🥅 Floorball, explained
Indoor hockey with lightweight sticks and a 23-gram perforated ball — huge in the Nordics, easy to start, fast as futsal.
What am I watching?
Floorball is hockey stripped to its essentials: five field players and a goalkeeper per side on an indoor court enclosed by low boards, playing a feather-light plastic ball with holes in it, using short carbon-fibre sticks. There is no skating, no heavy padding and no legal body checking, so what you watch is pure stick skill and movement at sprint pace — the game plays like a cross between ice hockey and futsal. The goalkeeper is the sport's most distinctive sight: goalies have no stick at all, playing low on their knees and smothering shots with their body and hands.
The game is governed by the International Floorball Federation (IFF) and played over three 20-minute periods, with hockey-style rolling line changes keeping fresh legs on court constantly. Because the ball weighs about 23 grams, it moves absurdly fast off the blade — elite drag shots and one-timers arrive quicker than the eye tracks — and the low boards keep it in play, so the action rarely stops. There is no offside and no icing: teams flow end to end, and the tactical texture comes from pressing schemes, set plays off free-hits, and line matchups.
Watch the special-teams battle: penalties (2 or 5 minutes in the box) create power plays just like ice hockey, and a trailing team will pull its goalkeeper for a sixth field player late in the game. The sport's superpowers are Sweden, Finland, Switzerland and the Czech Republic — a Sweden-Finland World Championship final is one of the best-kept secrets in team sport, played in packed arenas with basketball-level shot counts and highlight-reel 'zorro' trick goals.
How scoring works
A goal — worth one — is scored when the ball fully crosses the goal line into the 160 x 115 cm goal cage, played legally with a stick. Goals do not count if the ball is deliberately kicked in, played in with the hand or head, scored by an attacker standing in the goal crease, or scored in breach of the stick-height rules. Deflections off a defender count; a defender putting the ball into their own net is a goal regardless of how it happened.
Most goals come from open play — quick passing triangles, drives from the wings, screens and tip-ins in front of the goalie — plus set plays from free-hits near the goal, which teams rehearse like football free kicks. Penalties create power plays, and power-play conversion is a major separator at elite level. If a defending team commits a foul that denies a clear scoring chance, the referee awards a penalty shot: a one-on-one run-up from centre against the goalkeeper.
The team with more goals after three 20-minute periods wins. League formats vary, but knockout and championship matches that end level typically go to sudden-death overtime and then a penalty-shot competition, with five shooters a side and sudden death after that.
- 1 point per goal; the ball must fully cross the line into the 160 x 115 cm cage.
- Goals cannot be scored deliberately with the foot, hand or head — stick only.
- Attackers may not score while standing in the goal crease.
- Matches are three 20-minute periods with hockey-style rolling substitutions.
- Penalties (2 or 5 minutes) create power plays, a major scoring source at elite level.
- A denied clear scoring chance brings a penalty shot: one-on-one from centre against the goalie.
- No offside and no icing — play flows end to end.
- Tied knockout games go to sudden-death overtime, then a penalty-shot shootout.
Formats
5v5 (IFF standard)
Small-sided / street floorball
Wheelchair and Special Olympics floorball
The rules
The rink and equipment
Floorball is played indoors on a 40 x 20 m court enclosed by 50 cm-high rounded boards that keep the ball in play, with goal cages measuring 160 cm wide by 115 cm high. The ball is the sport's signature: hollow plastic, about 72 mm across and roughly 23 grams, with 26 holes — so light that shots reach extreme speeds yet sting rather than injure. Sticks are short, ultralight carbon-composite shafts with a curved plastic blade; only certified sticks are allowed, and blade hooks beyond the permitted curve draw penalties. Players wear ordinary indoor sports kit — no helmets, gloves or body padding for field players.
Why the light ball changes everything
A 23-gram ball accelerates instantly and swerves off the blade, so floorball rewards release speed and deception over raw strength. It also makes the game safe enough to play barefaced, which is a big reason it spread through Nordic schools into a major arena sport.
Teams, periods and substitutions
Each side plays five field players plus a goalkeeper, from a matchday squad large enough to run multiple full lines. A match is three periods of 20 minutes, with the clock stopped at interruptions in elite competition. Substitutions are unlimited and made on the fly through the team's bench zone, ice-hockey style — whole lines change at once every minute or so, keeping intensity near-maximal. Each team may take one 30-second timeout per match.
The goalkeeper
The floorball goalkeeper is unique in hockey-family sports: no stick at all. Goalies play low on their knees in a butterfly-like stance, wearing a helmet, padded trousers and jersey, and stop the ball with any part of the body. Inside the goalkeeper area they may catch and hold the ball briefly, then distribute with a throw — but a throw-out must touch the floor before crossing the halfway line, preventing full-court launches. Outside their area, a goalkeeper is treated as a field player without a stick, so goalies rarely wander.
