What is HANDBALL all about?

Handball is a team sport consisting of - two teams of seven players each (six outfield players and a goalkeeper) passing and bouncing a ball to score a goal between the opposing team's goal posts. The duration of the game takes about two periods of 30 minutes. The team with the most goal wins!

How does handball works?

It is a fast-paced game and uses body contact ONLY if the defender is right in front of the attacker. The defender has the right to try and stop the attacker from scoring a goal into the net. If the defender successfully stops the attacker from scoring into the net, the game will pause and be restarted by the attacking team at the nine meter line and this only happens when opposite team failed to score and the defenders will have to step back to the six meter line. Fast breaks are allowed in the game and this only happen when the opposite team failed to score and allowing the opponent's team to have a higher chance of scoring.

What are the dimensions of the handball court, goal post and subsitution boxes? What do they do?

The play field is about 40m by 20m with two goals at both ends. The goal is surrounded by a semi-circle of 6 meters from the goal post. Only the goalkeeper is allowed to step within the six meter zone. A dashed near-semicircle line at nine meters from the goal marks the free-throw line which is approximately about seven meter. The middle line indicates that both teams have equal halves on the court.

Each goal has a rectangular area measuring three meters in the wide and two meters tall. Also, it consists of a netting and must be firmly bolted to the ground. Only the defending goalkeeper is allowed inside the radius of six meters. However, if the players catch the ball in the air without their feets touching inside the radius of the six meter line, and releases the ball before he lands, it is considered as a goal if it enters the net.

Next, the substitution boxes are outside the width of the playing field. Team officals have the right to suspend players. Substitutes must wait within this area before going back into the court. During the half-time, the substiution areas are swapped. The substitution box extends 4.5m from the middle line to the team's side and players have to step within this area to substitute themselves out of the game.

Game play

Players have their own positions to stick to while playing the game. It consists of the left and right wingman, the left and right back, the center and the pivot.

Offense

-Usually, the left and right wingman are the shooters as they are good at controlling the ball and jumping which allow them to have a better shooting angle at the goal.
-Left and right back are usually people who are able to shoot over the defenders and making use of the jumps.
- Center controls the game and it is often called as a playmaker.
-Pivot, usually intermingle with the defense and disrupt the defense formation and also to set up tricks. It requires not only jumping skills but ball control and physical strength might be necessary.



Defense

It consists of far right and left, half left and half right, back center, and front center.
-Far right and left are the opponents of the wingmen.
-Half left and half right are the opponents of the left and right back.
-Back center is the opponent of the pivot.
-Front center is the oppoenent of the center.

If the attacking team does not make sufficient progress or shooting in a goal, the referees can call passive play and also signal to the attacking team that they should attempt to shoot a goal, otherwise a turnover is necessary.

The defense team usually lined up from the six meter and the nine meter lines to form the wall. Sometimes, the defense team may used the tactic of 'man-to-man' mark. It varies from game to game depending on the situation.

Referees

Handball match is led by two unbiased referees. The referees are obliged to make their decisions based on what they judged throughout the game. Their decisions are final and it only can be appealed against if it does not match with the handball rules. If the referees have any disagreements, a decision will be made during a short timeout.

The referees stand diagonally so that they will be able to cover the whole court. One is called the field referee and the other is called the goal referee.Both positions are automatically switched over when it is a turnover.

The referees have at least 18 signals for quick visual communication with players and officials. The signal for warning or disqualification is accompanied by a yellow or red card, respectively. The referees also use whistle blows to indicate infractions or restart the play.

Field players

They are allowed to touch the ball with all parts of their bodies which must be above the knee. A player who has the possession of the ball may stand stationary for about three seconds and is only allowed to take only three steps. After that, they must either shoot, pass out or dribble the ball. At any point of time, if they dribble more than three steps, it is deemed as travelling and may result a turnover to the other team. A player is able to dribble as many times as they want only if each dribble only contacts with the top of the ball. It is somewhat like a basketball but carrying the ball is prohibited and may result to a turnover as well. After the dribble is picked up, the player has the right to have either the three second rule or the three steps. The ball then, has to be passed out or shot into the net or, it will result in committing the 'double dribble' and cause a turnover. A free throw for the opposing's team.

Other offenses include vulgarities, charging, illegal screening and carrying the ball into the six meter zone.

Goalkeeper

The goalkeeper is allowed to move freely within the goal perimeter and he is allowed to touch the ball with all parts of his body including his feet. The goalkeeper can also be a field player if he wants to. A goalkeeper also has to wear a bib or another set of team jersey to differenciate himself from the field players to avoid confusion.

If the goalkeeper deflects the ball over to the outer goal, his team stays in possession of the ball and the goalkeeper resumes the play with a 'goalkeeper's throw'. On top of that, throwing of the ball against the head of goalkeeper when he is not moving may deemed as a disqualification and red card will be awarded to the player.

Team officials

An official can be anybody as long as the person is neither a player or a subsitute. And, each team is allowed to have a maximum of four team officials seated on the benches. The official who brings the team to the competition is known as the team manager. The representative has the right to call for timeout once every period and may want to talk to the goalkeeper and as well as the field players. Neither of the officials are allowed to step into the playing field without the permission of the referees.

Balls

Usually, men use a size 3 ball whereas the ladies will use a size 2 ball. As for the children, they use a size 1 ball that is proportionate to their size.

Throws

At times, referees may give a special throw to a team and this usually happens when there is a scored goal, off court balls, turnovers, timeouts, etc. All these throws pose a restriction to all the other players so as to allow the required thrower to throw the ball into the net. Sometimes, the throws have to wait for the whistle blow by the referee.

Penalties

They are given to players who have fouled during the game and deserve a penalty. Actions such as pushing, throwing, tripping, jumping into opponent, holding, etc.. or contact from the side are considered to be illegal and may have penalties given. Usually, any infractions will result in a seven meter penalty shot.

At times, referees will give a yellow card for illegal actions. If the offense is major, the referee may give the player a two minute suspension. A player can only get one warning before the actual two minute suspension. On the third simliar offense, the player will be issued the red card immediately. A player with a red card has to leave the playing field completely and it does not permit subsitution player from joining the game unless the two minute penalty is being served.

If a player assaults a referee, an opponent or any other person, the referee can expel the player by forming a cross over his head with his arms, which will tell the player that he/she will have to leave the game completely and his team will have to play with one less player for the rest of the game. This expulsion is the most severe penalty possible in handball.

So, thats about it!(: If you want to experience handball, do try out our upcoming roadshows and clinics!(: