Introduction
In addition to good technique, player personality and tactical elements, fitness is one of the cornerstones of athletic performance in handball. The condition is characterized by endurance, strength, speed and mobility. The latter two can also be partly attributed to coordination.
Furthermore, the condition often occurs in a mixed form. A sprinter needs a speed endurance to keep the loss of speed to a minimum. Rowers, for example, need strength endurance to produce an effective stroke as long as possible.
The individual conditional abilities are again hierarchically structured. You can find out more about this topic under Condition. The handball specific conditioning training is based on the stress normative of the handball game.
What many handball coaches always propagate, that solid endurance serves as a basic skill for handball, is simply wrong. This exclusively justifies the monotonous endurance training in handball training. Endurance is considered to be the fatigue resistance of the musculature under stress.
Although handball is played for 60 minutes, the endurance ability plays a subordinate role, as it is not a pure endurance load over this period. Speed endurance also plays no role at all, since the playing field is much too short. The endurance can only be justified by the fact that the regeneration after general sporting loads is faster and can be arranged more intensive within the training.
Nevertheless, a monotonous endurance run is not part of handball training. Targeted strength training can be used in handball as a preventive and rehabilitative measure against muscular imbalances. The back muscles in particular suffer from one-sided strain from throwing.
A well developed leg musculature has a stabilising effect on the joints. Strength training for technique optimization must be specific to the sport. Throws with different balls to generate different accelerations of the arm.
From a handball specific point of view, the main focus of strength training is maximum strength training and explosive strength training, and reactive strength training (low jumps) to improve jumps. However, explosive strength and reactive strength should only be used in measured quantities. Speed is by far the most important conditional skill in handball.
The game of handball is also characterized by sprinting over a distance of about 25m and less. During these strains, energy is usually generated by creatine phosphates (KrP) and anaerobic alactacid energy supply by glucose. Exactly these fast (counter-) movements determine the conditional requirement profile of the game.
The loads should always be linked to the requirements of the game of handball. Coaches and trainers should make sure that the stresses are conveyed in the form of play. The motivation is the main focus here.
