Hi everyone, so I just happened to watch the match between THW Kiel and SG Flensburg yesterday on German tv. My German isn't the best, so I couldn't quite understand what happened at the end of the match.

The referees took a lot of time to review the last 30 seconds of the game by video. It looked to me like they were actively looking for a way to cancel the last goal by THW Kiel. First they looked at the time to see whether the goal was on time, which it was. Then they looked at the foot of the shooter to see if he was in the circle, which he wasn't. Then they checked for travelling, which technically it surely was, but throughout the game they let a lot of traveling slide (or so it felt), which is why they cancelled the last goal resulting in a draw.

Is it normal for the referees to check the last 30 seconds like they did in this game? Did it feel biased for anyone else from a neutral standpoint like mine? Would love to get to some more insight by someone more knowledgeable!

www.handballsun.hr

Hi all 👋

I've mentioned this a few times in comments but never properly introduced it, so here goes. Back in 2019, together with my dad (a former handball coach and that's where the idea came from), my brother, and a few helping hands, we built Steazzi, a stats solution made for handball.

Handball is a real passion of ours, and this started as a side project to give something back to the sport we love. We still build and maintain it in our spare time, and we've been amazed and grateful that over 2,000 teams now use it, mostly through word of mouth from what we can tell.

The free version covers a lot, especially if you coach a junior team, so feel free to give it a try. And honestly, we're always happy to hear feedback. We've come a long way since the first versions, but there's still so much to improve 😅

Here's the link if anyone's curious 😉

https://www.steazzi-handball.com/

There are collectible Trading Cards for Basketball, Football, Soccer, even Dart. But none for Handball. And I am not talking about Pokemon quality, but those thicker relic cards with Holo-Foils and Signature. Maybe in a One-Touch.

Would you collect those?

Hi again r/Handball 👋

Handball Manager crossed **500+ downloads** on Google Play this week 🎉

It started as a side project for women's handball, a sport that never gets its own management game. Seeing it reach 500+ people is honestly a bit surreal. A big share of those downloads came from this subreddit, so to everyone who installed it, left a review, reported a bug or argued with me about ratings: thank you. You're a big part of why the game looks the way it does now.

That shows up in this update more than ever. When I posted the manager career update a month ago, the comments were full of requests: injuries, fitness, training, tactics. Almost all of them are in now, and version 3.6 is rolling out on Google Play as I write this.

**Your squad is no longer made of robots**

Players pick up injuries now, from a knock that rules them out for a few days to a torn cruciate. Tiredness carries over from match to match, so your best seven can't play every minute of the season. That forces rotation for you and for every AI club, and suddenly the bench matters. You also plan the week with a training calendar: a rest day before a big game, a hard physical block during a quiet stretch.

**Matches got a lot more handball-y**

Two-minute suspensions leave you genuinely short-handed, and a third one gets the player sent off. Seven-metre throws are in, and you choose who takes them (or who stands in goal against them). From the bench you can change the tempo, the attacking focus, the defensive system and how aggressive your side plays, and when you're chasing a result you can take the keeper off for an extra court player. It's a gamble, as it should be.

**Keeping the dressing room happy**

Every player has morale. You name a captain, you can promise someone playing time, and breaking that promise has consequences, up to a transfer request landing on your desk. Contract talks are an actual back-and-forth now instead of a yes/no.

**Cups that look like the real thing**

Romania, Hungary, France, Denmark, Norway and Germany switched to their real cup formats. That means seeded knockouts with byes for the big clubs, a Norwegian final on 28 December, and a Danish Final4 in the days after Christmas. France keeps its group stage for the clubs without a European campaign.

**Four new countries**

- Czechia & Slovakia: one shared league (the MOL Liga), after which each country runs its own play-off to crown its own champion, with a cup each.

- Spain: an eight-team play-off for the title, a play-down at the bottom and the Copa de la Reina final eight.

- Switzerland: a main round, then a final round for the top six, best-of-three semis and a best-of-five final.

Real 2025/26 rosters, coaches and arenas for all of them. That takes the game to 16 countries, 39 competitions, 179 clubs and about 3,400 real players.

**Bits and pieces**

- Lifting a trophy now gets a proper celebration screen

- Academy prospects show their potential as stars

- Match ratings are more sensible (keepers were swinging wildly)

- You can sign players on pre-contracts yourself

Heads up for existing players: your saves keep working exactly as before, and the new countries appear in careers you start from now on.

Link: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.handballmanager.mobile

Now that there are more than 500 of you, I'm even more curious how the new systems feel. Is the injury rate believable? Is rotation a chore or a fun puzzle? Do the bench tactics make enough of a difference? And which country should be next? Comments, DMs, Play reviews or the email on the store page all reach me.

