Varied handball shooting drills

Introduction

Shooting is a central component of team handball and must be practiced and improved regularly. Therefore, it is reasonable to integrate shooting series into training units from time to time. This collection of exercises contains 60 comprehensible practical drills focusing on this subject. They can be integrated in every training unit.

The exercises are divided into the following six categories and three difficulty levels (easy, medium, difficult):

- Technique

- Shooting at fixed targets

- Series of shots at the goal

- Shooting training for specific playing positions

- Complex series of shots

- Shooting competitions

With these options, you can easily make your shooting trainings more diverse and create new approaches for every age group. Additional notes and possible variations should inspire you to further modify the exercises and to adjust them to your players’ level of performance.

Sample figure:

1st English edition released on 18 Mar 2017

German original edition released on 04 Nov 2015

Published by DV Concept

Editors, Design and Layout: Jörg Madinger, Elke Lackner

Proofreading and English translation: Nina-Maria Nahlenz

ISBN: 978-3-95641-087-1

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

tennis ball

Balance bench

Hurdle

Coordination ladder

Large safety mat

Dice

Pole

Difficulty level

Easy:

Medium:

Difficult:

1. Technique
No. 1 Wrist technique

Category: Technique

Minimum number of players: 2

Difficulty level:

Equipment required: 1 handball per player

Setting:

- Two players, each holding a handball, stand face-to-face at a distance of about 4 to 5 meters.

- Both players do the exercise in parallel.

Preparation:

- Before starting the exercise, the players should rotate their wrists (clockwise and counterclockwise), hinge them back and forth, and finally stretch them slightly.

Course 1:

- The players lift their arms to the side at an angle of 90°, hinge the wrist back as far as possible (figure 1), and pass the ball to the other player by only moving their wrists (figure 2).

- Change the throwing hand after 20 to 30 passes.

^{(Figure 1)}

^{(Figure 2)}

The players should pass the ball in such a way that their teammate can catch it at chest height.

Course 2:

- The players lift their arms straight up, hinge back their wrists (figure 3), and pass the ball to the other player by only moving the wrist. The players should hinge their wrists back (figure 3) and forth (figure 4) as far as possible.

^{(Figure 3)}

^{(Figure 4)}

Course 3:

- The players hold their arms down and to the side, hinge their wrists back as far as possible (figure 5), and pass the ball to the other player by only moving their wrists (figure 6).

^{(Figure 5)}

^{(Figure 6)}

The pass should be played by only moving the wrist – this applies to each of the three arm positions; the arm must not be moved but rather kept in the respective position.

No. 2 Passing and shooting technique

Category: Technique

Minimum number of players: 2

Difficulty level:

Equipment required: 1 handball per team of two, 6 cones, large vaulting box, balance bench, 3 medicine balls

Setting of course 1:

- Two players stand face-to-face, each pair having one handball.

Course 1:

- The players keep passing the ball while moving back and forth (A and B).

Variant:

- The players run a slight curve to the left (right) (C) and then pass the ball to their teammate (D).

Make sure that the toes point towards the teammate while passing the ball.

Course 2:

- The players shoot at medicine balls on top of a balance bench (E).

Course 3:

- The players shoot at cones on top of a large vaulting box (F).

Course 4:

- The players shoot at cones on the floor (G).

Observe the following:

The right-handed player moves forward and plants his left foot firmly on the ground observing the three-step rule. His toes must point towards the teammate (shooting target) (figure 1). For left-handed players, the movement is done the other way around.

The hip and upper body are rotated backwards. The upper arm and elbow must be in line with the shoulder (figure 1).

(Figure 1)

The players must keep their elbows up while moving forward. The hip and upper body are rotated forward (figure 2).

(Figure 2)

The players must move the backmost foot forward and rotate the arm forward as well (while keeping the elbow up however) in order to get a smooth rotation movement (hip, upper body, and arm) (figure 3).

