Video analysis of acute injuries and referee decisions during the 24th Men's Handball World Championship 2015 in Qatar

Abstract

Although handball is a contact sport with a high risk of acute match injuries, their mechanisms have not yet been investigated. We aimed to describe the mechanisms of acute match injuries in elite male handball and evaluate referee performance in injury situations. Based on injury surveillance from the 24th Men's Handball World Championship 2015 in Qatar, injury situations and the referee decisions were identified on video footage. A total of 55 injury situations and 37 referee decisions were included for analysis. The injury situations were analyzed individually by five handball experts, followed by a consensus meeting. An expert referee panel performed individual blinded evaluation of the referee decisions, followed by an online consensus meeting. Injuries were evenly distributed among attackers (n = 29) and defenders (n = 26). The most frequent injury cause was contact trauma due to a tackle (n = 27). At the time of injury, attackers were most frequently performing a jump shot (n = 9), while defenders were completing a tackle (n = 10). Defenders most commonly tackled the throwing arm (n = 7) or toward the head/face region (n = 6) of injured attackers, while attackers most frequently hit injured defenders with the knee during jump shots (n = 5). Agreement between the referees and the expert panel was weak (kappa: 0.22, 95% CI 0.07 to 0.36), with substantially more lenient rule interpretation by the referees. Our results suggest that stricter refereeing and rule amendments should be considered to prevent acute match injuries in elite handball, especially in relation to tackling episodes when an attacker is performing a jump shot.

Age, player position and 2 min suspensions were associated with match injuries during the 2017 Men’s Handball World Championship (France)

“…Previous studies, in other sports32 33 as well as in handball29 have suggested that stricter rule enforcement should be seriously considered in order to reduce the rate of injuries; however, we do not know how realistic it is for players to modify their playing style. Indeed, reducing aggressive play could result in an impaired performance.…”

“…This finding is consistent with previous studies showing that more injuries occur while attacking than defending in the central positions of the field,1 28 29 meaning that players who participate more actively in goal-scoring attempts are at greater risk 1 18. In addition, based on systematic video analysis of injuries occurring during the 2015 Handball World Championship, Andersson et al 29 observed that the match referees were too lenient in their rule interpretation and suggested that stricter application of the rules (and potentially modifying some rules) could reduce the risk of acute match injuries, especially when an attacker performing a jump shot is tackled.…”

Prevalence of sports-related injuries in paralympic judo: An exploratory study

“…An implementable prevention strategy could be to allow matches continue into newasa more easily, to avoid excessive time spent in tachi waza. In some sports, for example handball, 26 video analysis has been used to better understand injury mechanisms. Injury situations identified on video footage together with injury surveillance and referee decisions would allow us to better understand injury mechanisms in Paralympic judo, and is therefore recommended.…”

Analysis and generalization of competitive activity results of handball clubs in the game development aspect

“…The game continues with fast breaks against the rearrangement of protection, which is an important strategic element in the modern handball. Specialists in foreign handball target their players to improve the tactical principles and strategy of the offensive game against unorganized protection, to adhere to special technical requirements for fast play, such as different variants of knowing and handing over the ball with one hand in all game situations [6,[47][48][49]. The throws of the ball into the goal are the culmination of the attacking action of the handball players, so their training is crucial.…”