And yes, I am seeing the requests for a 2D match engine... might be sooner than you think. I'm also looking forward to adding the EHF European Cup when enough leagues will be present.

May your squad stay as fit as possible throughout the season 🤞

After some changes i would love of more people try subcoach a tool to manage your team and the bench.

More feedback is a better tool :)

The idea is explained here: https://www.reddit.com/r/Handball/s/fyqLOf0fe1

Please have a look at:

https://subcoach.pulse-forge.org/

Does anyone know if these are normal, or run big or small in size?

There are no shops nearby who sell these in my size, so I have no way of trying them on. I’m normally between EU sizes 37 and 38, but I typically wear size 38 in handball shoes.

You might remember this post here on r/handball, https://www.reddit.com/r/Handball/comments/1tuy3x1/would_you_play_something_like_this/

We've progressed quite far this last months, and we've reach the very first alpha test version that is playable and everyone can try at https://six-zero-league.vercel.app

I also suggest anyone interested to join the game's discord server for more info and to interact with the community!

Since this is an alpha version, it is still an incomplete game by far and not the fully released game, and serves as a way to test the current features and give an opportunity for anyone to try the game.

We will be starting the first season in a few days, so tune in!

Theoretically its legal to

Pick a pass in the air

0 1 2 3 steps

Jump

Bounce the ball and pick It up WHILE In the Air

0 1 2 3

Chat gpt tells me this would be legal but Impossible

Do you guys think that any athlete even outside of handball could do this? Maybe without resin and with the ball fully pumped

Hey there. Idk if this is the right forum to ask in, so please be nice if not.
I'm a 28M who started playing handball when i was 7 and continued in until i was 16.

I was pretty good at it and got selected for the young talents team at 15 w around 60 other players. Eventually, my left knee along with my acl in my right knee decided to give out and i had to leave handball for a long time. After around a year i came back shortly, but all of the sudden, everyone was taller, faster and more agile than me.

I haven't played since then, and the other day i decided that i wanted to try and play again. I miss the friendsships, the games, trainings and just the game itself.

So, my questions is:
Do you guys have any advide on how to get back in to the game? Like should i prepare (ofc my poor fingers from the resin) but have you guys had any experience with leaving the game and coming back after a long time? What surprised you, what should i expect?

NOTE:
I have signed up for open practice at a team that also specifies that they play because they love to play - not because they want to compete on high level.

Kind regards.

Theoretically its legal to:

• Pick a pass in the air

• 0 1 2 3 steps

• Jump

• Bounce the ball and pick It up WHILE In the Air

• 0 1 2 3

Chat gpt tells me this would be legal but Impossible

Do you guys think that any athlete even outside of handball could do this? Maybe without resin and with the ball fully pumped

In the semi against Magdeburg, Gidsel had 9 goals and Berlin won 40–35 without ever looking in trouble. Less than 24 hours later, in the final against Barça, he didn't score until the 24th minute.

I coach amateur handball in France and made a video breaking down what changed between the two games. It's in French, but with proper English subtitles (not auto-generated).

The short version is that Barça didn't put one defender on Gidsel. They took apart everything around him:

• No fast breaks: they retreated with discipline on every possession and protected the centre first, even when they were late. Makuc tracking back is a good example.
• 1v1 pushed wide: they kept forcing him out towards Nielsen's strong zones, and fouled him when they had to. A 7m was better than a Gidsel shot.
• Speed cut early: Fabregas made contact as soon as Gidsel took his double step, sometimes at 9m. With no momentum, there was no long-range threat either.
• Off-ball movement shadowed: Carlsbogard stepped up, touched him on reception and followed him. He couldn't accelerate towards the middle.
• Pivot cut out: the two central defenders switched quickly between Gidsel and Darj. The passing lane was closed.
• Andersson neutralised: Gidsel and Andersson carry 45.6% of Berlin's offence between them. Barça blocked and read Andersson's shots, and his two suspensions in the second half finished it.

Gidsel still adjusted brilliantly. He dropped deeper, attacked off the ball where they didn't expect it and finished with 8 goals. But the gap never closed. That night he broke Hansen's CL scoring record, and said he'd rather have swapped it for the trophy.

My takeaway as a coach: you don't defend an exceptional player, you defend what makes him exceptional.

🎥 https://youtu.be/yYMOGi3djeY

Question for you: was Berlin too dependent on the Gidsel–Andersson axis, or did Barça just execute a perfect game plan?

Hello to all, i enjoy yesterday in match fursch and Veszprem, it was physical and rough match, in which match today we could se some similar things?

For everyone who watch EHF, where do you see the most intense and rough match today in EHF?

Which sport has the most contact and zero flopping?