In this article, we will focus on the structure of a handball team. If you have ever watched a handball game, doesn’t matter if it is in the first league of England, or the last league of Germany, the players can’t stand anywhere they want on the field. I divided this article into three parts. First, I am going to show you the handball field, second the positions and last I am going to explain you different lineups and when they are used.
Lets begin with the field.
In this picture, you can see all the most important lines. The easiest lines, that are not only for this sport, are the outer lines. There are the goal lines (left and right) and the sidelines (top and bottom). Also self explaining is the middle line, which is, as the name implies, in the middle of the field. But there are three other lines on each side, that you probably don’t know yet.
The solid lines, which are the closest to the goal lines, are the six meter lines. In the area delimited by the six meter line and the goal line is the goalkeeper zone. I already explained the goalkeeper zone in the previous article ‘rules’. But here is a short summery: In this zone, only the goalkeeper is allowed. Players can jump over the six meter line, in order to get closer to the goal, but they are not allowed to touch it with the ball in their hand.
The dashed lines, are the free-throw lines. The lines are exactly nine meters away from the goal. In case of a foul against the offense, between the six meter line and the free-throw line, the free-throw is taken from the closest point of the free-throw line to the point of the foul.
The last line on the picture, is the seven meter line. The line has only one purpose. It marks the point of a seven meter penalty. I also explained this penalty in the article about the rules of handball, but here is a short summery: If the foul is during an attack and prevents a player from a clear goal chance, the team will get a seven meter free-throw.
So far so good. Lets get over to the positions. There are seven different positions in handball.
On the top half of this picture, you can see, how a normal offense looks like. We have the goalkeeper (of course in the goal), the left player (on the left side, before the free-throw line), the middle player (in the middle, before the free-throw line), the right player (on the right side, before the free-throw line), the half-left player (between the middle player and the left player, before the free-throw line), the half-right player (between the middle player and the right player, before the free-throw line), and the pivot-player, whose position is a little more complicated. In a normal attack, he is always on the opposite side of the ball. So if the half-left player has the ball, the pivot-player stands at the half-right side. However, unless a special play is played, he is always behind the free-throw line.
It is very important in attacking play to make the game very wide. The left and right player stand all the way at the outer line (not touching it) and the half-left and half-right players stand closer to the outer line than to the middle player. Since the defense always tries to defend the player with the ball, with two players, there is one attacking player without a defending player. The attacking team tries to pass the ball as fast as possible, from one side to the other side, in order to make the defense run from one to the other side. At some point, there might be a defending player to slow and an attacking player is able to find a gap and shoot a goal.
But of course, the defense has also different lineups to make the life as hard as possible for the offense.
3-2-1 (top half)
Three players are at the six meter line, two between the six meter line and the free-throw line and one is at or before the free-throw line. This lineup is used for fast counterattacks. The disadvantage of it is, that the defending players have to run a lot. It is also a little more complex, because the attacking pivot-player gets not defended by one person, but by all three defenders at the six meter line. When the ball is at the right side, the pivot player gets defended either by number two or number three, depending on where the player is.
3-3
Three players stand behind the free-throw line, close to the six meter line and three players before it. It is a very aggressive lineup, but at the same time also more risky. It is good to defend nine meter shots (throws from before the first defending line), since the first defending line is most of the times 10 meter away from the goal. It also is used for fast counterattacks.
4-2
Four players stand right next to the six meter line and two players a few meters before the free-throw line.
This lineup is effective against two strong middle shooter. It also makes the passing harder, since the two middle players try to intercept the passes from the half-right and half-left players to the middle players.
5-1
Five players are at the six meter line and one player before the free-throw line. This lineup requires a agile and fast middle player, who is responsible of intercepting passes, disrupting long distance shots, help defenders on the sides and start counter attacks.
6-0
Six players close to the six meter line. There is no picture for this lineup, because it is not complicated. All players move from right to left, depending on where the ball is. It is effective against short shots and the pivot player. However, it is weak against midfield shootings and steeling the ball.
In handball, there is the possibility, to get a two minute penalty. That means, that your team has to play with one player less. In that case, the most popular lineup for the defense is 5-0. Five players at the six meters line. In this time, it is very important to move very fast from left to right always to the side of the ball.
In higher leagues, teams change the goalkeeper for a sixth field player, in order to have a full team. Of course it is very risky, because in case of a lost ball, the goal is empty until one player left the field and the goalkeeper is back in the goal. It happens a lot, that in this scenario, goals are scored from the other half of the field.
I hope you enjoyed my article about the field, the positions and the lineups. Of course handball is a lot more complicated than that. There are many different plays and tactics for the offense. In my next article, I am going to show you a few simple plays, that require a very focused defense.
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