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Abstract
The aim of the study was to compare the activity pattern, heart rate (HR), technical involvement, and subjective perceptions in U13 boys and girls playing team handball in five game formats. Activity pattern, heart rate (HR), technical involvement, perceived fun, and exertion were recorded from four girls teams (n = 24) and four boys teams (n = 24) played during a 1-day tournament consisting of five different game formats of 15-min duration: Medium court size, 4v4 (M4v4), 5v5 (M5v5), and 6v6 (M6v6), and large court size, 5v5 (L5v5) and 6v6 (L6v6). Girls covered more total distance (TD) and high-speed running (HSR, 13–17.9 km·h−1) on the large court compared to the medium court (p < 0.05; ES = 2.1–3.1 and 1.2–2.5, respectively). Boys covered more distance as HSR and sprinting on the large court compared to the medium court, but only more TD on the large court compared to the medium court with the same number of players, (p < 0.05; ES = 1.0–1.8, 1.0–1.8, and 1.1–1.8, respectively). Team handball for U13 boys and girls is a high-intensity activity irrespective of court size. Increasing the court size with a fixed number of players increased the total distance and HSR, whereas manipulating the number of players on a fixed court size appears to influence technical involvement.
Highlights
Team handball is a physically demanding, high-intensity team sport with a high number of anaerobic actions, such as sprinting, jumping, shooting, and tackling
The boys covered significantly more total distance (TD) in L5v5 compared to M4v4 and M5v5
Significantly more distance was covered by high speed running (HSR) and sprinting in L5v5 and L6v6 compared to M4v4
Summary
Team handball is a physically demanding, high-intensity team sport with a high number of anaerobic actions, such as sprinting, jumping, shooting, and tackling. These actions are repeated multiple times throughout the game interspersed by low to moderate intense activities, adding a considerable aerobic component to the game. One previous study in adults investigated the matter of court dimensions in team handball, which indicated that changing the court dimensions affected perceived exertion and activity pattern and HR on the players, but no studies of this type were found in children or adolescents [3]. The use of small-sided games (SSG) is extensively investigated in other sports and the results reveal that the training type has large beneficial effects on VO2 max, agility, and repeated sprint ability and moderate beneficial effect on 10- and 20-m sprint performance, jump height, and intermittent endurance [7]
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