The importance of using different strength assessment variables and their relationship with handball performance

Background: standardized general tests for physical assessment are not sensitive to provide relevant information in team sports. Functional Electromechanical Dynamometers allow the creation of specific strength assessment tasks for transfer to sport. The purposes of the study were to determine the reliability of velocity, power and work of handball specific strength tests (unilateral pullover, standing lift and step-forward), and to investigate the relationship between specific strength tests and handball performance. Methods: fourteen elite male handball players from the first Spanish division participated in this study (28.79±4.81 years, 90.61±12.66 kg, and 1.87±0.10 m). A repeated-measurement design was used to assess handball specific strength tests and handball performance (throwing velocity (TV) and sprint time). Results: relative reliability was very high for all the parameters (ICC≥0.7) except for velocity and power of non-dominant unilateral pullover, and for the peak velocity of non-dominant standing lift and peak and mean velocity of dominant standing lift (ICC<0.7). The TVpeak could be explained by weight, mean power and work of the dominant step-forward in the 66% and the 5m-sprint could be explained by height and mean velocity of the non-dominant step-forward in 49%. Conclusion: these results show the importance of lower-body specific strength in handball training.