PERFORMANCE ANALYSIS OF BEACH HANDBALL

The aim of this project was the evaluation of performance of beach handball players. Beach handball is considered a high-intensity mixed-metabolism sport where the performance depends on the combination of high-intensity physical patterns at player and team level. The player performances depend on specific movements involving speed and power, rapid accelerations and decelerations, and changes of directions, whereas the overall team performance depends on technical and tactical team performance indicators, such as passing, catching, throwing, and blocking during offensive and defensive situations. The first part of this dissertation aimed to examine the differences between male and female players during shooting actions occurring during semifinal and final phases of a European Beach Handball Tournament by means of notational analysis. For the study 9 matches were analyzed. Overall, 559 (males: 353; females: 206) shots were observed; 54.7±9.4% were successful and 19.9±7.1% were saved by goalkeepers. No difference for gender emerged. Results showed that notational analysis represents a valuable tool to examine many aspects of shooting actions such as the shooting technique, the shooting area, the area of the goal to which the shots end in relation to players and goalkeepers’ efficiencies. To improve players’ performances and to understand the level of adaptation to a given training program and minimizing the risk of non-functional overreaching, monitoring players’ load plays a fundamental role. For this purpose, the second part of this dissertation focused on the investigation of internal (assessed using objective and subjective methods) and external loads experienced by youth male beach handball players during training sessions and competitions. Thirteen players from the Lithuanian U17 beach handball team were monitored across 2 training camps (14 training sessions) and during the Younger Age Category 17 European Beach Handball tournament where players were involved in 7 matches. For the external load inertial movement units devices units were used while the internal load was objectively recorded by means of heart rate (HR) monitors. After each session, the HR data were exported, and the individual workload was calculated according to the summated HR zones (SHRZ) method. Furthermore, the internal load was subjectively assessed by means of Rating of Perceived Exertion (RPE) scale by asking each player “How hard was your training/Match?” 30 min after the completion of the session. Successively, the session RPE (sRPE) workload was calculated by multiplying the individual RPE score for the duration of each session. Subjective perception of internal load experienced by youth beach handball players increases with the objective internal load. However, the increase varies between players and sessions. In addition, results showed that external load variables (PlayerLoadTM, accelerations, low intensity events, medium intensity events, high intensity events, jumps, and changes of directions) showed a strong correlation with sRPE and SHRZ. The variable with the highest relationship and predictive capability, with both SHRZ and sRPE, was PlayerLoadTM. Further investigation should examine any potential difference in players of different ages and explore the influence of other contextual factors such as the match outcome or the individual players’ fatigue.