We’ve all heard this sage advice to the beginning handball player:  “Get back to center court after you hit your shot!”

Of course, this is sound counsel to the beginner, who is striving to merely make contact with the ball and doesn’t have a clue where his opponent will hit the next shot. Assuming equal ability levels, the opponent probably doesn’t know where he’s going to hit his shot either. 

Thus, the physical center of the court, 20 feet from the front wall and 10 feet from either side wall, is a good starting point for the beginner.

But once you learn to anticipate the shot options available to your opponent, only on a few occasions is the true center of the court the best place to be when your opponent is striking the ball.

A defensive player positioned behind true center court has better options, depending on what shot the opponent takes.

A simple example would be when your opponent is in deep court and hitting with an overhand stroke. Unless you wanted to run extra distances for a great workout, why would you go to the center of the court when your opponent will be hitting a shot that will almost certainly carry into the deep court? Why not start drifting back to get into a great pre-shoot position to return the most likely shot your opponent will hit, a ceiling shot?

There are many reasons the center of the court is not the best place to be. First, let’s start thinking of center court in terms of the reaction time needed to return the shot your opponent will most likely hit, as well as the pre-shoot position you need to attain before hitting your shot. Of course, it’s also important to remember your ability to run faster forward than backward.

The pre-shoot position, a step or two behind and a step away from where you will contact the ball, is very important to consider since any handballer has to be moving forward as he hits the ball. If you don’t step into the shot, it will be a weak one that will probably go errant.

This pre-shoot position means little to the beginner, who is caught up in merely chasing the ball around the court until he can hit it. But for the more experienced player, pre-shoot position is the most important factor for a successful shot.  In fact, the better the player, the more often he strides into his shot with his favorite stroke.

Considering the necessity of getting to a good pre-shoot position, center court in terms of reaction time needed will be at least a step behind the physical center of the court. Figure at least a step, since we must remember our ability to move faster forward than backpedaling.

Now consider the rules of the game. They simply state that you must return the ball before it bounces twice on the floor. Even the best kill-shot artists rarely hit their shots so low that they bounce twice before reaching the service line.  Thus, we’ve dramatically lessened the amount of floor space we’ll need to cover.  Since we’ll never have to protect the portion of the court very near the front wall, we can take another step back from the physical center for our center-court position in terms of reaction time.

These are the easily defined aspects of playing percentage handball, being in the best possible position to hit the best shot the highest percentage of the time. The same principle has long been taught for positioning when receiving service. The percentage player’s receiving position is very deep in the court, just a comfortable distance from the back wall. The reason is simple. From that position, the percentage player will never be forced to reach back as he returns the serve but will be moving forward into every return. This also is the essence of good pre-shoot position.

Of course, there will be exceptions, and the receiver can make an adjustment and move forward in the court if the opponent hits an extremely soft serve or is having an exceptional day at hitting the crack. But how often have you lost a match because your opponent was cracking out aces? Almost any losing cause is due more to consistently weak service returns from poor pre-shoot positions.

Unfortunately, center court in terms of reaction time cannot be defined as a specific spot on the court. When we backed up center court to two steps behind the short line and equidistant from either side wall, we didn’t take into account the way our opponent was setting up to hit his shot or the shot that we just hit.

So we’re going to broaden this area by putting our anticipation skills to good use. When we’re finished defining it, center court in terms of reaction time will be a large, egg-shaped area.

There’s one more consideration we’ll need to account for, whether we move better to our right or our left and which hand we’d rather use to return the ball. For most of us, this will result in a position with our strong arms resting equidistant from either side wall rather than the center of our body.

Before we try to determine where our opponent is going to hit his shot, we can start our quest to be in the best position by merely following our shot around the court. You’ll want to follow your shot around the court from within the egg-shaped area for a couple of reasons:

• So you can be in the best position no matter when your opponent decided to hit his shot, whether it be out of the air or after it travels deeper in the court.
• So you can stay on your toes and move around this area, thereby keeping the beat of the rally, ready to move and make whatever play is necessary.

