Rules
Before you can even try to understand or even play handball, you have to learn about the rules. So lets take a look at the 10 most important ones. The rest might also be important, but if I explain you all of them, you will sit here for the next 20 hours and it would probably scare you of.

1.

The first rule is pretty obvious since the sport is called ‘handball’. There is only one player on each side, who is allowed to touch the ball with his feet. The goalkeeper. In order to defend the goal, he is allowed to use all his body parts. Even the feet. Every other player can use every body part, that is above the knee. If the ball still touches your feet, it will be penalized with a free throw.

2.

Second, we have the goals. The team that threw the most goals at the end of the game, wins. But how do you score a goal? As I said in rule 1, you can score a goal with every part of you body, that is above the knees. It is a goal, when the ball completely passes the goal line. In the professional handball leagues, games end with an average of 20 to 35 goals. That there is one goal ever 1,5 to 3 minutes, makes the sport so interesting.

3.

One game goes 60 minutes with a halftime of 15 minutes. After the halftime, the teams not only switch the side, but also their benches, which is different to soccer. Like in the most sports, games can end in a tied score. If the game requires a winner, but the game is tied after 60 minutes, it will go into overtime, which is 10 minutes with a one minute break and a side switch after five minutes. If the score is still tied, there will be a second overtime, which has the same time and rule as the first overtime, before the teams have to go into a shootout. The shootout is similar with the penalty kicks in soccer. Each team has 5 throws with extra rounds if necessary.
For children and youth, the games are shorter. It starts with 30 minutes, 40 minutes and 50 minutes, before you finally play a game with 60 minutes.

4.

It would be to easy, if you could take the ball and just run to the other side. To prevent that, a player is only allowed to take three steps with the ball in his hands. After that, he has three options: Pass throw or dribble.
I will focus now on the dribbling. In order to go more than three steps with the ball, you have to throw the ball on the ground while running. After that, you are allowed to make another three steps. If you now catch the ball with both hands, you cannot continue dribbling. You have to pass or throw. What you can do, is to dribble with one hand, multiple times. You can dribble while you run, stand or walk. As long as you do not take the ball into both hands, or put your dribbling hand under the ball, you can move as much as you want.
In case the player makes a mistake while dribbling, his team loses possession. Since handball is a very fast sport and the ball moves way faster when you pass it, passing is much more commonly to move the ball.

 
5.

The referee can punish a player in 6 different ways.
1. Free throw. A normal foul will be punished with a free throw. In most games, there are multiple free throws in every attack.
2. Seven meter penalty. 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. In that case, one player has the chance to score a goal from the seven meter line. Everyone else but the shooter and the goalkeeper have to stand behind the nine meter circle. The thrower has to keep one foot behind the small line and is not allowed to lift from the ground until the ball leaves his hand. He is allowed to lean left, right or even over the line, as long as no body part touches the ground behind the line.
3. Yellow card. When the foul is a little harder, it will be followed by a yellow card. The second yellow card for the same player results in a two minutes penalty. You also get a yellow card for arguing. Other then in soccer, there is no arguing allowed. Most of the referees are very strict when it comes to this topic. When one team has a total of three yellow cards, the next foul that would bring a yellow card with it, is followed by a two minutes penalty instead. This applies to the rest of the game. Only the coach can get one more yellow card.
4. Two minutes penalty. The two minutes penalty is given for hard fouls, like pushing someone in his jump or pushing someone from behind, instead of the second yellow card for the same player or after the third yellow card for the team. When a player gets a two minutes penalty, he has to leave the game for two full minutes. During that time, the team has to play 6 versus 7. It is possible for a team, to have multiple two minutes penalties at the same time. The third 2 minutes penalty for the same player, is at the same time a red card, so a disqualification.
5. Red cards. When a defending player: grabs into the throwing arm of an attacking player, pushes a player from behind while jumping or throwing, or hits a player accidentally at the head or neck, he gets disqualified from the rest of the game. The team has to play with six players for two minutes. After that, any not disqualified player can continue. The disqualification lasts only for the rest of the game.
6. Red card with blue card. Other than in soccer, there is a blue card in handball. The blue card is very rarely shown. The blue card is a punishment for serious fouls (e.g. assault) or severely unsportsmanlike conduct. In this case, you get disqualified and the referees write a report about this foul. The player might get further disqualifications for the next games.

6.

