DIFFERENCES AND RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN STANDARD AND SPECIFIC THROWING TEST IN HANDBALL ACCORDING TO THE COMPETITIVE AND PROFESSIONAL LEVEL

The present study analyzed the differences in distance throwing with heavy and light medicine ball and throwing velocity between handball players of different competitive and professional level. Likewise, the relationship between the three throwing test of progressive specificity was analyzed: throwing with heavy medicinal ball (TH), throwing with light medicinal ball (TL) and throwing velocity (TV). For this purpose, sixty-five professional (P), semi-professional (S) and non-professional (N) players were evaluated. In the three throwing test, the results revealed that the values were significantly better as the competitive and professional level increased (TH: F (2, 63) = 34.399; TL: F (2, 63) = 53.75; TV: F (2, 63) = 70.364). Thus, in all throwing situations, the professional group showed higher values (p<0.001) than the semi-professional and non-professional groups. In all groups, significant and positive correlation between the three throwing tests were observed (p<0.01). And the correlation value between TH-TV (P: r= 0.469; S: r= 0.619; N: r= 0.687) was lower than the correlation value between TL-TV (P: r= 0.652; S: r= 0.818. N: r= 0.891). Therefore, handball players' throwing ability is a decisive factor in competitive and professional level. Moreover, the results suggest that the TL is a better predictor of throwing velocity than the TH, more so in non-professional players.