Your movement inside this area will directly correspond to the path of the shot you hit. If your shot is headed to the deep right, you will be moving toward the deep right portion of the egg-shaped area. If  your shot is a three-wall wrap, you will be moving inside the area as the ball travels around the court. This will put you in the best position to retrieve your opponent’s shot if he attempts to take it on the fly or if he backs up to return it from deep court.

You’ll want to keep moving around this area as your shot travels around the court until your opponent starts to set up to hit his shot. Until he starts to move into his shot, you won’t be able to anticipate where he’s aiming.

But if he’s on the right side of the court, he can hit a shot down the right wall to end the rally much more quickly than he could pass you on the left. It would take much longer for the ball to travel the extra distance–and here is where reaction time comes into play. A shot hit cross-court will take longer to travel the extra distance than a shot hit down the side wall to which your opponent is nearest.

Moving to the right to protect yourself from the quick shot down the right side wall will also help in forcing your opponent to hit the shot that will give you more time to react, the one to the left.

And you can probably start thinking about moving in that direction, since no knowledgeable handballer will hit the ball right back to you. Of course, this same theory will apply to shots that will have to be played near the left wall.

However, a word of caution is needed. Whenever I bring up this center-court theory at clinics, it never fails that at least one player turns this anticipation theory into an obvious intimidation ploy—he’ll play far too close to the opponent. It is not intended to help you create avoidable hinders by over-killing this strategy. Use it to achieve great pre-shoot position and be in good position to retrieve your opponent’s offensive attempts. The intimidation factor will be present just by doing that.

Finally, as your opponent sets to hit his shot, your anticipation skills will come into play. The key to having great anticipation skills is to remember how you aim your shots and then watch your opponent set up to hit his shots. Of course,you’ll want to scout any new opponent and remember any favorite shots of a regular opponent. The same mechanical rules you follow in hitting a handball will most certainly apply to your opponent.

If your opponent is in deep court, setting to hit an overhand shot, you can safely stay in deep court. His shot will almost definitely end up in deep court. If it doesn’t, you’ll still have time to cover an errant shot that ends up in the front court.
However, the anticipation clues your opponent gives you get stickier when he is setting to hit an underhand or sidearm shot. But the angle of his body, determined by drawing an imaginary line between the tie in his shoestrings, will tell you which side of the court he is aiming his shot.

Cheating up into true center court can be a good move when the opponent is forced into playing defense from a troubled position.

This line is his power line, the direction his body weight is moving. Just like a baseball hitter can’t go to the opposite field once he steps to pull the ball, a handball player can’t send his weight in one direction and hit the ball in another with any consistency.

After noting your opponent’s depth in the court, stroke and power line, you’ll want to note the amount of bend in his legs. No one can kill consistently from a standing position, but they can still pass you. So prepare for the pass on these occasions when he’s hitting sidearm but with no bend in the legs. 

When the front knee is deeply bent, you will have to prepare for the kill attempt but still be ready to chase a pass or even a punch to the ceiling, since he still has each of these options. A scouting report will help you determine this player’s tendencies.

The last possible moment to make your move to a good pre-shoot position is as the ball leaves your opponent’s hand. If you weren’t already moving, you have lost some valuable time. Now is the time to make up for your slow start.

There’s nothing more disadvantageous to your getting to a good pre-shoot position or making a retrieve than not making a move, even if your initial move is wrong. You’ll find that with practice, your wrong moves will be fewer, while your great gets and good pre-shoot positions will be envied.

Upon hearing this argument for center-court position in terms of reaction time, which is deeper in the court than true center court, some have argued that the player who follows this strategy won’t be able to keep pressure on his opponent with the fly shot. But nothing could be further from the truth. You’ll find yourself in position for many more fly shots. Again, the reasoning is simple.

Most fly shots are hit from the area behind the service line and in front of the receiver’s restraining lines. A good pre-shoot position for these fly opportunities obviously fits with the deeper court positioning we’ve been discussing. Thus, we won’t be positioned in front of the short line unless we’re sure our opponent is attempting a kill.

