Handball in high school
& post secondary institution

Grades 9 & up

Level II Coaching Certification

Best Practices & Certification

Highly recommended FREE document :
Teacher GUIDE from IHF

We recommend to practice few drills then
finish the last 20 minutes of the lesson with a scrimmage.

Select at least 2 goalkeepers and divide your class in 4 to 6 groups (of 6 players).
Every 5 minutes, call the next 2 groups on the court.

Equipments

We recommend Molten d60 Pro
size 3 for boys and size 2 for girls

You can get a pair of goals from EPIC SPORTS. It is the same size as
futzal goal. LINK

The length may vary depending the size of the gymnasium (LINK)

Introduce the rules progressively
after teaching some drills

Day 1
. We can hold the ball 3 seconds.

. Allow to shoot stem shots and jump shots always outside the goalkeeper zone.

. Students learn the free-throw (defense stays at 6 meters and offense backup behind 9 meters dotted line.
. If a player throws the ball on the face of goalie (and goalie was not moving side way) = Disqualification
. Yellow card (warning) if a defender uses roughness. On second warning = suspension 2 minutes.

Day 2
. We can move with the ball ( 3 steps: Left – right – left or right-right- left).
. After 1 dribble the player can have 3 more seconds or/and 3 more steps.
. A player can dribble several times (like basket-ball) with 1 hand only.

. There is NO rebound if a shoot hit the wall behind goal. It is a goalie’s throw.

. Suspension 2 minutes if you play/block/kick the ball with you leg (under the knee. Except goalkeeper)

. If the ball is deflected (block) outside the goal over the goal line = corner throw

Day 3
. After a goal, there is a face off in the middle of the court.

. We introduce the jump shot over the crease. You must release the ball before making contact with the crease.

. When the ball leaves the court (side line): Students learn how to make a throw-in.

. On minor fault by the defense, we call free-throw (all offensive shall be outside 9 m. dotted line.
. Body contact on a shooter over the crease, penalty shot from 7 m. line. The goalie cannot cross 4 m. line.

. When an offensive player lost his/her balance because of roughness from a defender = suspension 2 minutes.

Day 1

Lesson No. 1

Learn to pass the ball while doing 3 steps dribble, 3 steps then a small "push" pass

A "push pass" is like a basket ball pass but we use 1 hand

Warm-up the goalie

In the following drills we will shoot 80 shots at the net (sets of 20 shots (+- few shots)
We have 20 shots like the following:

If the right handed shooter does a half pretzel shot then he/she throws low side between right arm and floor
otherwise it is a stem shot and the shot is low side straight.

Warm-up goalkeepers
Read the shooter's movement
&
anticipation

When we warm-up goalkeepers we use stem shot. The shot has to be acurate in the same corner for right handed and opposite corner for left handed.

Drill No 1: Low corners

When the right handed shooter does half pretzel then the goalkeeper reacts for a LOW shot between right arm and the floor

When the left handed shooter does half pretzel then the goalkeeper reacts for a LOW shot between left arm and the floor

Drill No. 2 High corners

20 shots

We start from left back & one defender stands at 6 m. and forces the shot on the closest post (1st post)
The goalie has to move quickly because we alternate from left back shot to right back shot

Backs shoot after 2 steps:
(right handed catches on right foot then left - shoot)
(left handed catches on left foot then right - shoot)

Drill No. 3 Wings shot

Here the basic position depending if the winger has few angle, medium angle of large angle

Drill No 3:
20 shots
Before the game starts we have wingers shooting
Left wings starts first then
Right wingers go
During that shooting 1 defender tries to intercept a pass between the 3 backs.
After 4 passes the backs reset or change for 3 new backs.

Last drill before starting the game

Setup a stationary passer between 2 rows (wingers and backs)
This drill alternate side every 5 shots.
Players tries to score 1 shot = 1 goal
Coach is figuring who is hot or cold as well which goalkeeper starts in the net.

Day 2

How to develop strategic thinking
while working on individual skill ?

Note: 70% of all goals scores during a game are from great individual skills.
It is important to setup drills force the players to think strategicaly.

1 row of left backs with balls
1 row of left winger
1 row of pivot
1 defender men to men on left-back
1 passer in position of center-back
1st pass is from left-back to pass
Pivot runs in a semi circle towards left winger (3 steps, dribble is optional) then pick on defender outside 9 m.
Left winger receives the ball
(Option 1 = Left-winger shoots)
(option A = Pass to pivot rolling off the pick)
(Option 2 = Pivot shoots )
(option B = Pass to left-back after is fake to go left and go inside)
(Option 3 = Left-back shoots)
The left back can shoot on 2 steps or 3 steps or swenker

Add a defender at the 6 m.
3 offensive players vs 2 defenders

Add a defender at the 6 m.
3 offensive players vs 3 defenders

Day 3

2 rows & no defender
2 goalkeepers
Alternate the shooting

Each player has a ball. Pass to the goalie. Once the goalie brings the ball over the shoulder, the player starts running slowly towards the 9 meters line. The offensive player must execute 3 steps, 1 dribble, 3 steps then a stem shot or jump shot.

