Handball: fitness

The goalkeepers receive the ball from the feeder and throws a ball into the path of the running player who then passes back to the feeder.

Players take it in turns to sprint as fast as they can around the cones on the court. When they round the final cone they must pick up a ball and throw at the goal.

Setup:Divide the gym into two playing fields.Designate one player to be the spy and send them to the opposing team's field.Provide the spies with vests to distinguish them.<br>Gameplay:On a signal, the spy attempts to intercept passes while the opposing team passes the ball among themselves.If a pass is intercepted by the spy, the passer becomes a spy as well and joins in intercepting the ball.The game continues until one team is fully converted into spies.

Players take it in turns to sprint as fast as they can around the cones on the court. When they round the final cone they must pick up a ball and throw at the goal.

Players start a few metres behind the first hoop. Starting from the left players run and take off on one foot, landing inside the first hoop. Landing on one foot they then hop into the next hoop on the other foot before taking off and shooting on goal.

The goalkeepers receive the ball from the feeder and throws a ball into the path of the running player who then passes back to the feeder.

B1 starts the exercise.<BR>Run forward until you catch the ball.<BR>B6 puts all the balls down, after all the balls have been played, B6 starts the exercise from his side.<BR><BR>variations :<BR>- center shot<BR>- jump shot<BR>- push pass

Set up two circles of cones across the width of the court. Players run one at a time around the cones in a figure of 8 as quickly as possible. You can split your players into two groups in both halves of the court and run this exercise as a relay race - the first team to complete the figure of 8 running wins the race!

Blue 1 starts the exercise by passing from the left wing to blue 2. Blue 2 then passes to blue 3 and so on... Each player must make a forward move prior to receiving the pass, so that they are running when they catch the ball. Blue 5 puts all the balls down. When all balls have been played Blue 5 starts the exercise at his side.

Coach should shout &quot;Go&quot; every 45 seconds. On the first shout a player from both sides sets off to run up the byline, turn around the cone and run to the cone in the opposite corner. Players must then run up the byline again and around the other cone before finally cutting inside to receive the pass from the feeder in the centre and shoot!

There are several ways you can run this drill, the first way is alternate running. This is where one player at a time sets off to run around the far cone opposite them before then cutting back infield to receive the ball from blue three. After receiving the pass they then progress towards goal before trying to score. The second way of running this drill is as a race. Both players sets off at the same time to run around the cone and then infield. The first player to run over the half way line receives the pass from B3 and then tries to score.

1. 10 meter running:<br /><br />Between 2 lines spaced 10 metres apart get your keepers to run 2 sets of 6 runs.<br /><br />You can mix this up by getting players to run a mixture of -<br />Forward runs, Backward runs, Sprints, Side-steps and Crossovers<br /><br /> 2. Flexibility - Straddle stretch:<br /><br />Stand upright with arms out to the side and touch your left foot with your right hand and your right foot with your left arm. Players should keep their arms and legs straight and bend and rotate their torso to touch their feet. Repeat 10 times on both sides. <br /><br />Stand upright with arms slightly in front and out to the side. Keepers must raise their feet to try and touch their hands. Left foot to left hand and right foot to right hand. Repeat 10 times on both sides.<br /><br />3. Improving Reactions<br /><br />Player A stands behind player B who sits on the floor. Player B puts their arms out wide at shoulder height. Player A drops the ball in front of B, who must catch the ball with their legs. Repeat 10 times and then swap roles.<br /><br />Place two benches on their sides, with the top side in-court on a small playing area (approx 3-5 meters). <br /><br />A tries to score with a tennis ball by getting their balls to hit the flat side of the bench. B must try to block as many balls as possible. A throws 30 balls and then players swap roles. Which keeper has the better record?<br /><br />4. Power<br /><br />Get players to lie on the floor on their back. In this position players must sit up and touch their left foot with their right hand and then touch their right foot with their left hand. Repeat 15 times on each side.<br /><br />Squat down low and walk like a frog for 15 meters. Repeat 3 times.<br /><br />Hampelmann (jumping jacks - raise arms and legs). Try to raise the leg you jump off as high as possible. Repeat 5 times for - Hampelmann left, squat jump, Hampelmann right.

Materials: Balls, cones with numbers or cards with numbers, dice, hoops, ladders, hurdles.<br>Game Instructions: Two teams compete against each other. The first players roll the die and remember the number they rolled. The player sprints to the ladder/hurdles/cones/posts and completes the obstacle course. At the throwing line, the players aim to hit the cone with the number they rolled. Players quickly retrieve their ball and return via a second obstacle course.<br>To make it harder:Use smaller or larger balls for throwing.Increase or decrease the distances to the targets.<br>Variations:The team must hit the targets in order, from 1 to 6.Teams aim to reach a specific point total, e.g., 20. The first team to succeed wins.In pairs: if one player in the pair hits target number 3, the other must also try to hit target number 3.<br>