If we were positioned at the short line to take advantage of fly opportunities, we would only have a good pre-shoot position for those balls that can be taken on the fly forward of the service line. However, those aren’t really fly opportunities, since the ball would be dropping too fast and we wouldn’t have the time necessary to stroke the ball—they’re just too difficult to fly. A short-line position needlessly leaves us too vulnerable to the pass without the reaction time necessary to make any other kind of play.

Hopefully, you will now be moving forward into every shot you hit.

Avoid the shaded gray area in the middle portion of the court when you’re hitting straight-line, front-to-back shots.  Use the green side corridors to get the most effectiveness out of your straight-line, front-to-back shots.

By Mike Dau
Handball Coach
Lake Forest College

Some years back, a great player shared with me his thoughts about playing a perfect game. To accomplish this nearly impossible task, he said that all his straight-line, front-to-back shots would run down the walls and all his other shots would contact at least one side wall.

It certainly sounded simple enough, but with my limited knowledge of the game, I needed an explanation in greater depth.

“Avoid hitting straight-line shots in the area between the doubles boxes,” he said. “In other words, keep them out of the middle of the court, and execute angle shots when you cannot control the ball down the walls.”

If you can visualize a narrow corridor the width of the doubles box on both sides of the court, this is the area for hitting straight-line, front-to-back shots (see the diagram). These would include serves, kills, passes and ceiling shots.  Creating difficult situations for an opponent is basic strategy in any match. This objective is better achieved the closer the ball runs down a wall.

When a rally situation makes it difficult to execute a straight-line shot down a wall, then a cross-court angle shot is the best option. Using the side walls correctly can either end a rally or dictate a defensive return by your opponent.

The diagrams below are defensive shots executed from the back quarter of the court taken off the back wall or a ground stroke off the floor.

Diagram A: Illustrates a shot taken near the right side wall that requires the use of the right hand. The ball should be directed to the front wall, left of center, 4 to 6 feet high, with power and at an angle that allows the ball to contact the side wall near the short line.

Diagram B: Illustrates a shot taken near the left side wall that requires the use of the left hand. It is the same shot shown in Diagram A, except that the ball is directed to the right of center.

Diagram C: Illustrates a shot taken near the middle of the court. From this position the ball can be directed into two walls, right or left. The principles in Diagrams A and B can be applied, although the angle must be adjusted.

Diagram D: Illustrates a three-wall option to Diagram C. The ball directed side-front-side has to be hit hard and should contact the initial side wall 8 to 12 feet high. Hitting the ball higher might result in the ball rebounding back into the front court and providing the opponent with an offensive opportunity. Generally, a right-handed player from this deep mid-court position would drive the ball into the right side wall, and a left-handed player would drive the ball into the left side wall.

Diagram E: Illustrates a three-wall shot taken by a right-handed player 3 to 4 feet from the left wall, enough space to allow hitting the ball with the right hand. A left-handed player could hit the same type of shot, with the left hand, 3 to 4 feet from the right wall, directing it into the left side wall.

To elevate your game to another level, consistency in cross-court shots must be achieved. There is no solution other than practice, and you can start by standing in the back quarter of the court, dropping the ball as you would when serving and trying to execute the angle shots as described. The next step would be to lag the ball into the front wall, forcing you to take a ground stroke in the back quarter, each time in different floor positions. Then try back-wall shots from the back quarter, again moving the location, forcing different angles.

Over the years in teaching seminars, I have used the catchphrase “High diddle, diddle, keep the ball out of the middle.”  Easy to say, not so easy to do unless you work at it.

The serve is the one-wall handball player’s greatest and deadliest weapon–for several reasons.

The one-wall server is dealing with a short line much closer to the wall than in three- and four-wall, 16 feet as opposed to 20 feet. As he faces the wall, the one-wall server has the short line in front of him, whereas the three- or four-waller has the short line behind him. 

Thus, in an ideal situation, a good one-wall serve has to travel 3 feet less than a good three- or four-wall serve: 16 feet in and 16 feet out for a total of 32, as compared with 15 feet in and 20 feet out for a total of 35.
This gives the one-waller an advantage, not only on the serve itself but also on hand-ling the receiver’s return.

