Handball is a high intensity sport characterised by rapid movements, swift direction changes and frequent physical contact which places considerable demands on player’s bodies. Handball as sport continues to evolve and so too must the medical strategies that support its players, to foster a safer and more competitive sporting environment.
The integration of modern sport medicine with a multidisciplinary team approach in today’s handball is indispensable for maintaining players health, optimising performance, enhancing recovery and extending careers. A comprehensive approach encompasses effective injury prevention and management and the adoption of modern medical practices that ensures that players can perform at their best.
Advancements in Sport Medicine have revolutionised injury prevention and management in handball in recent years. Integrating modern medical practices ensures that handball players receive the best possible care.
Preventing injuries in handball is paramount due to the sport’s physical nature. Implementing preventative strategies is essential for maintaining players health and performance. Tailored strength and conditioning regimes are vital. These programs focus on enhancing muscle strength, joint stability and overall physical conditioning, whilst reducing the risk of injuries caused by muscle imbalance and fatigue. Proper warm up routines prepare the body for the demands of handball-increasing blood flow and muscle flexibility. Cool-down exercises, including stretching help in reducing muscle soreness and aiding recovery, minimising the possibility of overuse injuries. Proper handball technique in movement and gameplay are essential to reduce undue stress on joints, muscles, and tendons. In handball, correct jumping, landing and throwing techniques are crucial in preventing injuries. Despite preventive measures, injuries are unfortunately inventible in a contact sport such as handball.
Efficient injury management is critical in minimising athlete downtime and ensuring a swift return to play. Immediate response and initial medical management can significantly impact recovery time.
Individualised rehabilitation programmes are essential for successful recovery. These programs should be comprehensive, involving physiotherapy, strength training and gradual return to play protocols, ensuring athletes regain full functionality and fitness. We have to be mindful that psychological support in recovery from an injury of handball player is not just a physical challenge, but also a mental one.
I can think of no better handball experts to enlist on this topic of Sport Medicine in Handball than our three Guest editors: Professor Marco Cardinale PhD, Professor Grethe Myklebust PT PhD and Associate Professor Merete Moller PT PhD. They all have conducted renowned research and possess a profound understanding and passion for the game of handball.
Marco Cardinale PhD is a sport scientist with extensive experience in fields of sport. He is executive director of research and science support in Aspetar, Associate Editor of the Aspetar Sport Medicine Journal and one of the finest sport scientists in handball.
Grethe Myklebuste PT, PhD is physiotherapist and Professor of Sport Medicine at the Oslo Sport Trauma Research Centre. She lives in Oslo surrounded by her friends, handball coaches and players, and has been involved with the Norwegian Women Handball National Team for the past 20 years. She has published pivotal research on the prevention of sports injuries, particularly on ACL injury prevention in handball players.
Merete Moller PT, PhD is Senior Researcher at the Oslo Trauma Research Sports Centre and is Associate Professor at the University of Southern Denmark. She was a World Champion in handball with the Danish National team, achieving stardom before injuries prematurely ended her playing career. Her research has focused on shoulder injuries in youth handball players.
They have brought together experts from around the World for this Olympics Special–Sport Medicine in Handball–many of whom are former handball players with renowned reputations. This highlights the close-knit nature of the handball community, encompassing all players -women, men, juniors, pioneers, veterans, and disabled athletes. This diverse and inclusive community is united by its shared passion and dedication to handball, which is celebrated both as a beautiful game and as an expression of commitment to excellence in competition.
For me, as a former handball player who has also shared these common handball values throughout my life, I found the most difficult part of this Olympic issue was to decide which handball player we should interview for this Special Olympic issue of Sport Medicine in Handball.
Most of our readers have never heard of the city of Nis. It is a university city located in the south of Serbia. Historians know this city as Naissus because the Roman emperor Constantine (ca A.D. 287-337) was born there. During his reign, Constantine the Great played pivotal roles in elevating the status of Christianity in Rome. He also founded the city of Constantinopolis (today Istanbul) and moved his capital from Rome to this new city.
Handball in Nis has a long-standing tradition dating back to the era of "big handball." In both men’s and women’s competitions, Nis has had representatives in the first national league of the former Yugoslavia.
Several world-renowned handball figures were born in Nis:
-
Zoran Zivkovic was a goalkeeper and a member of the Yugoslav Olympic team in 1972, which won the gold medal in Munich. As a coach, he won a gold medal at the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles.
-
Caslav Grubic won a gold medal as a player at the Los Angeles Olympics and two years later won a gold medal at the World Championship.
-
Bojana Popovic, also born in Nis, won a silver medal at the London Olympics in 2012. She has won the Champions League multiple times with her clubs and has been unofficially recognised as the best women player in the world over the past decade.
-
Nikola Karabatic, widely considered the best man handball player of all time, was also born in Nis.
As you can see, it has not been easy to choose a handball player to be interviewed for this issue. As an athlete and former handball player, I decided: ladies first. I would like to strongly recommend to readers the interview by our guest editor Marco Cardinale with Bojana Popovic–former handball star and now the successful coach of the National Team of Montenegro.
Our guest editors Marco, Grethe and Merete have done a fantastic job. I wish to thank them sincerely for their time and hard work. I am grateful to all of the authors’ handball friends for their valuable contribution to this excellent Olympic special of Sport Medicine in Handball.
I hope that you, our readers, are going to enjoy it.
Prof Nebojsa Popovic MD PhD
Editor-in-Chief