Characterizing Psychomotor Abilities of Male Handball Players of Different Age Categories

Sports performance is highly influenced by players' mental, emotional, and psychomotor abilities. Particularly in handball, training methods aim to maximize players' performance by fusing physical conditioning with cognitive abilities. The aim of this research was twofold: (1) to characterize players' psychomotor abilities according to their age categories (U14, U16, and U18), and (2) to analyze the differences between psychomotor abilities profiles according to players' field positions. The study population comprised 75 male youth handball players (15.3 ± 1.5 years) from different competitive age groups (U14 = 20 players; U16 = 27 players; U18 = 28 players). The psychomotor abilities were evaluated using the Test2Drive system. Three tests were performed to measure psychomotor abilities: (a) a simple reaction time test (SIRT), (b) a choice reaction time test (CHORT), and (c) a spatial anticipation test (SPANT). The only statistically significant difference was observed in the percentage of correct answers in the SPANT, showing that U16 players had a higher rate of correct answers than the others. However, some trends were visible throughout the analysis: (i) the U16 group performed better in terms of reaction time in all the tests, (ii) right-wingers were always the ones who had the best percentage of correct answers, and (iii) central players had the best movement time performance. Future research should include youth players' maturation stage, body composition, and physical fitness performance to characterize their profile deeply and analyze their psychomotor abilities, considering other factors that can impact their sports performance.