Handball is often considered as a really low-key profile, but the game has lasted even though its global popularity has not been cutting-edge. Yet, handball deserves every reason to be recognized for the competitive and highly demanding sport it is, and even if you don’t intend to make a career out of it, you can always check out the handball betting odds and place a quick flutter.
Outside of betting, handball is clearly one of the most complex sports that will make sure that you develop overall physical fitness and mental health, as well as grit to push through difficult situations. There is a lot that handball can offer to your body and mind if you ever choose to train the sport a little more actively.
Handball offers great physical and mental health benefits, and if you are keen on expanding your overall well-being, this sport may be one of the best to explore. Below are eight reasons why handball is believed to be a good choice of sport.
#1 Build Up Your Fitness
To be a great handball player is no different than being a great football player. You ought to have attributes and qualities that will allow you to perform well under pressure and respond almost instinctively to any situation.
Building that type of physical fitness requires dedication and unfaltering commitment to the end goal, which is to be a better handball player. There are many different positions in handball, but they all expect you to be in equal physical shape.
Wings need to cover the field in split seconds, and strikes ought to always have energy and stamina to push through a solid defense, spot a weak defender’s position, and shoot through them. This requires efforts that are only feasible if you have been training in a dedicated fashion.
The benefits of that, though, are clear. You will develop a physique that will allow you to do away with any type of physical activity in your everyday life and, because of how mentally demanding playing handball is, you will also boost your overall cognitive functions.
#2 A Skill-Driven Game
Handball is a deeply skill-driven game. As such, you will find that to be good at handball, and you can’t just expect to outlast your opponents. You need to do myriad little things that take you closer to victory every time you play. You don’t have to be a professional handball player to do so, either.
Even friendlies and games in semi-professional leagues are still a matter of skill. Yes, you can avoid the skill factor altogether, but if your opponents are leaning on some skill-based shots, you may soon find yourself out-zoned and out-played.
There are many things to learn when playing handball. You can use physics to shoot the ball in one direction and send it in a completely different way once the ball bounces. It’s “all in the wrist,” as they say in baseball, and the analog is absolutely accurate.
Ball trajectories can be changed and influenced depending on how you shoot the ball from your hand. Handball is also quite demanding because carrying the ball through the field is not exactly the same as running with a punt in American football.
The handball is small, but it requires you to hold a tight grip with one hand while using your other hand to keep clear of the defense. It’s easy to lose you are of the grip, and therein lies another skill element.
Learning all about the skill aspects of the game will give you a fresh look at it and enable you to pursue it further.
#3 Social and Communal
Handball is a great sport, and one of the reasons why this is so is because of how social it can get. Sure, there is a competitive element, and there will be rivalries that could sour the experience, but on the whole, there is a lot of solidarity between handball players that make the experience worthwhile.
It’s great to be a part of a team. You don’t have to attend each training session, but some of these friendships you form in your handball team can last forever, and that is a good thing to have. Overall, most people do sport not just to stay fit or develop their physical prowess but also to form such bonds with others.
#4 No Hassle
Handball is a contact sport, somewhat. There will be situations where you won’t be able to avoid tangling up with the other team, but if you don’t like to be too pushy or too fierce in clashing with players, handball is definitely a great sport. The way this works is simple, actually.
Handball has very strict rules about fouling, and while players will try to block you and make you drop your ball, they can’t really touch you much. This means that even if a player is “out to get you,” this won’t impact your game as it would ultimately come down to pure skill.
Can the other player stop your attack and defend their goalie, or can you shoot to score anyway? There are many situations where handball boils down to one’s ability to defend and another’s ability to shoot successfully at the goalie.
Don’t want to tangle with the opponents? Handball really looks like the type of game that will be worth your while, and no – you don’t have to butt heads with your opponents so often!
#5 Build Your Confidence
While handball definitely doesn’t require you to tackle players much the same way like, say, American football, you still need to be confident enough – to shoot, to mount an attack to feel that you can overcome an opponent or even respond to the occasional rivalry.
Sports, and especially competitive sports, are always a good confidence booster. Learn how to play better, and you will do well in every aspect of your life as the confidence boost you get at handball will definitely translate to other areas of your experience.
#6 Injury-Free Sport
While handball still has its dangerous moments, many players can play as they age and get well in their 30s. The game is not a true contact sport, which means you will never have to worry about getting seriously injured and falling out of the competition. In fact, players will be able to continue playing and benefit from their well-cultivated skills over the years. Sure, there will be some underlying challenges that have to do with how much stamina you have, but the truth is there is not much to worry about there.
Handball offers various positions, where you will still notice a bit of a dip in performance when playing, but your decades of playing handball will allow you to know and predict what your opponents’ attacks are. Handball’s beauty is not in that it draws billions of eyeballs globally as football does, but it is definitely in that you can continue to practice and play and overcome physical limitations that other sports often invite due to “wear and tear” in players.
#7 Make a Career
Not least, you can make a career out of handball. Granted, there are slightly fewer options to do that, as you will notice that professional handball is concentrated in several places around the world, and being a professional player on the highest level could mean that you need to relocate.
Not many people are excited or even welcome the opportunity to abandon everything they do and move to some new place. Not everyone pounces at the opportunity to relocate as readily, so it’s understandable that making a career choice like this can be hard, even if you are keen on playing on a professional level.
Nevertheless, if you decide to play in your local community or region, you still have many chances to shine as a player. After all, you can always train new generations and even help the game develop in its own context where you live.
#8 You Will Stay Healthy
Obviously, handball offers great health benefits, as previously noted. There are upsides insofar as your health goes, but handball is also linked to tackling some diseases. According to researchers, handball could be a sport that helps prevent common diseases such as diabetes and heart problems.
There are other diseases that active handball players will help you tackle. However, handball is a complex sport, and to boost your health, you will have to make sure that your habits on and off the field are equally good. You ought to avoid soda, processed sugar, and other “soft killers” that will not only hurt your overall body health but will also potentially reduce the net health benefits you get from practicing the sport.
The above arguments all tie up to the same conclusion – handball is a fantastic sport to pick up. It’s safe for children and parents who want to protect their kids from getting hurt, and it offers some fantastic health benefits that are undeniable in the short and long term.
