From warm-up to handball team play

Introduction

By making your training units more diverse, you can increase the players’ motivation, since you consistently offer new approaches to improve and refine familiar movement sequences. In this book, you will find inspiring exercises you can apply during each phase of your everyday team handball training – from warm-up and goalkeeper warm-up shooting to the common contents of the main phase and the closing games. Each exercise is illustrated and described in an easy, comprehensible manner. Specific notes give you tips on what you need to be aware of.

This book deals with the following key subjects:

Warm-up:

- Basic warm-up

- Short warm-up games

- Sprint contests

- Coordination

- Ball familiarization

- Goalkeeper warm-up shooting

Basic exercises, basic play, and target play:

- Offense/series of shots

- General offense

- Fast throw-off

- 1st and 2nd wave

- Defensive action

- Closing games

- Endurance

At the end of this book, you will find an entire methodological training unit. The objective of this training unit is to improve shooting and quick decision-making under pressure.

This reference book contains 75 individual exercises.

Sample figure:

Dynamic group piston movement

1st English edition released on 28 Mar 2016

German original edition released on 19 Feb 2015

Published by DV Concept

Editors, Design and Layout: Jörg Madinger, Elke Lackner

Proofreading and English translation: Nina-Maria Nahlenz

ISBN: 978-3-95641-084-0

The book and its contents are protected by copyright. No reprinting, photomechanical reproduction, storing or processing in electronic systems without the publisher’s written permission.

Key

Cone

Hoop

Large safety mat

Small gym mat

Small vaulting box

Small vaulting box, upside down

Foam noodles: foam bars of approx. 60 cm length

Large vaulting box

Medicine ball

Soft ball/tennis ball

Balance bench

Hurdle

Coordination ladder

Bibs in different colors

Difficulty level

Easy:

Medium:

Difficult:

1. Basic warm-up
No. 1 Team pursuit

Topic: General warm-up

Minimum number of players: 8

Difficulty level:

Equipment required: Sufficient number of handballs

Basic setting:

- Divide the team into groups of 4 or 5 players and determine the leader of each group.

Course:

- The groups move freely across the court.

- The leader runs ahead and shows exercises. The other players follow and copy the leader’s exercises (A).

- If two groups meet and the leaders exchange high fives, the following players need to switch their leaders. They must react immediately and copy the new leader’s exercises.

- Once the coach whistles, another player becomes the leader and must show exercises at once.

- And so on.

Variant:

- Each player has a handball.

No. 2 Warm-up with the ball and easy shooting at the goal

Topic: General warm-up

Minimum number of players: 6

Difficulty level:

Equipment required: One handball per player

Course:

- The players crisscross throughout one half of the court and dribble one handball each (A).

- The players need to perform different running and dribbling variants (such as dribbling with the throwing hand, dribbling with the non-throwing hand, dribbling with both hands alternately; hopping, sidestepping, running backwards, etc.)

- Once the coach whistles, the players try to throw their handball into the goal from their current position (B).

- Afterwards, the players fetch their handballs and start dribbling again.

No. 3 Passing from player to player with additional running exercises

Topic: General warm-up

Minimum number of players: 8

Difficulty level:

Equipment required: 2 handballs

Course 1:

- The team is divided into two groups. The players of each group are given numbers (figure: 1 to 5).

- The players crisscross throughout the court at relaxed pace.

- Each group passes a handball (A and B) according to the predefined order (1-2-3-4-5-1 etc.).

- Following each pass, the player who passed the ball sprints to one of the side lines (C) and then crisscrosses throughout the court again at a relaxed pace until he receives the next pass.

- The players may choose a side line for their sprint; however, they are not allowed to choose the line that is closest (D).

Course 2:

- The course remains the same as course 1.

- Additionally, the players of the opposing team who are currently not involved in passing or sprinting to one of the side lines are now allowed to steal the other group’s ball (E).

Variant:

- The players need to perform different running variants (hopping, sidestepping, arm rotation).

No. 4 Blindfolded warm-up

Topic: General warm-up

Minimum number of players: 6

Difficulty level:

Equipment required: Sufficient number of colored bibs, blindfolds for each pair of players

Course 1:

- The players form pairs.

- One player shows the running path and running moves, the other player copies the moves.

- Switch roles after 2 to 3 minutes.

Course 2:

- One of the two players is wearing a blindfold.

- The “blind” player runs ahead swiftly across the court. The second player guides his teammate by touching him (left shoulder → turn left / right shoulder → turn right / soft patting on the back → stop) (A).

- Switch roles after 2 to 3 minutes.

Course 3 (figure):

- Put some objects (e.g., colored bibs) on the court floor.

- The players perform course 2 and try to collect as many objects as possible (B).

- Only the “blind” player is allowed to pick up the objects (sign: patting on both shoulders).

- Switch roles after 2 to 3 minutes.

The players should run across the court at pace, even though they are blindfolded; they must trust their teammate.

The players are not allowed to talk during the exercise.

