ORIGINAL ARTICLE  BODY COMPOSITION, NUTRITION 

The Journal of Sports Medicine and Physical Fitness 2017 November;57(11):1471-8

DOI: 10.23736/S0022-4707.16.06413-6

Copyright © 2016 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA

language: English

Anthropometric and physical performance characteristics of professional handball players: influence of playing position

René SCHWESIG ¹, Souhail HERMASSI ² ✉, Georg FIESELER ³, Lars IRLENBUSCH ¹, Frank NOACK ⁴, Karl-Stefan DELANK ¹, Roy J. SHEPHARD ⁵, Mohamed-Souhaiel CHELLY ²

¹ Department of Orthopedic and Trauma Surgery, Martin Luther University, Halle-Wittenberg, Germany; ² Unit of Research (UR17JS01) “Sport Performance, Health and Society”, Higher Institute of Sport and Physical Education, Ksar Saîd, University of “La Manouba”, Tunis, Tunisia; ³ Center for Orthopedic Surgery (ZOC), Muenden, Germany; ⁴ Department of Medicine I, Martin Luther University, Halle-Wittenberg, Germany; ⁵ Faculty of Kinesiology and Physical Education, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada

BACKGROUND: The aims of the study were to examine the anthropometric and physical performance characteristics of professional handball players classified by playing position.
METHODS: Twenty-one competitors (age: 25.2±5.1 years) were categorized as backs, pivots, wings or goalkeepers. Measures included anthropometrics (body height and mass), scores on the Yo-Yo Intermittent Recovery Test (total distance covered, TD), repeated-sprint ability (6 repetitions of 2x15-m shuttle sprints with recording of best time for a single trial, RSAbest) and performance on a complex handball test (HBKT) of throw slap (TS) and throw jump (TJ) with and without precision.
RESULTS: The anthropometric data revealed a significantly lower body height for wings and pivots than for goalkeepers. Wings, pivots and goalkeepers were significantly shorter than backs, but had a similar BMI. The TD was greater for the wings (2.400 m) than for backs (1.832 m) and pivots (2.067m). Wings also achieved a better RSAbest (5.41 s) than backs (5.68 s) or pivots (5.82 s). Body height was significantly related to throw slap (TS) and jump (JT) (r=0.53, P<0.01; r=0.51, P<0.01 respectively). No significant difference (P=0.675; η2=0.009) was seen between JT with precision and JT without precision.
CONCLUSIONS: Substantial differences of body build and physical performance between playing positions underline the importance of a careful assignment of such positions and the development of position-specific training for professional handball players by modifying both intermittent aerobic and anaerobic endurance components of training sessions.

KEY WORDS: Athletic performance - Sports - Exercise test