Analysis of a weekly microcycle in professional handball training

Abstract

The purpose of this study was twofold: (1) to determine the training tasks and load of professional handball players during a weekly microcycle; (2) to analyse the technical performance among tactical positions, days of the week and formats of play that occurs during training sessions. Fourteen male professional handball players of the first Spanish league participated in this study. The two-way MANOVA revealed that the day of the week (p=0.001; ?²=0.183; minimum effect) and type of task (p=0.001; ?²=0.047; minimum effect) had significant main effects on heart rate variables. An analysis of variance also revealed that the day of the week (p=0.001; ?²=0.109; minimum effect), format of the game (p=0.001; ?²=0.147; minimum effect) and tactical position (p=0.001; ?²=0.124; minimum effect) had significant main effects on the technical performance. These suggest that more intense exercise occurs in middle week sessions and in drill-based tasks. A greater volume of technical actions was performed by centre backs in larger formats of the game and in the Friday session. This study characterised the microcycle periodisation planned by professional handball coaches and identified which formats induced greater technical participation.

Keywords: Training load; Periodisation; Heart rate; Technical performance; Sports training