REGULATIVE STRATEGIES IN THE HANDBALL PENALTY: EFFECTS ON PERFORMANCE AND MENTAL REPRESENTATION

Penalties represent a crucial and often match-deciding performance situation in handball, requiring effective regulation of attention, emotions, and cognition. While regulative strategies have been shown to enhance performance in other sports, their role in handball remains largely unexplored (Silva, 2006).
In our study, the influence of regulatory strategies on performance and mental representation during a penalty in handball is investigated by means of an empirical analysis. Using a cross-over design, professional (n = 6) and youth handball players (n = 5) learn cognitive and behavioral regulatory strategies. The intervention were performed through imagery. (Velentzas et al., 2011). In addition, a control group (n = 11) consisting of sport science students receives no intervention.
To examine the effectiveness of both the strategies and the integration strategy, three performance assessments are conducted, providing information on shooting accuracy, ball velocity, mental representation, and the application of regulatory strategies in training and competition. In addition to the penalty task, the Structure-Dimensional Analysis and the Test of Performance Strategies questionnaire are employed (Velentzas, 2010). The results of the expert and youth groups are analyzed using a repeated measures ANOVA.
Although no conclusions can be drawn based on statistically significant changes, the results indicate a tendency for behavioral strategies to lead to better performance than cognitive strategies. Furthermore, changes in the mental representation of the movement sequence can be observed following the interventions.