Agility in Handball: Position- and Age-Specific Insights in Performance and Kinematics Using Proximity and Wearable Inertial Sensors

Abstract

Handball is a dynamic team sport characterized by high agility requirements, which feature complex motor–cognitive demands. The ability to meet these demands is critical for performance in handball but remains under-represented in research. Existing studies highlight that cognitive demands can strongly interfere with motor behavior, particularly in dynamic sport-specific movement tasks. Furthermore, high motor–cognitive load is associated with risk of lower limb injury. Therefore, to gain insight in the mechanisms between movement and performance dynamics in the presence of cognitive demands, this study investigated the performance of elite handball players in a novel planned and reactive agility task. Four FitLight proximity sensors (FitLight Corp, Aurora, ON, Canada) recorded execution time. Nine Noraxon Myomotion wearable inertial sensors (Noraxon U.S.A. Inc., Scottsdale, AZ, USA) tracked the motion of the players’ trunk, pelvis, and lower extremities at 200 Hz. Execution time and kinematics were compared between adult and youth players and between different playing positions. Adult players demonstrated faster performance than youth players and exhibited differences in hip and knee flexion, potentially reflecting variations in acceleration and deceleration strategies. Backcourt players and wings demonstrated faster performance compared to pivots, who showed distinct patterns of hip, knee, and ankle flexion, possibly due to differences in body composition. These findings highlight the influence of motor and cognitive demands on agility performance and offer valuable insights into age- and position-specific differences among elite handball players. Furthermore, these findings support the use of wearable inertial sensors for the purpose of athlete evaluation. Future research should explore the implementation into athlete monitoring.