That said, the society of teachers opposed to corporal punishment did complain (sensibly, I think) that although schools and education boards sometimes had rules about how many times a child could be hit, very few had rules about how hard a child could be hit.
Most schools probably had a tradition or a rule about the cane’s target; there would be no need to write “on the hand” if all canings were on the hand or if hand canings were the only kind allowed. And I think in the olden days teachers might have been reticent about writing the word “bottom” or “behind” in a formal book! Although I am sure I have seen copies of books which say “two on hand”, “one on each hand” “six on seat”.