(Figure 3)

The backmost foot moves forward, the arm swings forward, and finally the ball is being passed to the teammate (shot at the target) by hinging the wrist (figure 4).

(Figure 4)

2. Shooting at fixed targets
No. 3 Shooting at medicine balls

Category: Shooting at fixed targets

Minimum number of players: 8

Difficulty level:

Equipment required: 4 small vaulting boxes, 4 medicine balls, 8 cones, sufficient number of handballs

Setting:

- The players form pairs. Each team of 2 gets a small vaulting box with a medicine ball on top that serves as the target. Define the shooting distance with two cones.

Course 1:

- starts as the shooter, starts as the feeder.

- plays three passes to (A).

- makes a well-controlled rotation movement and shoots (B).

- tries to hit the medicine ball.

- Switch tasks after three shots.

- The other groups do the drill in parallel.

- Repeat the drill four times until each player has shot 12 times.

Course 2:

- The basic course remains the same as course 1.

- The shooters shoot three times – from the front center (B), from next to the left cone, and from next to the right cone (C) in order to change the shooting angle.

Make sure that the shooting movement is performed correctly (rotate hip and body backwards, elbow in line with the head/shoulder, body rotation, target focus, toes point towards the shooting direction).

No. 4 Drill: Shooting at different targets

Category: Shooting at fixed targets

Minimum number of players: 8

Difficulty level:

Equipment required: 2 small vaulting boxes, 1 large vaulting box, 1 balance bench, 1 large safety mat, tape, 9 cones, 2 ropes or hoops, 1 handball per player

Overall course:

- The course consists of several exercises and must be done twice.

- The players do the exercises in groups (no more than 4 players per group).

- The exercises are changed on command after a defined time period.

Exercise 1:

- Put two small vaulting boxes into the goal and attach targets to the upper goal corners, such as ropes or hoops.

- The players run a few meters, shoot and try to hit one of the four targets in the goal (A).

Exercise 2:

- Position a large safety mat upright on the wall. Define several individual fields on the mat using white or colored tape. Also define a shooting line in front of the mat from which the players are allowed to shoot.

- The players shoot alternately and try to hit each field consecutively (B).

- Who hits each field at least once first?

Exercise 3:

- Build up a large vaulting box and draw a circle around it.

- The players try to hit the individual parts of the vaulting box consecutively from outside the circle, first on the long side (C), then on the short side (D).

Exercise 4:

- Array cones on top of a balance bench. Define a shooting line in front of the bench from which the players are allowed to shoot.

- Both players shoot alternately and try to hit the cones (E).

- Who hits more often?

Make sure the players perform the shooting and passing movements correctly.

Adjust the target distance and the shooting variants to the players’ level of performance.

The exercises are also suitable for video analysis – the players can be shown their mistakes on the computer immediately after the drill.

No. 5 Shooting at targets

Category: Shooting at fixed targets

Minimum number of players: 8

Difficulty level:

Equipment required: 6 cones, 4 small vaulting boxes, 2 large vaulting boxes, 4 medicine balls, 2 ball boxes with sufficient number of handballs, 2 score cards, 2 pens

Setting:

- Make two teams; each team gets a score card and a pen.

- For each team, position two medicine balls, two small vaulting boxes, and one large vaulting box as targets. Define shooting lines using cones (see figure).

Course:

- and start with a ball and shoot from the shooting line.

- They either try to hit a medicine ball (A), a small vaulting box (B), or the large vaulting box.

- Once they have hit one of the targets, the respective item may be crossed out on the score card (M for medicine ball, B for the small vaulting box, LB for the large vaulting box).

- The player who has shot runs back and exchanges a high-five with the player who is next in line.

- If the team wishes, they may put the medicine balls back into their original position after a hit.

- Which team is first to hit all the targets on the score card (or has scored highest at the end of the playing time)?

Make sure that the players do the shooting movements correctly.

The teams may decide who shoots at which target in order to develop a strategy.

Score card: M: medicine ball, B: small vaulting box, LB: large vaulting box