These are the bare essentials of handball the basics you should know to be able to play competently.

The Court

The Ball

An official Handball is spherical in shape and made of a synthetic leather material and must not be slippery or shiny. The officiial circumference and weight for

Men is 58-60cm and 425-475g

For Women 54-56cm and 325-375g

The ball is similar to a size 3 basketball and can be easilly held in ones hand for throwing.

The Goal

The Team

A team consists of up to 14 players. The most players allowed on the court at one time per team is 7 players and one of those players must be designated as a goalkeeper. There must be at least 5 players on the court for a game to commence. Player positions incluude a left and right wing, a pivot a left and right back, a center back and a goalkeeper. All players move around the court and can change positions at any time but you will always see them going back to their original formation and positions when they setup properly in attack and defense.

Basic Rules

The Goal Area (Inside the 6m Arc)

The only player allowed inside the goal area is the goalkeeper. Any attacking player with the ball in posession or gaining an advantage by entering the goal area the defending team will get a goalkeeper throw. Any defending player gaining an advantage from entering the goal area will result in the attacking team in receiving a 9m penalty throw. Any defending player entering the goal area destroying a clear chance of the attacker scoring a goal will result in a 7m penalty throw.

Playing the Ball

You are allowed to throw, catch, estop, push or hit the ball. The ball is permitted to touch hands, arms, torso, thighs and knees. Players are permitted to hold the ball for a maximum of 3 seconds, this also includes while the ball is stationary on the ground.

A player can take a maximum of 3 steps while in control of the ball. However if the 3 steps are taken and dribbling or bouncing the ball has not occured while that player has been in control of the ball the player may bounce or dribble the ball and then once finished may take 3 more steps. It is very common to see players take their 3 steps bounce the ball once and take another 3 steps. If more than 3 steps are taken a travel penalty is given and the defending team gets a free throw. Same as if a player dribbles or bounces the ball once, stops and then does either another time while they are still in control of the ball this is also a free throw to the other team.

The ball is not permitted to touch a player below the knee area. If this occurs the opposite team is given a free throw. The only exception to this is when the player in control of the ball deliberately throws the ball at that area of a player.

Fouls

You ARE allowed to use your hands to block or gain posession of the ball. It is also allowed to use an open hand to hit or push the ball away from an opponent. You can obstruct an opponent using your body even if they are in posession of the ball. You may also make contact with your body with bent arms to follow them as long as you are facing forward to the oppenent.

You ARE not allowed to pull or hit the ball out of the hands of an opponent. Block or force away an opponent using your arms, legs or hands. You cannot hold or restrain a players body or uniform, or push, run or jump into an opponent.

While a penalty will be given for any type of foul or infringement sometimes it may be preferrable to give away a 9m penalty to stop a goal scoring opportunity. However depending on the severity of the foul a range of outcomes can happen. Players can be given a yellow card for multiple different offences and depending on what they have done they can be given a 2 minute penalty where they must sit on the bench for 2 minutes or a total exclusion from the game. Committing a foul restraining or holding a person when they are in a clear goal scoring opportunity and you are not directly facing them will result in a 7m penalty.

Causing fouls in a sportsmanlike way is definitely a good defensive tactic.

Goal scoring

A goal is score when the entirety of the ball has gone over the goal line inbetween the goal posts. Once a goal has been scored the ball the ball returns to the center of the court where the team who had the goal scored against wait for the referee to blow the whistle to resume play. The ball must be thrown by the player with the ball to another play to commence play.

Below here you can download the official rules of handball as stated by the IHF. The International Handball Federation.

Attachments:

File	Description	File size
Official IHF Handball Rules		7359 Kb