Add a defender. We rotate the defender if our goalie makes 3 saves or 3 missed shots.
The last shooter who misses his/her goal goes on defense.

Centre-back has a ball
We alternate side. Starts on left winger side then alternate to right side.

We create a 4 on 1 on the left side.
The player who misses the shot at the goal, goes in defense. The defender becomes center-back
Center-back passes to pivot in movement
Pivot executes 2-3 steps and passes to left-back
Left-back has an option of shooting or pass (protected pass) to center-back or pass back to pivot
Center-back has option to shoot, pass to pivot or to winger using a bounced pass (recommended)
Winger has option to shoot or pass over the crease to left-back (flop)

Add a second defender (same drill 4 on 2)
The player who misses the shot at the goal, goes in defense. He replaces defender 1 and defender 1 replaces defender 2. The defender becomes centre-back

Add a third defender (same drill 4 on 3)
Same concept as previous drill. When an offensive player does not score,
he/she goes in defense to replace the defense.

Day 4

Stem shot

The shooter reads thru the defense
and locate the position of the goalkeeper

The shooter reads the defense
and tries to shoot without being block
It is important to catch the ball while the feet don't touch the ground
because when the feet lands, the referee counts as step 0
(so the advantage is to have 3 steps to move)
(pretzel and half pretzel are introduced)
Note: A defender who uses his leg to block = 2 min. suspension

When the shooter does NOT SCORE, he takes the position of defender.

We use the same drill for the pretzel and half-pretzel shot.
It is easier to do when the offensive player catches the ball while landing on right foot
then we transfer the jump to the left foot by making a step away of the defender.

Day 5

The jump shot & Schwenker

We start with the schwenker (fake jump shot drible then jump shot)
The player fakes a jump shot then before landing the player dribble the ball
then jump again before shooting

We use the same drill for
Jump Shot

We use the same drill for
-Fake left and go right
-Fake Right and go left

(You could use 1 dribble before the fake)

This Russian athlete is using a different technique. She holds the ball with 2 hands then transfer the ball in her left hand, Before shooting she transfers the ball to her right hand. She jumps off the left foot.

The wing shot

The 3 types of wing's shot

We use this drill 3 on 2
The pivot, the center-back & the winger can shoot
If the defenders are protecting the middle
we recommend the shot from the winger
If the pivot or the center-back does not score
then we switch BOTH in defense

Day 6

The pivot shot

The pivot always faces the passer in order to receive a pass.
Pay attention to the legs when the pivot wants to create space
Passing the ball over is discourage (too risky for turnover) unless your pivot is more than 2, 20 m.

2 on 2
Back & pivot

Pivot learns to move and get the ball in the opening
The center-back passes to stationary passer
The center-back gets the ball on the move (dribble is optional)
The center-back must change direction (forcing the defender creating an opening)
Bounce pass is recommended (less chance of turnovers)
This drill is done on both sides as well and the center-back can either go left or right.
If there is NO GOAL then the center-back becomes a defender.

2 on 2
Winger and pivot

The winger passes the ball to a stationary left-back
The winger gets the ball on the move and tries to attack towards defender No.2
The pivot moves his leg to make sure that defender No. 1 does not intercept the pass from the winger
If there is NO quality shot then the pivot moves in defense.
The coach makes the judgment on the quality of the shot.

Day 7

GG (George Ganas) move
(or the swim move)
for backs and wingers

Be aware that (right handed) that if you use your left hand to push the defender on the shoulder
official could call a charging.
If you play the arm or the wrist of the defender, you should be fine.

Can be done with or without a dribble after the fake

We use this drill for all players

It is important that the wingers learn to execute this technique

Wingers in position No 2 or 3

Use this drill 3 offensive players vs 2 defenders
Wingers must learn in this specific position
In this drill we work on quality passes to the pivot
and the winger works on the 1 on 1 skill

Make sure the back and the pivot DO NOT "telegraph" the pass :
It means the pass is done without looking at the receiver

On this drill, the last player who receives the pass must shoot.
If there is no goal then the shooter goes in defense.
The back, the pivot or the winger can score.

In level 3, we will see when we use the winger as pivot (wing departure)
and the flop (pass over the crease)

Day 8

One on One jumping on the wrong foot
&
spin move

This is the drill we use

Variations of 1 on 1
for wingers and backs

The side shot (or the screened shot)

The shooter must alternate getting the pass from the right side to the left side

The spin shot or rolling shot

The technique used for right handed player

The slow motion for left handed player

We use this drill 3 on 2
The pivot, the center-back & the winger can shoot
If the defenders are protecting the middle
we recommend the shot from the winger
If the pivot or the center-back does not score
then we switch BOTH in defense

Day 9

Integration of the techniques learned

2 on 1

Notice that you must alternate side of the play
So we recommend 10 goals on right side then 10 goals on left side