Effects of Arm Dominance and Decision Demands on Change of Direction Performance in Handball Players

Abstract

This field study investigated the effect of unilateral dominance (handedness of players) on the change of direction speed in a specific cutting manoeuvre with a ball (in the direction of the throwing arm vs. against the direction of the throwing arm) in team handball. In addition, the effect of a cutting manoeuvre in response to an immediate stimulus compared to one planned in advance on the movement speed was analysed. Forty participants (22 male, 18 female, Mage 23 years) performed change of direction actions to the left and the right side (the direction of the throwing arm vs. against the direction of the throwing arm) under planned and reactive (light as visual stimuli) conditions. Change of direction speed was measured post-hoc by video-analyses. The results showed two effects. First, the decision demand in reaction to a visual stimulus reduced the speed in the change of direction compared to the planned action. Second, participants performed their action faster in the direction of the throwing arm than against it. The results replicate the effects of decision demands of previous studies and regardless of the reaction to the stimuli being unspecific, further studies could investigate if specific training can reduce the speed loss due to decision demands. The lateral speed differences of cutting manoeuvres of handball players have been analysed for the first time in this study. This effect could have several causes (e.g., coordination, power, motivation) which should be investigated in future studies in more detail.

Performance of Elite Women's Singles Badminton Players: The Influence of Left-Handed Players

“…If the same point applies to badminton, the increase in drives may be more favorable for left-handed players to win, thus left-handed players performed more drives with their opponents during the game. The additional cognitive task (reacting to stimuli) could affect the time required for orienting and positioning the limbs, which in turn could result in lower velocities for right-handed players ( Fasold et al, 2022 ). The more drives and the faster the tempo, the easier it is for the left-handed player to gain a time pressure advantage.…”