The relationship between effectiveness and throwing velocity in a handball match

Abstract

The relationship between throwing velocity and performance is an important question in handball, but has received little research attention in competitive scenarios. The aim of the present study was to analyse the relationship between throwing velocity and player effectiveness during a match. We analysed the throws of 69 players, recording the ball velocity of 1007 goal-scoring shots. Based on their effectiveness, the players were divided into three groups: Group 1 (G1): 40% to 49.9% effectiveness; Group 2 (G2), 50% to 59.9% effectiveness; and Group 3 (G3) ≥ 60% effectiveness. No significant differences were observed between G1 and G2, but G3 presented significantly lower velocities (21.14 ± 4.97 vs 23.40 ± 6.19, p<0.001; and vs 22.41 ± 7.19, p<0.05) than G1 and G2, respectively. We also found an inverse relationship between effectiveness and throwing velocity (r=-0.48; p< 0.001), whereby faster throws reduced players’ effectiveness in competitive scenarios. All previous studies on throwing in handball have been conducted in non-competitive contexts; however, contrary to the results obtained in training contexts, we found an inverse relationship between effectiveness and high throwing velocity in competitive scenarios.