World Cup in Denmark, Norway and Croatia
Why do handball players keep grabbing their shoes?
January 15, 2025 – 7:27 p.mReading time: 2 minutes
During Handball World Cup games you can often see the players grabbing their shoes. But why do they do that?
At the Handball World Cup in Denmark, Norway and Croatia, 32 teams are currently fighting for the world champion crown. The German national team of national coach Alfred Gislason is also there and wants to follow up with the title after reaching the semi-finals at the home European Championships and the silver medal at the Olympic Games last year.
Anyone who follows the games closely will see that players like captain Johannes Golla or playmaker Juri Knorr repeatedly grab each other’s shoes during the games. But why do they do that?
The background is a common practice among players: handball players smear their hands with a special resin so that the balls stick better. This makes the game more attractive. This means that even risky moves can be successful and even the most difficult passes can be caught. For example, taking the ball with one hand is much easier. This means that handball resin has become indispensable, at least for the players themselves.
The teams have pots with the resin next to their benches that the players can help themselves to. Some of them also smear a small supply of resin on their shoes so that they can quickly add more resin on the field during the game.
By the way, not everyone is enthusiastic about practicing resin. As a result, hall floors and game balls sometimes become extremely dirty, and game clothing also suffers as a result. The world association IHF has been thinking about an imminent ban on resin for some time.