One-wall is a serve-and-shoot game of angles. The server’s lead foot ends up practically on top of the short line. Even with practice you’ll still commit an occasional foot fault, but it will be worth the edge you will gain on other service attempts. Being closer to the short line, and therefore the wall, means the serve needs to travel less distance.

This creates certain advantages:

A server can increase his advantage by hiding the ball from the receiver as he serves.

• A lower serve. If the velocity is kept constant, the ball can be aimed lower because it needs to travel a shorter distance.
• A faster serve. Covering less distance at the same speed means it takes less time.
• Fewer short serves. If you start 2 inches closer to the short line, balls that were 2 inches short would now be good.
• A greater angle on cross-court serves. The short line was originally positioned at 13 feet 9 inches. Realization of the sharp angles obtainable on the serve along with changes in the ball resulted in it being moved back, first to 15 feet, now to 16 feet.
• Better positioning for the receiver’s return of serve. Standing on the short line allows the server to cover the opponent’s angles, kills, lifts and passes by taking a step or two in the appropriate direction.
• Conservation of energy. If you don’t believe this, just move the short line back 6 to 12 inches and try hitting the same serves.

Singles

The best singles players serve from within a few feet of the side line. Righties are partial to the right side line and lefties to the left one.

One reason for this is that as they strike the ball, their hand is hidden from the receiver’s view. When starting the serve and appearing to be going up the line, a break of the wrist will send the ball a mile away toward the opposite side of the court.

Another reason is that they can hit the ball harder when they serve behind themselves, thereby making their cross-court offerings more devastating. Using a combination of cross-court angles along with shots straight up the side line is extremely effective. Toss in an occasional deep one, throw in some hooks and your serve will be absolutely deadly.

The third advantage is that you can legally hide the serve from the receiver’s view. Since you’ll have more problems with hinder serves on your attempts up the line, it is often used to keep the opponent honest, and the majority of serves will probably be cross-court. In singles it is impossible to return a combination of successive shots hit strongly to opposite corners of the court. So when the serve gets returned weakly, just swat it into a corner.

Serving with your back to the closest side line can also be quite effective. Doing this allows the server to keep a close watch on the opponent’s last-minute shifts in direction. Correct use of this tactic involves leading the receiver to believe that

the ball will be hit cross-court. At the last moment you can flick your wrist and pull the ball behind you. The greater your ability to make the receiver move the wrong way, the fewer times the referee will call a hinder serve.
One reason to use this service position is that it makes it extremely difficult for the receiver to find your opposite hand on his return of serve. Attempts to do so will often result in the return landing outside the playing zone.

Doubles

When you see a lefty and a righty paired up against each other, you’ll notice that the server may change his game around and increase the number of serves up the line to the off hand as opposed to using the cross- court angle to the opponent’s strong hand.

Lefties go up the line more often than righties. Since lefties play righties on a consistent basis, they are more accustomed to returning the serve cross-court to the server’s off hand, and the righty is more comfortable serving cross-court because he is usually playing another righty and the serve would be to the opponent’s off hand.

On the other side of the coin, the righty’s customary return up the left side line will be feeding the lefty’s strength. By now you’ve probably realized that serving with your back to the closest side line is commonly done when a lefty and a righty play against each other. You don’t have to be a genius to see that a strong serve to the receiver’s off hand will result in a hanger to your strong hand.

Of course, there is the rare chance that two lefties will face each other. You never know what might happen in this case.

Unlike three- and four-wall, the lefty on a lefty-righty team plays the right side. The advantages to this formation are:

• Players can limit court coverage with their off hands by standing closer to the side line.
• An opponent’s attempt to find an off hand may result in the ball landing outside the playing zone. Since both teammates’ dominant hands are in the center of the court, players can increase court coverage with their strong hands by using the same strategy.
• When positioned to strike the ball with your dominant hand, you will be facing your partner, and the view of each other’s position and actions is facilitated. When the return is down the center of the court, the lefty-righty team can confuse the opposition by appearing that each player will strike the ball to a different area on the court. This forces the defensive team to cover more area since they may be indecisive as to which player will actually be hitting the ball.