Crease and goalkeeper area
Two painted rectangles sit in front of each goal: the larger goalkeeper area where the goalie may handle the ball, and the small goal crease directly in front of the cage, which field players must stay out of. Attackers who screen from inside the crease have their goals disallowed.
Playing the ball: what field players may and may not do
The ball is played with the stick, and the stick may not be raised above waist height in a backswing or follow-through, nor used to play the ball above knee height. Field players may stop the ball with the chest and control it with the foot, but may not play it with the hand, arm or head, may not kick it to score, and may not play the ball while lying or with both a hand and knee on the floor (beyond incidental contact). Jumping to play the ball is not allowed — one foot must stay on the floor when receiving a high ball. These constraints keep the game low, fast and stick-centred.
Contact and fouls
Floorball is a limited-contact sport: shoulder-to-shoulder pressure when competing for the ball is fine, but body checking, pushing opponents into the boards, holding, and tripping are fouls. Most illegal play involves the stick — hitting, blocking, lifting or hooking an opponent's stick all give away a free-hit and, when forceful or dangerous, a penalty. This is the core cultural difference from ice hockey: you win the ball by intercepting, angling and out-skating, not by hitting people.
Restarts: face-offs, hit-ins and free-hits
Play starts each period, and restarts after goals, with a face-off at the centre spot — two opponents with blades either side of the ball, contesting it on the whistle; face-offs after other stoppages are taken at the nearest dot. When the ball flies over the boards, the opposing team of whoever touched it last restarts with a hit-in from the boards. Fouls give the non-offending team a free-hit from the spot of the offence, with opponents 3 m away; free-hits near the goal are rehearsed set plays, floorball's equivalent of football free kicks around the box. There is no offside and no icing — the whole court is always live.
Penalties and power plays
Penalties mirror ice hockey. A 2-minute bench penalty (for offences like stick fouls, illegal blocking, or delaying the game) puts the offender in the penalty box and their team a player down, and it ends early if the opposing team scores during it. A 5-minute bench penalty punishes violent or repeated offences and does not end on a goal. Personal 10-minute penalties (misconduct) sit on top of a bench penalty served by a teammate, and match penalties eject a player entirely. Referees also play advantage with delayed penalties, and a foul that denies an obvious goal-scoring chance brings a penalty shot.
Power play and box play
The shorthanded team collapses into a compact box or diamond ('box play') and clears at every chance — with no icing rule to punish them — while the power-play unit circulates the ball looking for a one-timer. Special-teams efficiency decides tight elite matches, exactly as in ice hockey.
Winning the game: overtime and penalty shots
If a match that requires a winner is level after 60 minutes, it goes to sudden-death overtime, and to a penalty-shot competition if still unresolved — five shooters a side, then sudden-death rounds. A floorball penalty shot is a moving one-on-one: the shooter starts from centre and drives at the stickless goalkeeper, with the ball required to keep moving forward, producing feints and 'zorro'-style finishes. Trailing teams in regulation routinely pull their goalkeeper for a sixth field player in the final minutes.
The floorball world
Floorball grew out of 1970s Sweden (where it is called innebandy) and is governed by the International Floorball Federation (IFF), with World Championships held in a two-year cycle — men's and women's tournaments alternating years — and a place in the World Games. Sweden, Finland, Switzerland and the Czech Republic are the traditional big four, and the top club leagues are Sweden's Superligan and Finland's F-liiga, with Champions Cup competition between league winners. The sport's cheap equipment and gym-hall footprint have carried it worldwide — including India, where a national federation fields teams in international competition and the school-friendly format suits existing indoor courts.
Glossary — 32 terms
Stats decoded
| Stat | Unit | What it tells you |
|---|---|---|
| Goals | goals | Goals scored. Floorball is high-scoring — elite matches commonly produce 8-12 total goals — so top forwards accumulate big season tallies, and multi-goal games are routine for stars. |
| Assists | assists | Credited to the last teammate whose pass led to a goal. Playmaking centres in the Swedish and Finnish top leagues can out-assist their goal totals substantially. |
| Points | pts | Goals plus assists, the standard offensive production measure borrowed from ice hockey. A point-per-game rate is a strong benchmark at top-league level. |
| Shots on goal | shots | Attempts requiring a save or scoring. Floorball's light ball and quick release produce basketball-level shot counts, so shot share is a good proxy for territorial control. |
| Shooting percentage | % | Goals divided by shots on goal. Because goalies are stickless and nets are small, elite shooters convert at healthy double-digit rates; unusually high figures usually reflect shot selection close to the crease. |
| Save percentage | % | Saves divided by shots faced by the goalkeeper. The headline goaltending stat: facing high volumes at close range, elite floorball goalies sustaining percentages in the high 70s to 80s are match-winners. |
| Goals against average | goals/match | Average goals a goalkeeper or team concedes per match. Team-context-dependent — a strong box play and disciplined defence flatter it — so read it alongside save percentage. |
| Plus-minus | +/- | On-court goal differential at even strength for a player, positive when their line outscores opponents. A rough two-way indicator, best compared within a team rather than across teams. |
| Penalty minutes | min | Accumulated bench-penalty time. Every 2-minute penalty gifts a power play in a sport where special teams convert well, so discipline is directly worth goals. |
| Power-play % | % | Share of power plays converted into goals. With a stickless goalie and small crease, elite power plays are efficient, and the PP-versus-box-play battle decides most tight championship games. |
| Face-off win % | % | Share of face-offs won by a centre or team. First possession after goals and stoppages matters in a game this fast; face-off specialists are valued on both special-teams units. |
Quick answers
What is floorball and how is it different from hockey?
