EFFECTS OF SIX WEEKS OF MEDICINE BALL TRAINING ON THROWING VELOCITY,THROWING PRECISION, AND ISOKINETIC STRENGTH OF SHOULDER ROTATORS IN FEMALE HANDBALL PLAYERS CHRISTIAN RAEDER, 1 JAIME FERNANDEZ-FERNANDEZ, 2 AND ALEXANDER FERRAUTI 1 1 Department of Training and Exercise Science, Faculty of Sports Science, Ruhr-University Bochum, Bochum, Germany; and 2 Sports Research Center, Miguel Hernandez University, Elche, Spain ABSTRACT Raeder, C, Fernandez-Fernandez, J, and Ferrauti, A. Effects of six weeks of medicine ball training on throwing velocity, throwing precision, and isokinetic strength of shoulder rotators in female handball players. J Strength Cond Res 29(7): 1904– 1914, 2015—The aim of this study was to investigate the ef- fects of 6 weeks of medicine ball training (MBT) on throwing velocity, throwing precision, and isokinetic strength of shoulder rotators in competitive female handball players. Twenty-eight players (mean 6 SD; age: 20.8 6 3.3 years, height: 170.5 6 5.6 cm, body mass: 65.2 6 8.0 kg) were randomly assigned to an MBT group (TG; n = 15) and a control group (CG; n = 13). TG performed a supervised MBT program, 3 times a week for a total of 6 weeks, focusing on handball-specific movement patterns. Both groups, TG and CG, also conducted a super- vised shoulder injury prevention program with elastic tubes, as part of the warm-up, finishing with regular handball throws. Results showed a significant group 3 time interaction in throw- ing velocity (p , 0.001) with the TG posttest results being significantly higher compared with CG (d = 2.1), and also a significant main time effect (p , 0.001), with an increase in throwing velocity of 14% (d = 3.0) and 3.7% (d = 0.3) for both TG and CG, respectively. Throwing precision did not signifi- cantly differ between groups and time points. Isokinetic strength measures revealed a significant group 3 time interac- tion (p # 0.05) with the TG posttest results being significantly higher compared with CG (d = 0.9) and also a significant main time effect (p , 0.01) with an increase of 15% (d = 0.9) in concentric shoulder internal rotation at 1808$s 21 in the domi- nant arm in TG, whereas no significant changes occurred in CG. The present results indicate that 6 weeks of MBT elicit significant improvements in functional performance (i.e., throwing velocity) in female handball players, whereas throwing precision remained unaffected. Medicine ball training exercises seem to be a useful and inexpensive strength training strategy in enhancing functional performance by closely mim- icking sport-specific movement activities. KEY WORDS speed, accuracy, medicine ball exercises, specific strength training, team sport INTRODUCTION H andball is an Olympic sport played worldwide, with about 18 million players in more than 150 international federations. From a physical point of view, handball is an intermittent and vigorous contact sports game that requires high-intensity efforts in a short period of time, where players jump, run, and throw the ball at high velocities, followed by low-intensity or rest moments (17). Therefore, it seems that high levels of muscle strength and power during high-intensity movement activities combined with a well-developed aerobic capacity (i.e., a high degree of maximal oxygen uptake) enabling a quick recovery within low-intensity or rest moments are important determi- nants for successful participation in elite handball (1,19). As the final aim of the game is to score more times than the opponent, throwing performance seems to be an important key skill for success in competitive handball, with the effectiveness of a shot primarily affected by 2 aspects: throwing velocity and throwing precision (20,23). Overarm throwing is a complex motion and can be considered as a fast discrete movement of high intensity, which can be subdi- vided into 6 phases: windup, stride, arm cocking, arm accel- eration, arm deceleration, and follow through (8,38). Therefore, to achieve maximal throwing velocity, handball players should possess a proper technique characterized by an optimal coordination and timing of consecutive actions of body segments (i.e., intermuscular coordination), together with good levels of muscle strength and power in both, the upper and lower limbs (17,23). Moreover, core strength, as the connecting link between upper and lower extremities, Address correspondence to Christian Raeder, christian.raeder@rub.de. 29(7)/1904–1914 Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research Ó 2015 National Strength and Conditioning Association 1904 Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research the TM Copyright © National Strength and Conditioning Association Unauthorized reproduction of this article is prohibited.