Handball Strategies

Counter-Attack

Team Handball is a fast-paced game and an effective counter-attack can produce high percentage scoring chances.

During lessons, the modified rules actually make it harder to counter-attack. This is intentional to encourage team attack and team defense (versus individual attack and individual defense).

Transitions / Transposition

It is important to learn how to counter-attack quickly as a team because if 

1) the defenders recover quickly, the offensive advantage is lost

2) if your attacking teammate fumbles the long pass or the dribble, the other teammates can assist him. 

Individual Defending Techniques:

Shadowing, Marking, Intercepting, Blocking effectively

Defensive Strategies

Zone Defence: Each player defends a section (usually overlapping another teammate's section a little bit)

Man-to-Man Defence: Each player is assigned to guard and defend a player.

Hybrid Defence: A combination of Zone and Man-to-Man Strategies

For the defensive strategies to be effective, it must be a team effort! 

The objective is to channel the opponent away from the goal (to the sideline or to shoot at an acute angle at the goal <which is a low percentage shot>), to cause mistakes and confusion in the opponents.

Individual Attacking Techniques:

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1. Running into space

2. Changing direction and accelerating suddenly

3. Passing, Receiving, Dribbling and Shooting effectively

Team Attacking Strategies

Use of effective screens, give-and-go, screen-and-roll are all effective 2 or 3 player strategies to gain territory into the opponent's half of the court. 

Remaining teammates can use flanking along the sides to provide support.

Shooting

This comes with practice and experience (as with the other skills)!

Try to shoot with your stronger hand.

Aim at the corners of the goal (if the goalkeeper is near to the goal).

Try to lob the ball over the goalkeeper (if the goalkeeper is away from the goal).

Try faking a shot and passing off at the last moment to your teammate to shoot! This draws out the goalkeeper to commit to the fake shot and provides your teammate an easy shot to score!

Goalkeeping

Daring and experience, the goalkeeper has to have the quickest reflexes of the team (and the most flexible)!

Catches, clears the ball instinctively.

Creates offensive counter-attacks or slows the tempo of the game with patient build-ups to draw the opponent out of position.

Communicates clearly: encouraging, where to mark, who to mark, potential dangers.