The aims of the present study were to identify (i) home advantage in elite handball according to the quality of opponent, (ii) the game periods where the teams score more goals, and (iii) the game statistics associated with the teams' success according to the game's location. The sample comprised 480 regular season games (2007-2009) from the Spanish Professional Handball League. The goals scored and shot effectiveness (6 m, 7 m, 9 m and fast breaks) were analyzed for each 5-min. game period in games between players of balanced and unbalanced quality. The home advantage was 64%, with higher values (71%) in balanced and lower values (55%) in unbalanced games. The 5-min. game periods in which teams scored more goals were the last 5-min. period of each half, especially in the second half. The effectiveness was only different in shots closer to the goal (6 m), which supports the territoriality theory of home advantage.

Introduction: Chronic low back pain (LBP) is characterized by daily lower back pain lasting more than three consecutive months. It may lead to functional disability and can be treated by several physical therapy techniques, including therapeutic exercise. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of pilates and classical kinesiotherapy on the treatment of pain and functional disability in patients with chronic low back pain. Materials and methods: The study sample consisted of five patients with a diagnosis of chronic low back pain and a mean age of 32.4 ± 15.6 years. A Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) was used for pain assessment, and the Oswestry Disability Index was used to assess functional disability at the beginning and at the end of the intervention. Patients were divided into two groups and received 20 individual sessions of therapeutic exercise at a frequency of two sessions per week. Group A was treated with classical kinesiotherapy and group B was treated with pilates exercises. Statistical analysis was performed using Wilcoxon's test. The significance level was set at 5%. Results: There was a significant reduction in pain (p = 043) and functional disability (p = 042) in both groups. We found no significant differences between the effects of pilates and classical kinesiotherapy on pain and functional disability. Conclusions: We conclude that, in the population

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