Handball Practice 9 - Basic offense training for players aged 9 to 12 years

The five training units in this book focus on training of handball basic skills for young players aged 9 to 12 years. The individual training units deal with passing precision, shooting movements, dribbling technique, breaking away from man coverage, and passing feints, respectively. The players develop the individual skills methodically and step by step from basic to complex level. You may adjust the complexity of the exercises to your team’s level of performance by intensifying the individual drills.

This book contains the following training units:
TU 1 – Improving passing precision during running movements
The objective of this training unit is to improve the passing precision during running movements, in particular. Following warm-up consisting of combined running moves and passing variants and a short game, the players practice passing while running at full speed during the ball familiarization phase. The goalkeeper warm-up shooting and the subsequent series of shots also focus on playing passes while running at full speed. A second series of shots combines double passes on a defined running path with quick passes in direction of the goal. Finally, the players practice playing precise passes under pressure in a small group game and a closing game.

TU 2 – Developing and improving the shooting movement
This training unit focuses on acquiring and improving correct shooting movements. This means shooting while standing and shooting while running, without a jump however, in order to highlight arm and body movements. Following a warm-up exercise which already involves shots, the players practice the shoulder and arm rotation for shooting and subsequently combine these moves in a passing competition. In a short game, the players implement the shooting movements in a game situation. This is followed by the goalkeeper warm-up shooting and a closing series of shots which focuses on shooting at the goal.

TU 3 – Improving the dribbling technique while observing the game situation
The objective of this training unit is to improve the dribbling technique focusing on simultaneous observation of the game situation. The players combine movements with dribbling already during the warm-up exercise; in a sprint contest and a short game, they practice dribbling at increased speed. Following the goalkeeper warm-up shooting, there will be a series of shots with additional coordination tasks in which the simultaneous observation of signs will be added. The subsequent small group exercise demands observation of the game situation while dribbling the ball. In a closing game, the players should implement what they practiced before.

TU 4 – Breaking away from man coverage using running feints
This training unit focuses on breaking away from man coverage without a ball, by means of running feints. Following warm-up, a sprint contest with changes of direction, and a team ball variant, the players practice quick changes of direction one more time during the goalkeeper warm-up shooting exercise. Subsequently, there will be an individual offense exercise focusing on breaking away by means of running feints. The players will further elaborate this topic in two small group exercises and finally implement what they practiced before in free play.

TU 5 – Gaining positional advantage using passing feints
The key topics of this training unit are passing feints and how to combine them with a breakthrough or a return pass to a teammate. Following a warm-up running exercise, the players already learn how to pass the ball cleverly in a short game; this will be further developed in the ball familiarization phase. In the goalkeeper warm-up shooting exercise, the players practice passing feints in combination with a 1-on-1 breakthrough; in the subsequent series of shots, they combine the passing feint with a return pass to their teammate. Both variants will be implemented twice in the subsequent 1-on-1, 3-on-2, and 4-on-4 games.

JÖRG MADINGER, born in Heidelberg (Germany) in 1970

July 2014 (further training): 3-day coaching workshop: “Basic components of goalkeeper training”, held by the German Handball Association (Deutscher Handballbund, DHB)
Lecturers: Michael Neuhaus, Renate Schubert, Marco Stange, Norbert Potthoff, Olaf Gritz, Andreas Thiel, Henning Fritz

May 2014 (further training): 3-day coaching further training during the VELUX EHF Final4, held by the German Handball Coaching Association (Deutsche Handball Trainer Vereinigung, DHTV)/DHB
Lecturers: Jochen Beppler (DHB coach), Christian vom Dorff (DHB referee), Mark Dragunski (coach of TuSeM Essen, Germany), Klaus-Dieter Petersen (DHB coach), Manolo Cadenas (coach of the Spanish national team)

May 2013 (further training): 3-day coaching further training during the VELUX EHF Final4, held by the German Handball Coaching Association (Deutsche Handball Trainer Vereinigung, DHTV)/DHB
Lecturers: Prof. Dr. Carmen Borggrefe (University of Stuttgart, Germany), Klaus-Dieter Petersen (DHB coach), Dr. Georg Froese (sports psychologist), Jochen Beppler (DHB base camp coach), Carsten Alisch (young talents’ hockey coach)

Since July 2012: A-License, DHB

Since February 2011: Handball club trainings, coaching (training and competitive areas)

November 2011: Foundation of the Handball Specialist Publishing Company (Handball Fachverlag) (handall-uebungen.de, Handball Practice and Special Handball Practice)

May 2009: Foundation of the handball online platform handball-uebungen.de

2008-2010: Youth coordinator and youth coach, SG Leutershausen (Germany)

Since 2006: B-License

Editor’s note

In 1995, a friend convinced me to join him in coaching a handball youth team (male, under 13 years of age).

This was the beginning of my career as a team handball coach. Ever since I enjoyed working as a coach and had high requirements concerning my exercises. Soon, the standard pool of exercises wasn’t enough for me anymore and I started to modify and develop drills myself.

Today, I coach a broad range of youth and adult teams with different performance levels and adjust my training units to the individual needs of the teams.

A few years ago, I started selling my exercises and drills online at handball-uebungen.de. Since, in handball training, there is a tendency towards a general athletic training that focuses on coordination work – especially in the training of youth teams –, a large number of my games and exercises can be applied to other sports as well.

Get inspired by the various game concepts, be creative, and rely on your own experiences!

Yours sincerely,
Jörg Madinger