Qualitative exercises based on energy systems to develop some physiological indicators and passing skills in junior handball players

Background: Handball is one of the sports that involves a large number of positional changes and skills; in addition to that, and from a physiological point of view, it relies on supply of energy, both anaerobic and anaerobic. The aim of this study was to prepare qualitative exercises based on energy systems to develop some physiological indicators and passing and shooting skills in junior handball players and evaluate the effect of specific exercises based on energy systems on the improvement of physiological indicators and passing and shooting skills in junior handball players. Methods: The participants were 20 youth athletes from the Kiwan Sports Club during the 2022–2023 season in Iraq. They were randomly divided into two groups with the same number of participants. The experimental group followed the proposed training program, which was based on prepared-specific exercises according to energy systems, and the control group followed the regular training program implemented by the coach. The proposed program lasted eight weeks, with three training sessions per week, each lasting 120 minutes. Results: The training programs had a significant main effect on the tested physiological indicators and basic handball skills (p < 0.05), with a large effect size. The percentage of improvement ranged from 3.04 to 55% for the program prepared by the coach and from 8.24 to 90.48% for the program with specific energy-system-based exercises. The t-values ranged from 2.641 to 4.788, indicating a significant difference between the two training programs (p < 0.05), favoring the experimental group. Conclusions: Both groups showed improvements in physiological indicators and passing and shooting skills in young handball players. A better development in these areas was found in junior handball players from the experimental group.