Physical performance of elite beach handball referees

Abstract

In most team sports referees seem to face a physical performance decrease in the second half of the match due to fatigue. However, there are no studies comparing the physical demands of beach handball referees between set 1 and set 2. This study aimed to analyse the physical performance of beach handball referees in four different elite categories (U18 male, U18 female, senior male and senior female) considering the set period (first vs second). Twelve elite male federated referees with national or international experience belonging to the Technical Committee of the Royal Spanish Handball Federation participated in this the study. GPS devices were used to analyse the physical demands (distances, speeds, accelerations, decelerations and player load) of these referees. In total 91 matches were analysed through GPS set at 15 Hz as well as the triaxial accelerometer (100 Hz) included in these devices. Student T test for related samples were used to compare between set 1 and set 2. No significant differences between set 1 and set 2 were reported except in highspeed distance (either in relative or absolute) for the senior male competition, and player load (either in relative or absolute) either for the U18 female competition or the senior male competition. These results suggests that beach handball referees experience small to null physical performance decrease in the second set.