Body Part Pain Affects Subjective and Objective Handball Performance in Japanese Male National Athletes—Results of Short-Term Practical Monitoring of Athletes’ Conditions

TL;DR

This study found that pain in specific body parts, like the dominant elbow, affects Japanese handball athletes' concentration and satisfaction during training, even if it doesn't impact measurable performance metrics.

Contribution

The novel contribution is identifying how pain in upper extremities affects subjective performance in elite handball athletes, despite no measurable impact on objective metrics.

Findings

Pain in the dominant elbow was strongly linked to reduced concentration and satisfaction with body movement.

No significant effect of body pain on objective performance metrics like heart rate or body acceleration was found.

Most athletes reported pain in the dominant shoulder, followed by other key joints involved in handball throwing.

Abstract

This short-term survey examined the effect of body part pain on subjective and objective handball performance in Japanese male national handball athletes. Fourteen athletes participated in this study. Assessments of pain in 10 body parts and subjective performance (concentration and satisfaction with body movement) were performed using a visual analog scale from 0 to 10 over four consecutive training days. Monitoring of heart rate and body acceleration during training was also performed to quantify the objective performance. Path analysis and linear mixed modeling were employed to assess the relationship between body pain scores and subjective/objective handball performance. Over the four days of the study period, the body part in which most athletes reported pain was the dominant shoulder (6 of 14 athletes), followed by the dominant knee, the dominant elbow, the dominant ankle joint, and the non-dominant ankle joint (3 of 14 athletes). The path analysis revealed that pain in the dominant elbow negatively correlated with concentration (standardized path coefficient = −0.644, p = 0.00), which was associated with satisfaction with body movement (standardized path coefficient = 0.704, p = 0.00). No significant effect of body pain on objective performance (heart rate and body acceleration) was found among the athletes in this study. The results suggested that the elite athletes were practicing with pain. Even if pain does not physically affect athletes’ objective performance, pain in the upper extremities, associated with the primary handball movement of throwing, may reduce the quality of practice by lowering athletes’ subjective performance.

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