Neuromuscular load in professional women’s handball: segmentation of the player load and the impacts at group and individual level

Abstract

Handball is a team sport characterised by physical interaction with other opponents. This interaction produces a high load on the players that can manifest itself in various ways, from discomfort to prolonged injuries due to tears caused by excessive load. In order to establish correct protocols for application in women’s teams, context- and gender-specific reference data must be available. For this reason, the present research aims to find out how women’s teams in European competitions prepare for decisive matches during the match week, analysing the load in a segmented way and the level of specificity that should be achieved in training. Ex post facto research was used in which a total of 17 players belonging to a women’s first division handball team in Spain participated. The variables player load and impacts extracted from the use of Wimu ProTM inertial devices were analysed. The results showed a high neuromuscular load in players at this competitive level, especially in the variable impacts, reaching values per session of up to 1000 impacts. The individuality analyses show that the load varies significantly depending on the subject, which is why it is considered essential to establish protocols for strength work and load control in the most specific way possible.