Abstract

The behavior of a handball team is the outcome of the interactions of its players to beat their rival, bearing in mind that all the behaviors both influence and are influenced by all the elements that arise around them at this time. The purpose of this research is to study the influence of one player on the group game, so one objective is to ascertain the influence of the player occupying the position of center in the game of the Spanish national men’s handball team. By applying the observational methodology, an ad-hoc observation instrument was designed and DARTFISH 5.5 software was used to record all the positional attacks, in numerical equality with 7 players, within 8 games played during the 2015 Qatar World Championship. The polar coordinate analyses show significant differences in all the criteria studied, including those related to both the development and the end of the positional attacks. The results show that the playing pattern of the Spanish national team is different depending on the player occupying the position of center, thus confirming that the changes in one element of a system affect the ultimate behavior of that system. Opposite findings are important information that coaches should bear in mind in their training sessions and competitions, and they can be extrapolated to other teams and sports groups.