Anthropometric Characteristics, Physical Fitness, and Throwing Velocity in Elite women's Handball Teams

Abstract

Saavedra, JM, Kristjánsdóttir, H, Einarsson, IÞ, Guðmundsdóttir, ML, Þorgeirsson, S, and Stefansson, A. Anthropometric characteristics, physical fitness, and throwing velocity in elite women's handball teams. J Strength Cond Res 32(8): 2294-2301, 2018-The aims of this study were (a) to analyze anthropometric, physical fitness, and throwing speed in women elite handball players of different ages and (b) to develop a multivariate model explaining handball performance from a multidimensional perspective. Eighty women handball players (18.2 ± 4.0 years in age) from national team selections participated in the study. The players belonged to A Team, under-19, under-17, and under-15 national teams. All were evaluated by basic anthropometry, physical fitness tests, and handball throwing speed. A 1-way analysis of variance was used to establish the differences between teams with a Bonferroni post hoc test. For each team, a discriminant analysis was performed to determine the predictor variables of performance. Pearson's simple correlation coefficients were calculated between each of the variables. The results of this particular study showed that (a) between the A Team and the U19 team, there were only differences in mass, countermovement jump (CMJ), medicine ball throw, and yo-yo test, (b) the A Team and U19 predictive models correctly classified 76 and 90% of the samples, respectively, with the variables involved being mass and body mass index (A Team) and 30-m sprint and 7-m throwing speed (U19 team), and (c) the 7- and 9-m throwing speeds were correlated with each other and with stature, mass, CMJ, and medicine ball throw (0.367 ≤ r ≤ 0.533; 0.001 ≤ p ≤ 0.05). These results could help improve coaches' knowledge of elite female teams, in particular, in the country where the study was conducted and in others of similar characteristics.

Preseason Clinical Shoulder Test Results and Shoulder Injury Rate in Adolescent Elite Handball Players: A Prospective Study

“…There are also few reports on ball velocities in handball throws in adolescent players. Even though one study has reported an average throwing velocity as high as 108 km/h in adolescent male players, most studies have reported that adolescent male players' throws involve a ball speed between 72-86 km/h (15)(16)(17)(18) and female players between 65-83 km/h (19,20).…”

The Relationship Between Physical Fitness Qualities and Sport-Specific Technical Skills in Female, Team-Based Ball Players: A Systematic Review

“…Of the 41 studies included in the review, only one study was interventional in design [54], with the remaining observational in nature. Research in handball [54][55][56][57][58][59][60][61][62][63][64][65][66][67][68] was the most frequently included teambased, ball sport followed by volleyball [69][70][71][72][73][74][75][76][77][78][79][80]. Other sports investigated included soccer [81][82][83][84][85][86], basketball [87][88][89][90], netball [91,92], lacrosse [93], and softball [94].…”

“…Body composition was measured in 27 (66%) of the included studies [56, 58, 60, 61, 63-67, 69, 72, 73, 75-82, 85-87, 89-92]. Nine (22%) included studies examined cardiorespiratory fitness attributes [58,61,65,68,79,81,85,88,92]. Four (10%) studies examined coordination abilities [55,56,61,71].…”

“…Reaction time was the least investigated physical fitness measure, with only two studies (5%) assessing this attribute [77,79]. Finally, 12 (29%) studies included speed measures in their analysis [56,58,61,65,68,81,84,85,[88][89][90]92]. Table 3 demonstrates the critical appraisal score for each of the included studies in the review.…”

“…Thirteen (81%) studies focused on handball throwing skills [54,55,[57][58][59][60][62][63][64][65][66][67][68], with the remaining three studies investigating softball [94], lacrosse [93], and netball [91] throwing/shooting (hand-based) technical skills, respectively. Thirteen (81%) studies examined throwing velocity [54, 57-60, 63-68, 93, 94], four (25%) studies measured throwing/shooting (hand-based) accuracy or precision [55,57,91,93], and two (13%) studies used throwing jump height to examine sport-specific technical skill [62,68].…”