 The 1876 rules stated that " no goals shall be allowed if the ball be hit from a distance of more than 15 yards ( 14 m ) from the nearest goalpost " . A visible " striking circle " with " radius of 15 yards " was codified in 1886 . The radius of the circle was increased to 16 yards ( 15 m ) in 1951 for men 's hockey and 1968 for women 's hockey . Any free @-@ hit within 5 m of the circle must be taken back to 5 m from the circle ; a broken circle 5 m from the penalty circle denotes this location and became mandatory in 2000 . 
