Athlete monitoring in handball (ATHMON HB): a survey of current practice in professional women's and men's handball

Background: Athlete monitoring is becoming increasingly important in elite team sports to optimize performance and prevent injuries and other athletic health problems. A variety of objective and subjective measures are available to monitor external and internal load, well-being, and readiness to train or compete. A comprehensive Athlete Monitoring System (AMS) should include a meaningful combination of these methods and provide analysis and graphical presentation with decision support for coaches. The selection of monitoring methods to establish an AMS is influenced not only by sport-specific considerations, but also by the resources available. Our study aimed to describe the current practice of athlete monitoring in professional handball, and to examine potential gender differences. Methods: A total of 104 women's (n = 44) and men's (n = 60) handball teams competing in the first two national leagues in Germany and Switzerland were invited to participate in an online survey (May-August 2024). The questionnaire used for this cross-sectional study was designed by an interdisciplinary team and consisted of a maximum of 28 questions. The Mann-Whitney U test was used to test for gender differences on the extent of athlete monitoring in the following sub-areas: Injuries and illness surveillance (IIS); external and internal load; well-being and readiness. Results: The minimum response rate was 34.6% (19 men's teams, 17 women's teams). An IIS was performed in 75.0% of the responding teams. A total of 19 teams (52.8%) conducted further athlete monitoring, in 84.2% of cases with a comprehensive AMS, which most commonly included player tracking (13 out of 15 teams using external load measures) and the Session-Rating of Perceived Exertion-method (11 out of 19 teams using internal load measures), and customized well-being questionnaires (10 out of 18 teams using well-being measures). Men's teams engage in significantly more IIS (94.7% men's teams vs. 52.9% women's teams, p = .019, δ = –.356), player tracking (52.6% men's teams vs. 11.8% women's teams, p = .003, δ = –.415) and internal load monitoring (63.2% men's teams vs. 29.4% women's teams, p = .015, δ = –.387). Notably, 88.9% of teams are interested in implementing or developing an AMS. Conclusions: Our findings indicate that the majority of handball teams already use some form of IIS, and more than half of these teams have implemented an AMS, with men's teams using significantly more player tracking, internal load and well-being measures. The apparent high level of interest in athlete monitoring highlights the importance of data-driven approaches to managing player health and performance, although selection bias must be considered. This information is valuable for practitioners seeking to implement or expand AMS in handball.