When you start playing doubles, many veterans will tell you to serve deep, with a hook, and go off the wall with a fly shot.  They’re right: Stick with a serve near the long line. Since there are two receivers, the angle serve will not be as effective when used by a left-side player. The receiving side will shift and take advantage of the huge opening you’ve created by choosing this service position. The gap will be between the server and his partner or the side line, depending on which distance is greater.

There are some exceptions to this approach. The first is when a righty is serving from the right side. Then the gap doesn’t exist because your partner will be straddling the service marker on the left line. The receiver will be pulled off the court and forced to return the ball to your partner’s right hand. And an opening will have been created in center court. A drive up the middle will be a high-percentage second shot, virtually guaranteeing that a point is scored.

When playing a lefty-righty team you’ll need to be a little more careful, since the lefty plays the right side and his strong hand is in the center of the court. To keep the lefty honest you’ll need to hit a few of your second shots to the right corner, preferably in front of your partner.

The second exception is when a righty is serving from the left side to a lefty, and vice versa. This can be successful for the following reasons:

• Your partner, positioned astraddle the service marker, will help protect against possible passes up that side line.
• The receiver is forced to return the serve back toward your strong hand. If you are part of a lefty-righty team, you’ll have two strong hands in the middle, and therefore a choice as to who gets to hammer in the winner.

In general, stay away from the side lines. It isn’t worth losing your serve if the ball strays wide. Aiming for the short or long lines is less of a gamble since the penalty is only a fault.

When serving, try to hit deep to the supportive player’s opposite hand. This will be the safest yet most effective serve you can use. If your opponents shift to give added coverage, they will be creating an opening on one side of the court. When necessary, serve to the opening. This forces them to stay honest and reopens the opportunity to go back to the original serve.

There are times when the supportive player will be returning your serve effectively. These occasions call for a change of strategy. Start serving to the dominant player. He may not do a better job of hand-ling the serve and will also have a much harder time getting back up front. Remember, he’ll be responsible for covering the majority of the court, and this tactic will result in more court being inadequately defended against your team’s follow-up of his return of service.

When playing a lefty-righty team, a serve up the center can still be quite effective. An occasional low serve to the side lines will create the opening in the middle. Now when you serve up the center there will be two players hanging back to make the return. This means confusion between the receivers and lack of front-court coverage.  It isn’t unusual to see teammates interfere with each other’s shots, or to see both receivers leave the ball for their partner, meaning a likely point for the server.

Second serve

Your No. 1 priority is putting the ball in play. At a minimum, this will put you in the rally and provide your opponent with a chance to foul up.

Contemplate the progression of the match and determine the amount of risk you are willing to take. After doing your calculations, you’ll probably decide to take a little off your next attempt. This indicates playing it safer. Stay away from the border of the receiving zone, since a mis-hit can mean losing your serve. Aiming for the junction, a side line with the short or long line, doubles your chances of messing up. A little less power means a lot more control.
Lastly, a lousy serve will almost certainly cause your side to lose the rally.

By now you are probably scratching your head and asking yourself: “What options does this leave me with?” One suggestion is targeting the area 3 feet in front of the long line. This allows room for error and prevents the receiver from pouncing on the ball. In addition, a deep serve will often provide an easy follow-up shot.

Mixing it up

Try different things. Change the speed, position and height of your serves to find what you and your opponent’s strengths and weaknesses are. Control players can afford to use more of the court. Power players may need to stay away from the lines.

Controlled power can be menacing and is often just the right combination to make a champion. If nothing else, mixing it up will prevent opponents from getting used to what you have.

