4.
Basic structure and terminology
Before we can move into the core aspects of this programme, it is important to familiarise
oneself with a breakdown of the games of mini handball and handball, its basic terminology
and symbols, the facilities required to play, and an overview of the rules, all of which we will
explore in greater detail in this chapter.
4.1 Breaking Down the Game
MINI HANDBALL
In mini handball, a team consists of four court players and a goalkeeper (4+1), the game
is played as a contact-avoiding variation of handball, and a team can be made up of
boys and girls. At this crucial developmental stage, players are encouraged to play
man-to-man defence, and therefore do not play offensive or defensive positions. This critical
aspect of mini handball helps young players gain valuable experience learning individual
technical-tactical skills and improve basic group-tactical concepts. Played with a modified
soft-skinned ball, mini handball also provides young players the opportunity to safely
and properly learn the goalkeeper position.
Players on the court of mini handball
In this 4+1 construct, it is important that all players, no matter their gender, size, shape,
handedness or skill level, get as many opportunities as possible to pass, catch and dribble, to
control and manipulate space, to fake a defender, and of course, to face shots on goal. Played
on a smaller court, mini handball is fast moving and transitions quickly between offensive and
defensive phases of the game, providing players with similar tasks throughout each phase as
in handball.
As players develop through puberty and learn 5+1 (beginning of positional attack and defence
without pivot) and 6+1 constructs of the sport, certain factors like height, physical strength,
jumping ability, speed, mental toughness and arm strength will guide them towards positions
on the court. It is very important that players learn all positions on the court before specialising.
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HANDBALL
Playing on an official court, hand-
ball is a contact sport played in
four phases: positional attack, Game play OFFENCE
in possession (positional
transition defence, positional attack)
defence, and transition offence.
With regard to youth teams, the TRANSITION
use of offensive and defensive TRANSITION DEFENCE
specialists should be avoided. OFFENCE (quick retreat)
We will use these basic phases, (fast break)
in the above order, to examine Game play
DEFENCE out of
the positions and tactical roles (positional
of players on the court through- defence) possession
out a game. Graphic of phases
of the game
In positional attack, players generally take up two positional groups: forward players and
back-court players. Players of the forward line typically consist of a pivot (also known as line
player or circle runner), a player who positions himself/herself between the defenders near
the goal area, and two wings that position themselves in the corners, align themselves to
benefit from handedness, and attack the flanks of the defence. In the back-court line, we
have a centre back (also known as playmaker), and left and right backs, which, like the wings,
align themselves to handedness, but specialise in outside shooting, dynamic attacking, and
collaborating with the pivot.
The 3:3 offensive formation, pictured below, is the most common offensive formation in
handball, but is not the only offence, a matter we will examine in greater detail later in this
book and subsequent volumes.
Left Wing Right Wing
Positions in 3:3
Pivot offensive formation
Left Back Right Back
Centre Back
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In transition defence, players retreat with several objectives, depending on a player’s
proximity to the ball. These objectives include forcing turnovers or technical mistakes,
preventing easy scoring opportunities, and organising into a cohesive defensive unit.
In positional defence, teams may adopt one of three basic defensive concepts: man-to-man
defence, zone defence or combined defence. For simplicity’s sake, we will first examine the
most common defence in handball, the 6:0 zone defence, where we find all six defenders
formed immediately in front of the goal area.
We usually group defensive players into three distinct roles: outside defenders, half defenders
and inside defenders (sometimes called central half defenders). An easy numerical system
from 1 to 3 can also be used to number these positions, beginning with the outside defenders.
Both systems are elaborated below.
Inside-Left Inside-Right
3 3
Positions in 6:0
2 2 defensive formation
Half-Left Half-Right
1 1
Outside- Goalkeeper Outside-
Left Right
The first priority of defence is to win the ball. The responsibilities and duties of the defenders
vary from moment to moment, but it is commonly understood that defences are most
vulnerable in the middle, where high percentage shots are most numerous. Therefore, the
most skilled defenders tend to manage the centre of the line. Variations in defensive shape
and tactics will be explained later in this book.
The goals of the positional defence are to prevent the attack from gaining positional, temporal-
spatial and/or numerical advantages, to deny them access to spaces of great value, and to
force low percentage shots, technical errors, and turnovers, all of which will be capitalised on
immediately.
In transition offence, forward players and back-court players generally maintain unit cohesion
in their advance up the court, as these groups move from simple to extended to complete fast
breaks, all of which will be explained in greater detail later in this book.
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