KEY POINTS:
Hayden Shaw plans to strike while the iron is hot in China - fearing his hockey armoury is destined to be spiked.
The Black Sticks' set-piece goalscorer is perfecting his drag-flick skills in Auckland for the Beijing Olympics, knowing safety issues may prompt the sport to look closely at penalty corners.
Shaw has more than a century of goals in 73 tests - most starting with a searing 120km/h flick from the top of the circle. Having been on the receiving end of a rival's drag flick, the defender accepted the International Hockey Federation (FIH) may have to depower the designated hitter.
"There will come a stage when they have to change the penalty-corner rule. We're starting to flick the ball too hard up high," he said. "It used to be your first shot had to always hit the backboard.
"I think that should be the rule even though I'm the drag flicker. At times it's getting quite dangerous," he said, blaming new technology. "There's a bit of an issue in Europe at the moment with a bendy stick that adidas have brought out.
"It enables a not-so-proficient technique to still be able to flick the ball hard. The ball rolls up and it slings off. We used them at Athens [2004 Olympics] but they [FIH] banned them because people were flicking them too hard. Adidas have found a way to somehow bring it back in.
"It doesn't sound that quick [120km/h] over a cricket pitch, but I'm dragging the ball close to 2m in - the keeper's coming and the players are charging."
Technology aside, the modern-day player is also better conditioned, while biomechanists break down techniques to maximise velocity.
Shaw was struck above an eye when playing Australia last year; he didn't even see the ball. Wisely, he was wearing a protective mask.
"I almost owe my life to them.
"The drag flick split it. I was on the right side of the goal, it was missing and it just cracked me. I've been lucky, I don't go back there any more."
Before masks were considered a necessity, Shaw survived another near-miss during the Athens 2004 qualifying campaign when another Australian shot cannoned off a post, narrowly missing a temple.
When penalty corners are whistled nowadays, the defensive side dons not just masks but a cricket box, cricket gloves, an extra pair of shin pads - even knee pads.
Former Black Sticks men's coach Kevin Towns, who represented New Zealand in the 1970s, agreed penalty corners may require an overhaul.
"There is a distinct possibility that you might no longer be able to flick high. They can force them to flick below 18 inches."
Until then, Shaw and the men responsible for injecting and trapping the ball are working hard on perfecting their roles.
- NZPA
