![volleyball hand signals referee volleyball hand signals referee](http://www.takedowns.com/ysignals.jpg)
No protective equipment is mandated, but players may wear soft protective bands, pads and mouth guards. Body contact is permitted for the defenders trying to stop the attackers from approaching the goal. The game is fast and high-scoring: professional teams now typically score between 20 and 35 goals each, though lower scores were not uncommon until a few decades ago. The sport is usually played indoors, but outdoor variants exist in the forms of field handball, Czech handball (which were more common in the past) and beach handball. The goals are surrounded by a 6-metre (20 ft) zone where only the defending goalkeeper is allowed goals must be scored by throwing the ball from outside the zone or while "diving" into it.
![volleyball hand signals referee volleyball hand signals referee](https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-pgx_O1fqEYU/Whniw-0WmYI/AAAAAAAAnWY/XUyiFwb4FhA_xbdDEPpIesbODljrZef7ACLcBGAs/s1600/water-polo-hand-signals.jpg)
Modern handball is played on a court of 40 by 20 metres (131 by 66 ft), with a goal in the middle of each end. A standard match consists of two periods of 30 minutes, and the team that scores more goals wins. Handball (also known as team handball, European handball or Olympic handball) is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each (six outcourt players and a goalkeeper) pass a ball using their hands with the aim of throwing it into the goal of the opposing team.
![volleyball hand signals referee volleyball hand signals referee](http://files.leagueathletics.com/Images/Club/7258/Referee%20Hand%20Signals2.png)
Returned to the Summer Olympic programme in 1972.īeach handball: 2001–present (invitational sport before 2013) Part of Summer Olympic programme in 1936.ĭemonstrated at the 1952 Summer Olympics. A handball game in progress at SAP Arena in Mannheim, Germany.Ģ December 1917 106 years ago ( ) in Berlin, Germany.