2025 Volume 10 Issue 2 Pages 111-117
In handball, many players apply resin or double-sided adhesive tapes to their palms and fingers to enhance handling. Ball grip strength, an indicator of ball handling, improves when using resin or grip tape compared to when using bare hands. However, no studies have compared the effects of the resin and grip tape. Additionally, despite the potential correlation between ball grip strength and handling capacity (HC), and the known influence of palm and finger size on grip strength, studies comparing HC between the sexes remain limited. Therefore, this study examined the relationship between ball-HC and grip strength by comparing the following conditions in male and female collegiate handball players: (i) bare hands, (ii) resin, and (iii) double-sided adhesive tape. A significant positive correlation between HC and ball grip strength was found in female players, but not in male players. Ball grip strength was the highest with double-sided adhesive tape for both sexes compared to bare hands. In addition, female players had greater ball-grip strength with resin than with bare hands. These findings suggest that the effects of different hand surfaces should be considered separately in male and female players.
