Men and women are treated differently in Olympic competition. In Sydney, 12 teams will battle for the men's title and ten for the women's. For the men, teams are divided into two pools for the preliminary rounds. The best two teams from each pool advance to the semi-finals. The winners then meet in the final, while the losers of the semi-finals play for the bronze medal. For the women, the preliminary rounds also consist of two pools but thereafter the best three teams from each pool go into a medal round in which all six teams must play the other five in a type of league situation. The two best teams to emerge then play for the gold and silver medals while the next two play for the bronze.

Teams consist of 11 players who play two halves of 35 minutes. The ball must only be hit with the wooden stick, although the goalkeeper can defend with any part of his body as long as he does not stray out of the goal circle or lie on the ball. Goals can only be scored from inside the goal circle and all games are controlled by two referees, each covering half of a pitch that is 100 yards long and 60 yards wide. Goals circles are marked by a semi-circular line running just under 15 metres from the goal, which is 12ft wide and 7ft high.

A toss of the coin decides which team will choose which end they would like to start at (the winner of the toss) and which team will take the centre pass to begin the game (the loser of the toss). The team change ends at half-time, with the team that won the original toss of the coin taking the centre pass. As in football, a centre pass recommences play after a goal has been scored. If the ball is hit over the sideline or backline, a player from the rival team restarts play in the way that play resumes in football after a foul, the hockey player hitting the ball to a team-mate.

Where neither team is at fault for a halt in play then a "bully" is played. A bully looks odd; two players from rival teams face each other with the ball in the middle, they beat the ground with their sticks three times and then try to be the first one to hit the ball to one of their team-mates, who must be at least five metres away. The umpire chooses the spot on which the bully will be played though it must be some 15 metres (beyond the farthest reach into the field of the goal circle) from the backline.

If a defending player unintentionally hits the ball over his or her backline, a long corner is awarded to the rival team, to be taken from the backline about five metres from the corner flag. However, if the action was deemed to be intentional, then a penalty corner is awarded in which a shot at goal is much more likely; the attacking player takes a free hit from the backline from within the goal circle, about nine metres from the goalpost. Five defending players and the goalkeeper are allowed behind the backline. A penalty stroke is given when a defensive player commits an offence within the goal circle. The penalty is taken from a spot 6.4 metres from the goal.