Abstract
In the last decades, observational methodology has been widely used in scientific research in sport, namely in the study of team games like handball, due to its characteristics. Handball, in addition to being a collective, complex, dynamic, and interactive sport, has its own characteristics and demands a performance analysis that takes into account the context and interaction between different factors and variables. The present study analyzes how the different numerical relations in an attack can change the center back’s patterns of tactical behavior. Observational methodology and a mixed ad hoc instrument combining field format and category systems appropriately validated by experts were used. Data were taken from 20 matches involving teams classified in the first four places in the 2017 Men’s World Championship. These were recorded from TV broadcasts, and the total number of offensive sequences carried out in an organized attack game method (n = 990) was analyzed. In each of the sequences carried out in an organized attack, the numerical relation in attack or defense was observed and recorded. In addition to this, it was verified whether the attacking team maintained or replaced the goalkeeper by a field player in the attack. Both sequential analysis techniques with lags, prospective, and retrospective, as well as polar coordinate analysis, were used. Results have shown that there are different behavioral patterns of the center back in the three different situations of numerical relation. Another element that stood out was that in numerical equality with the defense and no goalkeeper at the goal, the center back opted for greater security and less risk of loss of the ball.
Highlights
Team sports entail complexity, opposition, and cooperation
The data were transferred to HOISAN to be analyzed by polar coordinate analysis. This analytical technique enables the reduction of the amount of information and helps build a vector map that combines the prospective and retrospective perspectives. It aids in the perception of the interrelations between the variables of the observation instrument, and it is being used much more in studies in handball and other team sports (Silva, 2008, unpublished; Rodriguez and Anguera, 2014; Sousa et al, 2015)
The aim of this study is to analyze the behavior of the center back in the organized attack and in the different numerical relationships in which his team chooses to play with or without a goalkeeper, which is called empty goal and entails replacing him with a field player as permitted by the current rules
Summary
They involve continuous interaction of the players’ behaviors among themselves and with the context, be it in the place of the game, the zone of the field where the actions take place, the elapsed playing time, the partial score, or the numerical relation (Garganta, 1997; Tavares, 1999; Ribeiro and Silva, 2002; Prudente, 2006, unpublished; Garganta, 2009; Schrapf et al, 2017). Handball, which is a collective sport, is defined by Balagué et al (2013) as a dynamic and interactive as well as a complex system In this sport, the strategic tactical behavior is crucial (Prudente, 2006, unpublished; Sequeira, 2012; Leite and Barreira, 2014; Sousa et al, 2015; Lozano et al, 2016; Prudente et al, 2017), and the performance is the result of the interaction between different factors and variables. A study that identifies the constraints that influence tactical performance and allows a deeper knowledge about the complexity of the game and its interactions is justifiable
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