Comparison of Repeated Sprint Ability and Fatigue Index Among Male Handball Players with Respect to Different Playing Position

Abstract

The intent of the present study was to compare repeated sprint ability and fatigue index among male handball players with respect to different playing position. I have selected thirty two (32) male handball players from Department of Physical Education and Sports Sciences, Annamalai university, Chidambram, Tamilnadu, India. These players were classified into four groups as backs (n = 12), wings (n = 7), pivots (n = 7) and goalkeepers (n = 6) respectively. These selected subjects, who practice handball regularly and take part in competition. The selected subjects mean age: 21.62 ± 1.90 years; weight: 64.59 ± 7.25 kg and height: 172.07 ± 7.25 cm. The volunteered subjects signed a separate consent form to participate in the study. The repeated sprint ability and fatigue index were selected as criterion variables. To evaluate the repeated sprint ability and fatigue index all subjects completed multiple sprint running protocols, which consisted of 7 × 30 m sprints repeated at 25 s intervals. The total sprint time was calculated by summation of all seven sprint time and fatigue index was calculated from sprint times using the following formulae: Fatigue = {(slowest sprint – fastest sprint) / fastest sprint} x 100. The collected data was analysed using one way Analysis of variance (ANOVA). When F ratio was found significant, Scheffe’s post hoc test was applied to know the difference between the four groups. The result of the study showed that total sprint time (F = 6.163, p = 0.002) and fatigue index (F = 4.577, p = 0.010) showed a significant difference among male handball players in different playing position. It denotes that total sprint time and fatigue index found to be best in wing players and poor in goalkeepers. It is concluded that lower total sprint time and fatigue index by repeated sprint ability is an important for wing players as they are the players who perform the most picks and require high levels of aerobic capacity to aid recovery after high-intensity bouts of activity. However, it also required for back court, pivot and goal keepers. It importance cannot be neglected since all the field players in the court gets equal chance for fast break and quick counterattacks. The role of the repeated sprint ability is greater and which determines the result of the match.