Introduction Handball is a dynamic team sport game in which a series of actions can take place in a short period of time and in a small space, without the human eye being able to follow it. The inertia of the human eye, in this case the referee's eye, can lead to numerous controversies related to the rules of the handball game. There are two referees on the field who distribute justice. In this paper, the 'zero step' in open (matches) and closed (training) motor performance program was analysed and an attempt was made to prove that it is not possible to simultaneously land on two feet, which significantly changes the application of rules of the handball game. The matches of the European Handball Championship 2024 held in Germany were analysed in the matches that ended in a draw, and whether referee errors related to unjudged steps during the performance of the 'zero step' could have affected the final result. Methods 18 handball players from MRK Kozala, Rijeka, who compete in the 1st Croatian Handball League in the 2023/2024 season, average height (AS+/-SD) 186.11+/- 6 ,26 cm, average weight 88.89 +/- 8.98 kg, average BMI 25.60, while the average age is 20+/-2.59 years, participated in the research. For the purposes of the research, a motor task was composed, in the first phase, by a jump to the 'zero step' from a standing position (T1) and from a run-up (T2), and, in the second phase, both performed with given feint and a shot at the goal. Secondly, from the observed matches, the number of 'zero step' performances per match in total/per team were determined. An expert assessment was made for the correctness of the referee's decisions compliance with the rules of 'open` competitive performance of the 'zero step' version with both feet landing simultaneously. Besides descriptive statistics, the t-test for dependent samples was used to determine differences between variables T1 and T2, whilst Pearson correlation was used for determination of relations among anthropological characteristics and variables T1 and T2. Qualitative analysis was used to analyse the matches that ended in a draw, (awarded and non-awarded steps when jumping into the 'zero step' were recorded). Results Results have shown that no single player was able to jump and land on both feet at the same time - both from initial standing position (T1:AS±SD=0,28±0,24) and after the run-up (T2:AS±SD=0,17±0,09), with no statistically significant differences (t=1,84; p<0,08). A qualitative analysis of the matches of the European Championship in 2024, based on video inspection, support these findings (18 awarded and 8 non-awarded steps in draw matches produced different qualifying scenarios). Also, there is a statistically significant correlation among T1 and body height (r=0,73) and body weight (0,61). Conclusion Conclusion of this report is that the final outcome within preliminary rounds could have been different, if there were no refereeing errors during judgement of the precision in the performance of the zero step. Refereeing errors are determined by flaw full and unsustainable `zero step` rule, therefore - it needs prompt modification.
© Copyright 2024 10th International scientific conference on kinesiology. Book of abstracts. Veröffentlicht von University of Zagreb, Faculty of Kinesiology. Alle Rechte vorbehalten.