Abstract
Handball playing positions can be differentiated between first line players who
position themselves near the 6-m line and second line players who typically play
outside the 9-m space. Handball is characterized by a high number of throwing
actions that cause adaptations in the throwing shoulder. The objective of this
cross-sectional study was to assess whether the specific physiological
positional demands in handball lead to functional performance differences
between the playing positions (N=196; goalkeepers:
n=25; backcourt: n=99; pivots:
n=21; winger: n=51) in terms of shoulder mobility
and stability in any reach direction as assessed through the Upper Quarter Y
Balance Test (YBT-UQ). Contrary to our hypothesis, the results did not show
significant differences between the playing positions in shoulder mobility and
stability in youth handball players, irrespective of reach arm and reach
direction. The obtained effect sizes (η
p
2)
were solely small and ranged between 0.01 and 0.03. The adaptations following
the demands of the diverging playing positions do not lead to significant
differences in shoulder mobility and stability on the basis of the YBT-UQ. The
overall training load of youth handball players may not be sufficient to lead to
significant position-specific differences in shoulder mobility and
stability.
Key words
young players - overhead athletes - functional testing - shoulder mobility/stability
