How different defensive formations affect physical match demands in the German Handball-Bundesliga: a comparison of the attacking and defending team

Description

Christian Saal and colleagues published a 2026 study measuring how defensive formations change the physical workload in elite handball. Using a fixed positioning system during the 2023/24 German Handball-Bundesliga season, they analyzed 11,863 positional defense phases involving 316 players from 18 clubs. An algorithm sorted each phase into one of four formations, from the deep 6:0 to the aggressive 3:3. The team then counted accelerations, decelerations, and distance covered per phase for attackers and defenders alike.

More aggressive shapes raised distance covered and the number of sharp speed changes for both teams. Defenders in the advanced shapes showed most strong rises in deceleration events, though the most aggressive 3:3 shape appeared too rarely to judge confidently. Average distance climbed steeply as defenses pushed higher up the court compared with the 6:0 baseline. Coaches can use these numbers to set drill intensity so training loads mirror the shape a team actually plans to play.

Catalog record

Source: https://europepmc.org/articles/PMC13279209