Similarities and differences in the concepts of technique and tactics by handball and beach handball coaches

Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate the conception of the term’s “skill” and “tactic” by handball and beach handball coaches. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 29 coaches (17 from school teams, seven from regional handball leagues; and five from beach handball), and the analysis was based on the thematic analysis. Three themes and six sub-themes were identified, and revealed conceptual confusions between the terms "skill" and "tactic" in the coaches’ speeches. Only the coaches of school handball teams highlighted the topic of effectiveness when defining technique, while the other groups of coaches (beach handball and handball leagues) emphasized only the dimension of efficiency. These results reveal a neglect of the adaptive and effective potential of skill. The coaches corroborated the theoretical framework when defining the term “tactic”, but attributed other meanings that are not adequate, such as treating strategic and tactical aspects as synonyms. These conceptual misunderstandings can lead to methodological implications due to the terms treated being presented as a matrix of the main teaching approaches.