Does the Final Score Influence the Physical Demands of Women’s Handball Matches?

Abstract

The purpose of this study was twofold: to analyze and compare the influence of the final score of the match (close, balanced and unbalanced) on physical demands during official competitions in women’s handball; and to investigate if the physical demands of each playing position are affected by the final score. Twenty-two semi-professional female players from the Spanish 2nd Division were monitored across 13 official matches. Total distance (TD), high-speed running (HSR), high-intensity braking distance (HIBD), accelerations (ACC), decelerations (DEC) and PlayerLoad (PL) were collected in absolute and relative values using a local positioning system (WIMU PRO™, Realtrack Systems S.L., Almería, Spain). Two-way ANOVA with partial Eta-squared and Cohen’s d were used to determine the differences between playing positions and match types. Unbalanced (16.4±4.1 n·min−1) and balanced matches (15.2±3.8 n·min−1) elicited higher DEC/min than close matches (13.1±2.8 n·min−1) (p<0.001, moderate effects). In relation to playing positions, wings covered the largest TD and registered the highest values of PL in balanced and unbalanced matches (p<0.001, large effects). Also, wings presented the highest values of HIBD, HSR and HSR/min regardless of the final score (p<0.05, moderate effects). Moreover, wings performed largely more number of ACC and DEC compared to pivots in unbalanced matches (p<0.05, large effects). In conclusion, this study showed that the final score of the match influences the physical demands experienced by female handball players during official competitions. This information should be considered by coaches to adapt and periodize the training load across the microcycle.