In addition to soccer, handball enjoys great popularity in Germany. After the footballers’ summer fairy tale narrowly failed in 2006, the handballers made the winter fairy tale come true in 2007 by winning the Handball World Cup. “If not now, when?” was the motto of the boys around national coach Heiner Brand – and with the victory, the team gained cult status. But handball is not only popular with boys and men – the team sport is also highly popular with women.
Women’s sport handball?
After all, handball was originally conceived as a women’s sport – as an antithesis to the “tough men’s sport” of soccer. In 1915, the head gymnastics coach Max Heiser had designed the girls’ game “Torball” for this purpose. In doing so, he drew on the first rules that the Dane Holger Nielsen had written down in 1906, when a game in which a ball was thrown into a goal first developed from various predecessor games, some of which were already known in ancient times. In 1919, two years after the game was renamed “handball”, the gymnastics teacher Carl Schelenz gave the game its present form as a physical sport, although at that time it was still called field handball. It was not until the Scandinavians that the development of handball into a primarily indoor sport was pushed forward due to adverse weather conditions.
Tactics count in handball
Each handball team consists of a goalkeeper and six field players. Handball fans appreciate the strategic play. In fact, tactics play a big role in handball. The rulebook is extensive and the game is fast:
- Since the player is only allowed to hold the ball in his hand for three seconds except when dribbling, quick action, concentration and teamwork are required.
- Because handball is played at great speed and with a lot of physical effort, it trains especially endurance, attention, strength and fitness.
- After dribbling, a player may run a maximum of three steps, then he must pass the ball or throw on goal.
- When throwing at goal, the circle in front of the handball goal may not be entered.
- As a penalty or even in the event of a draw after two extra periods, the seven-meter throw is practiced.
Handball at the Olympics, European Championships and World Cup
Handball is relatively unknown outside Europe – and it is not one of the most popular sports in the UK and the Benelux countries either. In Eastern, Northern and Southern Europe, on the other hand, interest is undiminished: TV broadcasts handball live and records high viewer numbers at major tournaments. Handball Germany can look back on a long tradition: the first World Handball Championship was held in Berlin in 1938, and the German team came out on top in both field and indoor handball. Two years earlier, the German field team had already won the Olympic Games. After the first German handball championship was held in 1948 and the German Handball Federation (DHB) was founded the following year, the German national team soon gained a prominent position in Europe. The men’s as well as the women’s selection regularly participate in World Handball Championship and European Handball Championship tournaments and compete just as frequently in the Olympic Games. Nationally, the Men’s Handball Bundesliga was established in 1966, and the Women’s Handball Bundesliga was introduced in 1975.
Prevention from injuries in handball
Handball involves a lot of duels, which makes this sport classified as very physical. Injuries or aching limbs are often not left out. Problems in the shoulder and injuries to the knee or ankle are particularly common. The following measures can help to avoid injuries in handball:
- According to a study by the University of Kiel, women in particular have a greater risk of injury to the cruciate ligament when playing handball (for example: cruciate ligament rupture), which should be taken into account during warm-up training.
- Very important to prevent injuries in handball is the strengthening of muscular joint control, especially the functional stabilization of the knee joint.
- Exercises for movement control, body center of gravity and the correct foot position must also not be missing in handball training.
Health tips for handball players
In general, the risk of injury is greater for inexperienced players. Torn ligaments can easily occur in the heat of the moment.Therefore, even a handball beginner should not do without the right equipment such as knee pads and especially the right shoes. To avoid overuse injuries, every handball player should slowly increase his training and playing workload. Here, too, the following applies: If you have any complaints, stop training and consult a doctor. Otherwise, many injuries can become chronic, as even professional players know. At major and important handball tournaments, the media therefore sometimes criticize the fact that many players have to resort to painkillers such as Diclofenac in order to cope with the high workload in handball.
