Handball is an Olympic team sport played on a court, involving running, shooting, jumping, repeated accelerations, and directional changes. However, research on handball athletes is limited, especially among university-level players. High-performance throwing requires a combination of biomechanical factors, such as upper limb power and precise coordination of joint movements. Although these factors are crucial for performance, psychological and social variables may also influence sports outcomes. University students have a higher prevalence of mental health disorders like anxiety and depression, and university athletes may be even more susceptible.

This study aimed to analyze the relationship between biopsychosocial factors and functional performance in university handball athletes.

Participants included male and female university handball players aged 18 to 40 years, with at least one year of training. A cross-sectional analytical design was used, consisting of two assessment phases. Initially, a semi-structured questionnaire incorporating validated instruments evaluated biopsychosocial aspects (Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder, and Hand; Athlete’s Quality of Life Questionnaire; Athlete Burnout Questionnaire - ABQ; Perceived Motivational Climate in Sport Questionnaire-2; and Competitive Trait Anxiety Scale). Functional performance was assessed using the Seated Medicine Ball Throw (MBT) and Unilateral Seated Shot-Put Test (USSPT), followed by isokinetic strength assessment of shoulder rotators, elbow flexors and extensors, and wrist muscles using the BIODEX Multi-Joint System 4. Grip strength was measured with the Lafayette hydraulic dynamometer. In the second phase, 7-meter throw performance was evaluated. Correlation tests were applied according to data distribution (p = 0.05).

A total of 36 university handball athletes were assessed. Strong positive correlations were found between biomechanical variables and performance in the MBT (r = 0.7, p = 0.01) and USSPT (r = 0.7, p = 0.01). Mean throwing velocity showed a strong correlation (r = 0.7, p = 0.01) with concentric strength of external shoulder rotators and a moderate correlation (r = 0.4, p = 0.01) with other biomechanical variables. The Physical/Emotional Exhaustion domain of the ABQ showed a moderate correlation (r = 0.4, p = 0.01) with MBT, a moderate correlation (r = 0.7, p = 0.05) with USSPT, and a weak correlation (r = 0.2, p = 0.05) with mean 7-meter throw velocity. The Reduced Personal Accomplishment domain showed a moderate negative correlation (r = -0.4, p = 0.01) with both performance tests. No significant correlation was found between target accuracy and any biomechanical or psychosocial variable.

Biomechanical variables were correlated with performance. Psychosocial factors had a low association with sports performance, with burnout symptoms showing only a low to moderate impact. Further studies with larger samples are needed to better understand the biopsychosocial dynamics of Brazilian university handball athletes.

This study demonstrated that biomechanical variables have a strong correlation with throwing performance, reinforcing the importance of strength and power training for university handball athletes. Psychosocial factors, particularly burnout symptoms, showed moderate correlations with performance, suggesting that emotional exhaustion may impact sports performance.