     We all make them, some of us more than others.  We’ll never totally eliminate hand errors from our game.  But if we follow a couple of simple rules, we can minimize the number of mistakes. 
     The vast majority of hand errors are made when a player takes his eyes off the ball at the last crucial moment or when he is attempting a shot he shouldn’t have attempted in the first place.
     You often hear the advice: Keep your eyes on the ball.  However, do you know what that really means and what watching the ball really entails?  Have you ever watched the ball all the way into your hand as you hit it?
     That is what watching the ball and keeping your eyes on the ball really mean.  Anytime you see a top player hit a handball, you’ll notice that his head is down, much like a golfer’s, as he strikes the ball.  He does that to follow the ball all the way into his hand.  The best golfers also keep their heads down to keep their eyes on the target, as well as generating the most power possible with their swing.
     The same theory applies to handballers.  You can generate more power by keeping your nose on the ball and giving your shoulders an axis on which to rotate than by picking your head up as you swing.
The success of Ted Williams, widely acclaimed as the best hitter in baseball history, was attributed to his ability to actually see the baseball hit his bat. Of course, Williams was also blessed with eyesight of 20/15, but we can follow a handball into our hands more easily than a baseball hitter can follow the ball all the way to the bat.
     Anyone who tries to hit a shot while looking at the front wall or the spot to which he is aiming is not watching the ball. The walls of a handball court don’t move.  Even the neophyte knows where the walls are, so don’t worry about them. You, your opponent and the ball are the only things moving.  Try to know where all three are at all times.
     Unfortunately, watching the ball is not as easy as it sounds.  The best way to concentrate fully and keep your eyes on the ball is a personal thing.  What has worked best for me and many others is to focus on watching something about the ball. Try to pick up the spin on the ball.  A speck of dirt, the label on a new ball and the seam are good things to focus on when trying to determine the spin.  And the act of serving is a great place to start your training.
     Another trick to help you keep your eyes on the ball is to follow the ball around the court with your nose.  That will make the ball and your line of vision meet your hand at the same time.
     If keeping your nose pointed at the ball feels uncomfortable, you probably haven’t been watching the ball properly, especially when it’s behind you and you should be anticipating your opponent’s return.  Concentrate on keeping your eyes glued to the ball until you’re comfortable following the ball around the court and into your hand.
     When you’ve mastered the habit of watching the ball properly, you’ll also note that your opponent is scoring far less often as the result of a hand error on your part.
     One of Lake Forest College coach Mike Dau’s favorite instructions is this: Send the ball back where it came from.  This is probably the most important fundamental theory to learn when striving to improve your handball game.
     Whenever you hit a ball, you should hit it back in the direction it came from.  Or if you’re playing the ball off the back wall, you should hit it back in the same direction it’s traveling.  Put even more simply, don’t change the direction of the ball’s flight.
     The reason for hitting the ball back from where it came, or continuing the direction of a back-wall shot, is to make your job of returning it easier.  No matter where we aim our shot, we want to use our body weight to power the ball.  This is accomplished by stepping in the direction we are aiming, just as a hitter in baseball pulls the ball or goes to the opposite field.
     A “power line,” the direction our body weight is moving, can be drawn by tracing a path between the tie in our shoestrings.  This is the direction we are aiming our shots.  Even when we aren’t consciously trying to steer the ball in this direction, that’s where it will go.
     As you get to your pre-shoot position, set yourself with your power line parallel to the flight path of the ball.  Addressing the ball in this manner will allow you to stride into every shot just as if you were hitting it straight ahead. This will provide you with the most power since you will be making the best use of your body weight.  Of course, you’ll be sending it back in the same direction it is traveling.
     More important, in terms of hand errors, sending the ball back in the direction it came from will allow for the largest margin for error on your point of contact.  When trying to make a drastic change in the direction of the ball, such as when attempting a left-corner kill with your right hand on a ball coming at you from the right side of the court, the point of contact is crucial.
But if you were sending this ball back from where it came, there’s a much larger strike zone on the point of contact.  Thus, a successful or good shot can still be executed in spite of small errors in judging where the ball will be contacted.
Attempting difficult shots — those with a small margin for error on the point of contact — leads to hand errors.  A successful shot is far more likely when hitting the ball back from where it came.
These levels of difficulty should have you thinking about what shots to attempt and what shots to delete from your repertoire to eliminate hand errors.