High-Performance Handball Player’s Time-Motion Analysis by Playing Positions Manchado, Carmen Chirosa Ríos, Luis Javier Running pace Running distance Competition load LPS The purpose of this study was to analyze the on-court demands of handball players during the European Handball Federation Champions League Final Four (VELUX EHF FINAL4) 2019 to define time–motion characteristics (played time; covered distances) both in offense and defense. Furthermore; we aimed to define position-specific demands and differences among them. Forty players from three teams were analyzed during the tournament using a local positioning system (LPS) for the first time in top handball. Players covered similar distances both in offense (1388.28 ± 2627.08 m), and in defense (1305.47 ± 5059.64 m) and remained on court for a similar average time (15.69 ± 8.02 min and 15.40 ± 8.94 min respectively). When locomotion activities were normalized according to the time they spent on court; significant differences were found for defense compared to offense in walking (+20%; p < 0.000; Cohen’s effect size (ES) = 1.01) and jogging (−29.6%; p = 0.000; ES = 0.90), as well as a tendency for high-intensity running (+ 25.2%; p = 0.077; ES = 0.31). Per playing position; center and left back (CB = 94.86 ± 10.98 m·min−1 ; LB = 96.55 ± 24.65 m·min−1 ) showed the highest running pace in offense and mid-left; front center defender and outside right for the defense (ML = 90.38 ± 30.16 m·min−1 ; FCD = 87.04 ± 14.94 m·min−1 ; OR = 89.64 ± 34.93 m·min−1 ). In conclusion; profile differences existed among players’ position activity; both in offense and defense; which should be taken into account when designing specific physical training programs. 2020-11-12T11:53:09Z 2020-11-12T11:53:09Z 2020 journal article Manchado, Carmen; Tortosa Martínez, Juan; Pueo, Basilio; Cortell Tormo, Juan M.; Vila, Helena; Ferragut, Carmen; Sánchez Sánchez, Francisco; Busquier, Sonia; Amat, Sergio; Chirosa Ríos, Luis J. 2020. "High-Performance Handball Player’s Time-Motion Analysis by Playing Positions." Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 17, no. 18: 6768. [doi: 10.3390/ijerph17186768] http://hdl.handle.net/10481/64226 10.3390/ijerph17186768 eng http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/es/ open access Atribución 3.0 España MDPI