(aim of season). Winning games and making efficient use of the team’s potential are paramount.
In the training of youth teams, however, the individual development is the most important objective which has priority over success. The players should also be trained on a general basis, i.e. on each position (no positional specialization, no offense/defense specialization).
Fast breaks play an important role in both areas. Especially for youth teams with their offensively acting defense formations, playing the first wave, carrying the ball forward quickly, and adjusting to outnumbered situations during the fast break play a crucial role.
With increasing age, comprehensive fast break concepts with a well-structured second wave become more and more important.
Annual schedule
The following points should be taken into consideration when creating your annual schedule:
- How many training units do I have (do not forget vacations, holidays, and the season schedule)?
- What do I want to achieve/improve this season?
- What goals should be achieved within a given concept (of the club, the association, i.e. the German Handball Association [DHB], for example)? You can refer to the publications of the DHB for information about defense systems, individual offense/defense skills, and the expected performance of a certain age group.
- What skills does my team have (do the individual players have)? You should continuously analyze and document the skills of your team so that you can make a target-performance comparison at a regular basis.
Individual steps of the annual schedule
A handball season can be divided into the following training phases:
- Preparatory phase until the first game: This phase is suitable for improving physical fitness skills such as endurance.
- 1st part of the season until the Christmas holidays: The Christmas break should be kept in mind here.
- 2nd part of the season until the end of season.
You should then refine and elaborate these training phases step by step.
- Division of training phases into sections with part-specific objectives (monthly schedule, e.g.).
- Division into weekly schedules.
- Planning of individual training units.
Creating well-structured training units
A clear structure is important for the annual schedule as well as for the planning of the individual training units.
- Work with parts (see monthly schedule). You should work on a special topic over a certain period of time, especially in the training of youth teams. That way, you can repeat exercises and make sure the players memorize the courses.
- Each training unit should have a clear training focus. Do not mix topics within a training unit, but make sure that each exercise has a well-defined objective.
- The players are corrected in accordance with the training unit's focus (when training the defense, defense actions are corrected and pointed out).
In each individual planning phase, training units that focus on improving speed of play will play a role in one way or another. Completely new fast break concepts should be developed during the preparatory phase already, whereas decision-making processes, free play, and adjusting from defense to offense play may be improved continuously during all phases.
2. Structuring a training unit
The focus of the training should run like a red thread through the entire unit. It is advisable to follow the basic timescale below:
- Approx. 10 (15) minutes – warm-up.
- Approx. 20 (30) minutes – basic exercises (2 to 3 exercises max. plus goalkeeper warm-up shooting).
- Approx. 20 (30) minutes – basic play.
- Approx. 10 (15) minutes – target play.
1st timescale for a 60-minute training unit / 2nd timescale in brackets for a 90-minute training unit.
Warm-up practices
- Opening of the training unit: It may be advisable to start the training unit with a ritual (get together in a circle, exchanging high-fives) and to explain the contents and the objectives of the training unit to the players.
- Basic warm-up (jogging, activation of blood circulation and the musculoskeletal system).
- Stretching/strengthening/mobilization (preparing the body for the physical stress of the training unit).
- Short games (these should already focus on the objective of the training unit).
Basic exercises
- Ball familiarization (focused on the objective of the training unit).
- Goalkeeper warm-up shooting (focused on the objective of the training unit).
- Individual technique and tactics training.
- Technique and tactics training in small groups.
In general, the running and passing paths are predefined during the basic exercises (you may increase and vary the requirements during the course of the exercise).
Additional information on basic exercise
- Each player should do the drill (switch quickly).
- Very frequent repetitions.
- The players should rotate or do the drill on both sides simultaneously / slightly delayed to avoid long waiting periods.
- Practice individually (1-on-1 to 2-on-2 max.).
- Add additional tasks/drills, if applicable (to make the exercise more complex).
Basic play
Most of all, the basic play differs from the basic exercise in such a way that now there are several options for action (decisions). The player(s) should realize the respective options and make the ideal decision. Here, the players practice decision-making in particular.
- The players should now implement what they practiced during the basic exercises under competitive conditions.
- Working with alternative actions
