Competitive profile analysis according to playing positions of female handball players during the European Championship 2020

Abstract

Handball is one of the most popular team sports and requires the correct analysis of players’ physical condition for its development, especially in women´s handball. Therefore, the aim of this study was to analyse for the first time the competitive demands of professional handball players during the EHF Championship 2020, using the innovative Local Positioning System (LPS) technology. In order to achieve this goal, 231 female players from 16 national teams were analysed during 47 matches using LPS and a specific handball analytic system developed for this purpose. Players covered more distance in the offensive phase (1205.6 ± 636.7 m) and in all locomotion categories, with the exception of high intensity running, than in the defensive phase (834.2 ± 471.5 m), with a similar average total time on court. The running pace was significantly higher in attack (56.0 ± 26.2 m/min) than in defence (39.2 ± 19.8 m/min). Regarding playing positions, wing players covered higher distances in the high intensity categories than the rest of the playing positions. It could be concluded that the training workload of elite handball players should be programmed according to specific positions.