The game starts and restarts after a goal or the halftime with the throw off. For the start of each half, one player has to stand in the middle of the field (marked by a circle), while his teammates stand in their half and the opponent team in the other half. Every player of the opponent team must stay at least three meters away from the throw off (outside the circle). As soon as the referee starts the game, the player with the ball passes it to a teammate.
After a goal, it’s a little different. Since handball is a fast sport and there are a lot of goals in every game, the players who have the throw-off do not have to wait for the opposing team to go back to their half. This means that after a goal, everyone runs as fast as possible in the other direction to score or prevent a quick goal. In this way, the rules prevent a long break for celebrations.

7.

The solid line, that looks like a half circle and surround the goal, is the six meter line. It marks the goalkeeper zone in which obviously only the goalkeeper is allowed in (Not even the teammates). The only way someone can cross the line, is by jumping into the zone. So it is possible to get closer than six meters to the goal. For example you have the ball, jump from behind the six meter line three meters far, you can throw the ball from three meters into the goal. But if you touch the goalkeeper zone with the ball in your hand, it is a violation and the goalkeeper gets the ball. He restarts the game by passing it from his circle to a teammate.
The goalkeeper also has to restart the game, when the ball is out of bounds over the goal-line and either an opponent player or the goalkeeper himself were the last one touching it. So the goalkeeper is allowed to hit the ball out of bounds over the goal-line (not the side line) and he can continue the game by passing the ball out of his zone.

8.

Another rule, that is very important for the game is the time. In order to prevent a time waste by one team, the time gets stopped for the most things. The referee stops the time when he gives a two minute penalty, a seven meter free shot, a red or red and blue card, if a player gets hurt or for any dead ball situation in the last two minutes. Another way of providing time waste during an ongoing game is the ‘passive’ rule. If one team has no urge to score, doesn’t try to score a goal or it takes to long after a goal to restart the game (for example because the goalkeeper throws the ball to far and his teammate at the middle point can not catch it), both referees raise one arm and the passive play starts. Since July of 2022, the team in possession has only four more passes. If they don’t throw the ball at the goal, it is a passive violation and gets punished with a free throw.

9.

Since the athletes have to run a lot and especially very fast, there is no limit of substitutions. You can change the players as many times as you want and also any time you want. The game doesn’t stop and you don’t have tonother rule, that is very important for the game is the time. In order to prevent a time waste by one team, the time gets stopped for the most things. The referee stops the time when he gives a two minute penalty, a seven meter free shot, a red or red and blue card, if a player gets hurt or for any dead ball situation in the last two minutes. Another way of providing time waste during an ongoing game is the ‘passive’ rule. If one team has no urghttps://stock.adobe.com/de/search?filters%5Bcontent_type%3Aphoto%5D=1&filters%5Bcontent_type%3Aillustration%5D=1&filters%5Bcontent_type%3Azip_vector%5D=1&filters%5Bcontent_type%3Avideo%5D=1&filters%5Bcontent_type%3Atemplate%5D=1&filters%5Bcontent_type%3A3d%5D=1&filters%5Bcontent_type%3Aimage%5D=1&k=handball+prellen&order=relevance&safe_search=1&limit=100&search_page=1&search_type=usertyped&acp=&aco=handball+prellen&get_facets=0e to score, doesn’t try to score a goal or it takes to long after a goal to restart the game (for example because the goalkeeper throws the ball to far and his teammate at the middle point can not catch it), both referees raise one arm and the passive play starts. Since July of 2022, the team in possession has only four more passes. If they don’t throw the ball at the goal, it is a passive violation and gets punished with a free throw. let the referees know when you want to change a player. There are two things you have to look out for: First, the new player can only enter the field, when the other player is completely from the field. There can’t be more than seven player on the field. Second, the substitution must take place at the substitution area, near the middle line. A wrong substitution results in a two minute penalty.

10.

Last but not least, each team has three sixty second timeouts. However, you are only allowed to use two of them in one half. During that, the players gather together and can take a short break and of course discuss some tactics. A team meeting during another time out (for example because of a hurt player) is not allowed.

I know it is a lot to remember and a lot to understand. But don’t worry, once you have an overview over those rules, you will watch the game very differently. You will already understand why at some point there is one player less on the field or why the time stops. The rest of the rules will also get clear, as soon as you watch a few games. I hope you liked this article and I will see you in the next one.

https://www.rookieroad.com/handball/the-top-10-rules/#1-goals
https://teamhandballnews.com/faq/how-does-player-substitution-work-for-handball/ (Posted on May 19, 2020 by John Ryan)