Floorball is indoor hockey played on foot with ultralight carbon sticks and a 23-gram plastic ball with holes in it, five field players plus a goalkeeper per side, on a 40 x 20 m court enclosed by low boards. Unlike ice hockey there is no skating, no body checking, no heavy padding — and the goalkeeper has no stick, playing low on the knees and stopping shots with the body. Unlike field hockey, both faces of the stick may be used, goals can be scored from anywhere, and play runs hockey-style with line changes, a penalty box and power plays.
How does scoring work in floorball?
One point per goal, scored by putting the ball into the 160 x 115 cm cage with the stick. Goals are disallowed if the ball is deliberately kicked, handled or headed in, or if an attacker is standing in the goal crease in front of the cage. The team with more goals after three 20-minute periods wins; knockout games that finish level go to sudden-death overtime and then a penalty-shot shootout.
Why do floorball goalkeepers not have sticks?
The rules define the goalkeeper as a player without a stick who may use the whole body — hands included, within the goalkeeper area — to stop the ball. Playing low on the knees in a butterfly-style stance covers the small 115 cm-high cage far better than standing, and the featherweight ball makes barehanded saves safe. It creates floorball's most distinctive duel: shooters aiming for tiny gaps over the shoulders of a kneeling, spread goalie.
What are the penalties in floorball?
They mirror ice hockey. The standard sanction is a 2-minute bench penalty — for stick fouls like hitting, hooking or lifting an opponent's stick, illegal blocking, or delaying the game — during which the team plays shorthanded and the opponent has a power play. Violent or dangerous offences bring 5-minute penalties, misconduct adds a personal 10-minute penalty, and the worst offences bring a match penalty (ejection). A foul that denies a clear scoring chance gives the attacking team a penalty shot from centre.
Is there offside or icing in floorball?
No — neither exists. Attackers may position themselves anywhere, long clearances are never penalized, and the whole court is live at all times, which is a big part of why the game flows so continuously. Structure comes instead from pressing schemes and zone defences, and shorthanded teams exploit the absence of icing by clearing the ball the full length of the court without consequence.
How long is a floorball match?
Three periods of 20 minutes, with the clock stopped at interruptions in elite competition and intermissions between periods — so a top-level match runs roughly 90 minutes to two hours in real time. Substitutions are unlimited and made on the fly in whole-line shifts of about a minute, and each team may take one 30-second timeout. Matches needing a winner add sudden-death overtime and, if necessary, penalty shots.
Which countries are best at floorball?
Sweden is the sport's superpower, with Finland its great rival — their World Championship finals are the fixture of the sport — and Switzerland and the Czech Republic complete the traditional big four. Floorball was born in 1970s Sweden (as innebandy), and the strongest club leagues are Sweden's Superligan and Finland's F-liiga. The IFF now has member federations across every continent, with Asia-Pacific growth led by countries like Singapore, Thailand, Japan and Australia — and India fields teams through its national federation.
What equipment do you need to play floorball?
Remarkably little — a certified stick (light carbon shaft with a plastic blade), the perforated plastic ball, indoor shoes and ordinary sports kit; field players wear no helmets or padding, though eye protection is common at junior level. Goalkeepers wear a helmet, padded trousers and jersey, and use no stick. Full-size goals and rink boards complete a proper court, but the school version needs nothing more than mini-goals in a gym hall — the low cost is precisely why the sport spread so fast.
What is a zorro goal in floorball?
A trick finish where the player scoops the ball onto the blade, carries it airborne stuck to the stick, and whips it into the net — often wrapping around from behind the goal, lacrosse-style. It is legal only within the normal rules: the stick must stay below the height limits, the shooter must stay out of the crease, and referees disallow attempts that involve dangerous high sticks. Because those constraints are tight, clean zorro goals are rare and reliably go viral — the sport's signature highlight.