No. 5 Warm-up with subsequent shooting on targets

Topic: General warm-up

Minimum number of players: 6

Difficulty level:

Equipment required: Different balls (e.g., handballs, soft balls, tennis balls), 1 balance bench, 5 cones

Setting (see figure):

- Put different balls (handballs, soft balls, tennis balls, etc.) on the floor of one half of the court.

- Put a balance bench into the goal zone and place cones on top.

Course:

- The players move swiftly around the balls throughout the entire half of the court (A). They are not allowed to enter the goal zone. They perform different running variants.

- Once the coach whistles, each player fetches a ball (B), runs to the 6-meter line (C), and tries to shoot a cone (D).

- After throwing, the players fetch the remaining balls and shoot until no cone is left or until all balls have been thrown into the goal zone.

- The players then start to run again while the coach prepares the next shooting sequence (distribution of balls on the floor in one half of the court) and then, once again, gives the sign for shooting.

Vary the distance between the shooting line and the bench, i.e. adjust to the players’ level of performance.

Each player is only allowed to pick up one ball at a time in order to shoot.

The players are not allowed to pass the balls; they need to shoot with the ball they picked up themselves.

2. Short warm-up games
No. 6 Taking down the vaulting box by shooting

Topic: Short warm-up games

Minimum number of players: 8

Difficulty level:

Equipment required: Two large vaulting boxes, 1 handball, 6 cones

Setting:

- Position two large vaulting boxes diagonally and use cones to define the shooting line.

Course:

- Two teams play against each other.

- By passing quickly (A and B) and moving in a well-coordinated manner (C), the attacking team tries to put a player in a good shooting position (D).

- The team scores if the shooting player hits one side of the vaulting box.

- The shooting player is not allowed to step into the defined area around the vaulting box.

- Following each shooting attempt, the other team gets the ball and starts an attack on the opposite vaulting box.

- As soon as one of the teams has scored two (three) times, remove one of the intermediate parts of the vaulting box.

- The team that takes down their vaulting box first wins the game.

Following a shooting attempt, the players need to adjust immediately and start an attack on the opposite vaulting box.

No. 7 Team ball in three squares

Topic: Short warm-up games

Minimum number of players: 8

Difficulty level:

Equipment required: 3 different throwing toys, e.g., 1 handball, 1 frisbee, 1 softball; 8 cones

Setting:

- Define three playing fields using cones and make two teams.

- Both teams play team ball on the individual playing fields using the respective throwing toy. The players are not allowed to bounce the toy.

- Choose a different throwing toy for each playing field, e.g., common handball, medicine ball, frisbee, soft ball, tennis ball, etc.

- After playing, the throwing toys must remain in the respective playing field.

Course:

- The team in possession of the toy tries to pass it 8 times (return passes are not allowed).

- If the opposing team steals the toy, they may immediately try to pass it 8 times.

- The team scores, if they manage to pass the toy 8 times. After scoring, the toy must be put on the floor at once.

- Now the coach whistles once or twice, which is the sign for both teams to change the playing field accordingly.

Changing the playing field upon the coach’s whistle:

- One whistle: Change playing field upwards (A).

- Two whistles: Change playing field downwards (B).

- The team that first secures the new throwing toy may immediately try to pass it 8 times.

Examples:

- End of game on playing field 1

-- One whistle; the players need to move to playing field 3. However, the players need to sprint around one of the two cones first before they are allowed to enter playing field 3 (C).

-- Two whistles; the players need to move to playing field 2.

- End of game on playing field 2

-- One whistle; the players need to move to playing field 1.

-- Two whistles; the players need to move to playing field 3.

- End of game on playing field 3

-- One whistle; the players need to move to playing field 2.

-- Two whistles; the players need to move to playing field 1. However, the players need to sprint around one of the two cones first before they are allowed to enter playing field 1 (D).

If the teams remain in one playing field for too long, due to constantly switching ball possession, the coach may whistle anytime in between. The players need to adjust to the new situation immediately.

No. 8 Team ball with subsequent action

Topic: Short warm-up games

Minimum number of players: 8

Difficulty level:

Equipment required: 1 handball, 8 to 10 cones

Setting:

- Use cones to define several goals.

- Assign the numbers 1 to 4 to the side lines.

- Make two teams.

Course:

- The teams play against each other.

- By running and passing the ball in a well-coordinated manner (A), the team in ball possession tries to pass the ball 5 (3, 7) times to a teammate by bouncing it through one of the defined goals (B or D).

- The players must attack a different goal each time (C). They are not allowed to bounce the ball through the same goal two times in a row.

- The attacking team counts the bouncing passes through the goals aloud.

- As soon as the team has passed the ball through the cones 5 times, the coach calls out a number between 1 and 4 (E).

- The attacking team now tries to lay down the ball behind the respective side line (F).

- The team scores if they manage to complete the whole course (pass 5 times through a goal and subsequently lay down the ball behind the correct side line).

- The other team fetches the ball and now tries to score as well.

- If there is a switch in ball possession, the goal counting starts over from 1.

The players need to switch quickly and run to the next goal immediately after scoring. After the team has passed the ball through the cones 5 times, the players need to run to the respective side line at once.

As soon as the scoring team has laid down the ball behind the side line, the other team needs to fetch the ball immediately and start an attack on the goals.