of the real area.

Last updated 12 Oct 2026

Shooting circle area and perimeter

Exact geometry

Arc radius, in metres14.63 m under the FIH Rules of Hockey. The Rules do not print a radius: the Field Specifications place the straight line 14.63 m from the back-line and centre the arcs on the inner front corners of the goal-posts, and the radius follows from that. 14.63 m is 16 yards to the millimetre, which is where the figure comes from — a glossary that says 16 METRES has converted the unit and not the number.

Straight line between the arcs, in metres3.66 m in the FIH Field Specifications, which is also the distance between the inner edges of the goal-posts — the line runs from one arc to the other parallel to the back-line, so its length is the goal width. Set this to 0 and the shape collapses to a true semicircle, which is the comparison the page is built around.

389.75m²Example

FIH dimensions: arc radius 14.63 m, straight line 3.66 m

Formula

Area = w × r + π r² ÷ 2 Circle line length = π r + w

r: the radius of each arc, 14.63 m under the FIH Rules of Hockey effective 1 March 2026. The arcs are centred on the inner front corners of the goal-posts, so a point 14.63 m straight out from a post sits on the circle
w: the length of the straight line joining the two arcs, 3.66 m in the FIH Field Specifications, running parallel to the back-line at a distance of r. It equals the inner distance between the goal-posts because the arcs are centred on them
w × r: the rectangle between the posts, from the back-line out to the straight line. At FIH dimensions it is 53.55 m², and it is the whole of the difference between the real circle and a semicircle
π r² ÷ 2: the two quarter-circles. Two quarters of a disc of radius r make exactly half of it, so the curved part of the real shape has the same area as the semicircle it is mistaken for — the error is never in the arcs, only in the strip they are pushed apart by
why π and not an approximation: the shape is exact and the engine on this page has π to full double precision, so there is no reason to round the geometry. 14.63² × π ÷ 2 = 336.2084 m² and the published 16-yard figure carries through without loss
not the perimeter of the area: the figure given is the length of the painted line — two quarter arcs plus the straight segment. The boundary of the ENCLOSED REGION also runs along the back-line between the two arc ends, a further 2r + w metres, which is not painted as part of the circle

Worked example

FIH dimensions: arc radius 14.63 m, straight line 3.66 m
Two quarter-circles = π × 14.63² ÷ 2 = 336.21 m²
Rectangle between the posts = 3.66 × 14.63 = 53.55 m²
Area = 336.21 + 53.55 = 389.75 m²
A semicircle of radius 14.63 m is 336.21 m², which understates the real circle by 53.55 m² — 13.74% of its real area. On a 91.40 × 55.00 m pitch that is about 1.1% of the whole playing surface, mislaid twice over
Circle line = π × 14.63 + 3.66 = 45.96 + 3.66 = 49.62 m of paint per circle
Set the straight line to 0 and the area becomes 336.21 m² exactly — the semicircle. That is the test of the formula: it must reduce to the wrong answer only when you remove the thing that makes the shape right
Swap the two inputs by mistake — 3.66 m radius, 14.63 m straight line — and the answer is 74.59 m², nowhere near 389.75, so a transposition cannot pass unnoticed

FIH pitch dimensions, as printed in the text of the Rules

Every figure here appeared in the TEXT of the FIH Rules of Hockey effective 1 March 2026, not in a diagram — the Rules say the diagrams are not drawn to scale, and a dimension read off a drawing is not a dimension. Note the two penalty spot figures: they are not a contradiction, because the goal-line is 75 mm wide and 6.40 + 0.075 = 6.475. The arc radius is the one figure the Rules never state as a number; it follows from the 14.63 m distance and the arcs being centred on the posts.
Measurement	FIH figure	Where it is stated
Field length	91.40 m	Rule 1.1
Field width	55.00 m	Rule 1.1
23-metre line, from the back-line	22.90 m	Rule 1.5
Distance between the inner edges of the goal-posts	3.66 m	Field Specifications 1.5d
Height to the underside of the crossbar	2.14 m	Field Specifications 1.5d
Straight line of the circle, from the back-line	14.63 m	Field Specifications 1.4a
Length of that straight line	3.66 m	Field Specifications 1.4a
Penalty spot, from the inner edge of the goal-line	6.40 m	Rule 1.7
Penalty spot, from the outer edge of the goal-line	6.475 m	Field Specifications 1.3(i)

The semicircle error, at a few radii

The percentage column is the shortfall as a share of the REAL area, not of the semicircle; taken of the semicircle instead the first row reads 15.93%. All of these are this calculator’s own arithmetic, with the straight line held at the FIH’s 3.66 m except in the second row. The error shrinks as the radius grows, because the rectangle grows with r while the arcs grow with r² — so the semicircle approximation is at its worst on the smallest circles, which is the opposite of the intuition that a bigger shape hides a bigger mistake.
Arc radius	Real area	Semicircle	Shortfall	Shortfall, % of real area
14.63 m (FIH outdoor)	389.75 m²	336.21 m²	53.55 m²	13.74%
14.63 m, with a 2.00 m goal	365.47 m²	336.21 m²	29.26 m²	8.01%
9.00 m	160.17 m²	127.23 m²	32.94 m²	20.57%
20.00 m	701.52 m²	628.32 m²	73.20 m²	10.43%

Two quarter-circles and a straight line

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.

