A Study on the Range of Defense for Handball Goalkeeper in a 9-meter Jump Shot

Abstract

PURPOSE The purpose of this study is to examine the goalkeeper’s area of defense and how the range varies depending on the relative position of the goal, goalkeeper, and ball in a 9-meter jump shot during handball matches.METHODS Data was collected from seven qualifying divisions in mens handball from the 99th National Sports Festival in Korea. A total of 231, 9-meter jump shots were analyzed with the goalkeeper‘s area of defense measured from the point the ball left the shooter’s hand and calculated based on the relative position of the goal, goalkeeper, and ball. Video analysis was conducted using the Kwon3D 3.01 program and three-dimensional coordinates calculated using the DLT method.RESULTS First, dimension of handball goals measure 3m wide and 2m high, however, results show that goalkeeper’s actual area of defense was narrower than the width of the goal posts, while vertically, area exceeded the height of the cross bar. Second, if the goalkeeper defended the striker’s shot from the side rather than from the front, the goalkeeper’s defense range was higher for the opposite side of the goal post than the near side of the goal post.CONCLUSIONS Key factors influencing goalkeeper’s area of defense include height of shot and position of goalkeeper. Results also indicate that vertical movements are more important than horizontal movements for goalkeepers in handball thus such implementation in training may lead to performance enhancement.