Constitutional demands for different playing positions in female team handball

Abstract

Constitutional factors are relevant for outstanding performance in team handball. Only a few studies focus on female players, and positional specialization is likely to be necessary regarding constitutional demands. Therefore, the current study will research constitutional aspects concerning the different playing positions in female team handball with respect to the association between specialization and success. For this purpose, 654 female players from German clubs at all performance levels were tested regarding age, body height, body weight and body fat percentage in addition biographical data with respect to their handball career. These findings make it possible to calculate an expertise index stating the success of every player. Specialization can be quantified by applying a suitable formula to the data. After statistical analysis it is evident that there are significant differences between the positions regarding constitutional factors (e. g., body height with p < 0.001, wing players being the smallest players). Expertise correlates with different constitutional performance factors for each position, e. g. body height in goalkeepers (correlation coefficient 0.301). While specialization correlates positively with expertise regarding particular constitutional performance factors on some positions, e. g. body height for half backs and goalkeepers (0.392; 0.306), it correlates negatively regarding the percentage of body fat for half backs (−0.267) and body weight for centre backs (−0.389). Consequently, position specialization is most probably contributing to success in female team handball.