Field and Ball

Handball is played on a field forty metres long by twenty metres wide with a dividing line in the middle and a goal in the centre of either end. The goals are surrounded by a near-semicircular line that is generally six metres away from the goal. There is also a dashed near-semicircular line that is nine metres away from the goal.

Only the defending goalkeeper is allowed to step inside the six metre perimeter, though any player may attempt to catch and touch the ball in the air within it. If a player should find themselves in contact inside the goal perimeter they must immediately take the most direct path out of it. Should a defender make contact with an attacker while in the goal perimeter, their team is penalised with a direct attempt at the goal, with only one attacker on the seven-metre line and the defending goalkeeper involved.

The ball is smaller than a football in order for the players to be able to hold and handle it with a single hand (though contact with both hands is perfectly allowed). It is transported by bouncing it between hands and floor - much as in basketball, except that a handball player may raise their hand above shoulder level while bouncing.