field during either offensive (left wing, left back, centre back, right back, right wing, and pivot) or defensive (players are counted from the side to the centre of the field) phases. Each position has its own specificities. Pivots play in the smallest area (~12 m 2 ), most of the time between two defenders, wings in ~15 m 2 , while backs and centre backs play in wider spaces (~64 m 2 ). Tactical roles of each position generate a great deal of body contact and duels (one vs. one confrontation to gain a favourable situation, e.g., shooting, blocking an opponent) (Karcher & Buchheit, 2014). Knowledge of the game’s demands is also essential for the design of handball-specific training drills in both professional and developing players. To develop their full potential, promising players need to be provided with the most appropriate learning environ- ments, including well designed technical, tactical, and handball-specific physical (e.g., strength, speed, and endurance) development programmes (Karcher & Buchheit, 2014). Finally, to be optimal, these training Introduction Handball is an Olympic sport, played throughout the world. Handball has its own style that includes aspects of other sports, such as basketball, football, and hockey. To describe team-handball play, especially to determine factors that influence performance, is diffi- cult because team-handball play is complex and multi- factorial. Team-handball players have to coordinate their movements well for running, jumping, pushing, changing direction and for the team-handball specific movements of passing, catching, throwing, checking, and blocking (Wagner, Finkenzeller, Würth, & von Duvillard, 2014). There are six different playing posi- tions on the court, based on a player’s location on the * Address for correspondence: Jan Bělka, Department of Sport, Faculty of Physical Culture, Palacký University Olo- mouc, třída Míru 117, 771 11 Olomouc, Czech Republic. E-mail: jan.belka@upol.cz External and internal load of playing positions of elite female handball players (U19) during competitive matches Jan Bělka*, Karel Hůlka, Michal Šafář, and Radim Weisser Faculty of Physical Culture, Palacký University Olomouc, Olomouc, Czech Republic Copyright: © 2015 J. Bělka et al. This is an open access article licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Background: Effective training depends on knowledge of the sport’s requirements. Physical (external load) and physi- ological (internal load) analyses will provide valuable data that can be used for other research and to improve specific training requirements. Handball is an intermittent sport game, and it is important discover the factors, that affect the performance in a handball match. Objective: The aim of this study was to analyze and compare motion and heart rate of playing positions of female handball players during competitive matches. Methods: Heart rate and motion- time analyses were examined during six competitive matches of the Czech elite female handball league (U19). The average (± SD) age of the fourteen participants was 17.9 ± 0.3 years; their average weight 65.4 ± 6.9 kg, and their average height was 169.6 ± 6.9 cm. Results: During the matches, the longest average distance was covered by backs (7,138.3 ± 334.4 m), followed by wings (6,915.3 ± 362.2 m) and pivots (6,337.1 ± 477.3 m). A statistically significant difference was found only between backs and pivots (p = .01). The average heart rate of players in the most loaded position, pivots, was 185.3 ± 9.2 beats ⋅ min –1 , corresponding to 90.1 ± 4.3% of HR max . The second most loaded playing position were wings with the average heart rate of 183.8 ± 6.2 beats ⋅ min –1 , corresponding to 89.9 ± 3.5% of HR max . The average heart rate of backs was 182.9 ± 8.4 beats ⋅ min –1 , corresponding to 89.2 ± 4.4% of HR max . Conclusions: The results from the presented study show that handball is a game of intermittent high intensity and physiological profile where more than 80% of each game is spent in load-intensity above 85% HR max . Between playing positions are differ- ences in intensity of load, covered distance and in speed categories. Keywords: heart rate, covered distance, performance Acta Gymnica, vol. 46, no. 1, 2016, 12–20 doi: 10.5507/ag.2015.025