Are they all born to score? The relationship between throwing arm and scoring from the 7-meter line in semi-professional handball

Abstract

Indications of laterall biases favouring left-handers have been found in various sports; especially interactive sports where the athletes have limited time to react to incoming objects. The aim of this study was therefore to explore whether any lateral biases exist in handball by examining 7-meter shots. A total of 6846 7-meter throws from 240 7-meter shooters across four seasons in the semi-professional Icelandic elite handball division (male and female) were analyzed. Out of the 240 7-meter shooters, of which 151 were male and 89 were female, 22% were left-handed (22% of the males and 20% of the females). The left-handed 7-meter shooters took a disproportionate number of the 7-meter shots, with left-handed shooters performing 29% of the 7-meter shots (27% in the male league and 33% in the female league). The results of a Bayesian two-level analysis indicated that left-handedness is not associated with greater success from the 7-meter line at the semi-professional level.