Getting Started

Basic Skills

One Hour Handball

Guide To Refereeing

One Hour Handball

One-Hour Handball is the essential team game for youth clubs and schools, which is cheap to
equip for, easy to set up and run, and exciting to play. Heres how !
Facilities
Handball is usually played indoors in a hall although outdoors on a grass or tarmac court would do also. We
recommend that the playing area be no smaller than 25m long x 16m wide. However for younger children (Under
13) a smaller hall could be used.

Equipment
You only need

One set of handball goalposts (2m high x 3m wide, or, 2.6m x 1.8m for younger children)
One plastic handball

One referees whistle

Masking tape or chalk

One 6m length of light rope or string

One or two sets of training bibs

If a set of handball goals are not to hand then it is easy to improvise with for example, tape on a wall or floor mats
against the wall etc.

Setting out the court

This takes about 10 minutes from scratch.

Firstly you set up a goal at each end of
the hall.
Then ask a player to stand on one end of
the rope while you use the other to mark
the tape semi circle, which will serve as
your shooting line.

If the hall is smaller than normal then adjust your shooting line down as low as 4.5m from the goalposts to
compensate.

Players
Every team games requires at least two teams and in Handball this means a minimum of 10 people to actually play
the game. The maximum number depends on the amount of supervision and time available. Normally in a short
session such as this you would have up to 30 people with one coach and an assistant.
Begin by making sure everybody is seated and quiet on one side of the hall facing you, the coach. Begin your
introduction to the group by explaining that they are about to play Olympic Handball which is a new game for girls
and boys, played with a ball and goals.
Next show them the Handball they will be playing with and explain that you are going to pick teams of 6 and that
everyone will get a game provided they are patient and remain seated. Pick the teams in any order you wish to begin
with but if there were more girls that boys for instance you would put out 2 girls teams first.
The first 6 players collect their bibs from you or your assistant and go and stand on one of the shooting lines. The
other team goes to the opposite end of the court and stands on the other shooting line. Ask your assistant to organise
the remaining players into teams at this point and they must remain seated for now.

Handball is easy
The next move is to approach the 2 teams on the court, with you and your assistant taking one team each and
explaining the 3 initial rules to start playing by.
First decide on a goalkeeper. If no volunteers then it is the last one to sit on the line.
Only 3 instructions to begin with :
1.
2.
3.

Players must run towards their opponents goal passing the ball. Only passing and running are allowed at
this stage.
Players score by throwing the ball into the oppositions goal from outside the shooting line.
Players must run back to just outside of their own shooting line and defend their goal with their hands up to
block shots.

Before they play

Pass the ball to each player in turn and demonstrate the passing and catching actions. Pass with 1 hand, catch with 2.
Demonstrate the basic standing shooting action.
The only player allowed to use her feet is the goalkeeper, throw the ball to hit off the keepers legs.
Demonstrate how to defend, emphasising the blocking aspect.
(15 minutes into the session)

Ready, Steady,
At this point we now have 2 teams on the court ready to play Handball.

Go !
Give the ball to one of the goalkeepers and blow your whistle once to start the game. Let the players play for about 5
minutes to get the feel of the game and insist that they follow the 3 instructions. The tone that you should use is
encouraging rather than demanding.
The aim of the game is to score goals and even at this early stage you should encourage players to run, pass and
shoot for goal rather than holding possession.
Blow the whistle when players score a goal and also if you want to stop the game to give further instructions.
Speak clearly and loudly to the players and explain what you are whistling for. This is also for the benefit of those
players watching.
After the first game put the next 2 teams on court and repeat this quick introduction. Do not be tempted to keep
score at this stage.
(30 minutes into the session)

Lights ..... Camera ..... Action !

When all of the players have been put through this preliminary session it is time to move on to a more structured
game.
The first 2 team are called back on for the second time and once again you talk to each team individually and
explain some more features of the game.
Moving with the ball ...

A player may run holding the ball for 3 steps before either bouncing or passing/shooting.
A player may dribble the ball.

A player may only hold the ball for 3 seconds without moving.

Defending ...

Players are not allowed to push or grab an opponent.

Only Blocking is allowed, on and off the ball.

Shooting ...

A player may jump over the shooting line and score provided she lets the ball go before she lands.

You should encourage the players to use the space in the hall to create shooting opportunities e.g. play down the
wings and play Fast Breaks.
Goalkeeper ...

The Goalkeeper is The Man on a Handball team. He initiates all the moves in
attack with fast passes forward, and is the last line of defence when shots get
by his team mates.

A Handball keeper uses his hands and feet to save the ball and nearly always
deflects the ball past the post rather than catch it.

The keeper should react quickly to retrieve the ball after a shot and get it back
into play.

Hey Coach !
You may find it easier to introduce these features gradually during a game by stopping the game briefly to
demonstrate for instance to the attacking team how to Jump shoot, and the defending team how to block.
This type of instruction is very effective if you dont interfere too much with the flow of the game e.g. 3 interuptions
in a game would be OK.
Once again give everybody a short game (5 minutes) at this level before moving on to the last part of the workshop.
(45 minutes into the session)

Competition
The last section is concerned with playing a proper game. Here is where you may introduce a level of competition.
Here are a few suggestions to do this.
1.
2.

With 3 or more teams - Give the teams matches with the first to score 3 goals the winner. Winners stay on
the court and the next team plays them and so on.
With 2 teams - Play one match but swap the players around until you get a fairly even mix of good and not
so good players on both teams.

(60 minutes or more)

Congratulations