The shooting circle is not a semicircle. The FIH Field Specifications describe two arcs centred on the inner front corners of the goal-posts, joined by a straight line 3.66 metres long lying 14.63 metres from the back-line, so the enclosed shape is a semicircle plus the rectangle between the posts. Because the arcs are centred on the posts rather than on the centre of the goal, the shape is wider than a semicircle by exactly the distance between the posts, along the whole of its depth. The enclosed area is therefore the semicircle plus a 3.66 × 14.63 m rectangle: 336.21 m² of arc and 53.55 m² of rectangle, 389.75 m² in all.

That 53.55 m² is 13.74% of the circle, and it is the error anyone makes by reaching for πr²/2. It is not a rounding difference and it is not in an obscure corner of the shape — it is a 3.66 m wide strip running the full depth of the circle, straight down the middle, in front of goal. A commercial field hockey statistics glossary read while writing this page describes the circle as “semicircular” with a “16-meter radius”, which is wrong twice: the shape is not a semicircle, and the 16 is yards. 16 yards is 14.6304 m, so the metre version inflates the radius by 1.37 m and the area by about 71 m² on top of the semicircle error.

The FIH Rules do not state a radius anywhere in their text. Rule 1 says only that the circles are marked inside the field around the goals; the numbers are in the Field Specifications, which give the straight line as 3.66 m long and 14.63 m from the back-line and centre the arcs on the inner front corners of the goal-posts. The radius follows from that geometry and from nothing else, which is why this page takes the radius and the straight line as two separate inputs: get either wrong and the answer moves, and swapping them gives 74.59 m² rather than 389.75 m², a difference nobody could mistake for a rounding error.

The one figure worth stating carefully is the perimeter. The painted line — two quarter arcs and the straight segment — is πr + w, which is 49.62 m per circle. The boundary of the enclosed region is longer, because it also runs along the back-line between the ends of the two arcs, a further 2r + w metres. The calculator gives the painted length, because that is the one a groundsman and a rules reader both mean by “the circle”. Scoring in open play is only possible after an attacker has touched the ball inside this area, and a penalty corner is struck from the back-line inside it — see the penalty corner page for what happens next.

Frequently asked questions

What is the area of a field hockey shooting circle?

389.75 m² at FIH dimensions. It is two quarter-circles of 14.63 m radius, 336.21 m² between them, plus the 3.66 × 14.63 m rectangle between the goal-posts, 53.55 m². A semicircle of the same radius is 336.21 m², so treating the circle as a semicircle loses 53.55 m² — 13.74% of the circle’s real area.

Is the shooting circle a semicircle?

No. The FIH Field Specifications describe two arcs centred on the inner front corners of the goal-posts, joined by a straight line 3.66 m long lying 14.63 m from the back-line. Because the arc centres are 3.66 m apart rather than at a single point, the shape is a semicircle stretched by that distance — which is why it is sometimes called the D, and why its area is 15.93% larger than a semicircle’s. Those are two readings of the same 53.55 m²: it is 13.74% of the circle’s own area and 15.93% of the semicircle’s, and which one is meant depends on what the percentage is taken of.

Why 14.63 metres and not 15?

Because it is 16 yards, metricated and rounded. 16 yards is 14.6304 m and the FIH states 14.63 m. The same origin shows in the other odd-looking figures: 12 feet is 3.6576 m and the FIH states a 3.66 m goal; 100 × 60 yards is 91.44 × 54.864 m and the FIH states a 91.40 × 55.00 m pitch, so the width was rounded up by about 14 cm. Those metric figures are the FIH’s own and are what the Rules measure; the yard values are their origin, not an alternative specification. A source that gives the radius as 16 METRES has changed the unit and kept the number, inflating the radius by 1.37 m.

How much paint does a shooting circle need?

49.62 m of line per circle: π × 14.63 = 45.96 m of arc plus the 3.66 m straight segment. That is the painted circle only. The boundary of the area it encloses is longer, because it also runs along the back-line between the two arc ends, a further 2 × 14.63 + 3.66 = 32.92 m, which is already painted as the back-line.

Does the circle size differ indoors or in Hockey5s?

Those are different games with their own rules documents, and the FIH publishes separate Rules of Indoor Hockey and Rules of Hockey5s. The 14.63 m figure quoted here is from the outdoor Rules of Hockey effective 1 March 2026 and should not be carried across — if you need the indoor or Hockey5s circle, read it out of the relevant rules document and enter it above, which is what the inputs are for.

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References

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.
Rookie Me. Stats Glossary — Field Hockey. A commercial statistics platform, not a governing body. Defines “shot on goal” and “shot on target” as different events, and describes the shooting circle as semicircular with a 16-metre radius.
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. Tournament Regulations — Hockey5s, June 2023. Appendix 1 Regulation 2(a), Appendix 3 clause 1.