Hand-Drawn Heat Map: Where Does Your Team Play?

During a handball game, two observers per team mark a dot on a court template split into nine zones every time their team receives the ball. At halftime, the team reads its heat map and changes how it uses the space.

How to play

1. Warm up with passing and getting open in groups of five (5 min).
2. Explain the nine-zone template and the observer role (3 min).
3. First half of two simultaneous 5v5 games with two observers per team (7 min).
4. Read the map: which zones are empty? The team agrees on one change, such as spreading out to the sidelines (5 min).
5. Second half with rotated observers and the change in place (7 min).
6. Compare each team's two maps: can you see the change? (3 min).

Rules

• Observers stay off the court, along the sideline.
• No contact: defend by intercepting passes, not by grabbing the ball.
• Everyone must touch the ball before a shot on goal.
• Maps look at the team, never at an individual player.

Variations

Adaptations

• Limited mobility: act as lead observer, or play in a fixed sideline zone the team has to use.
• Deaf or hard-of-hearing students: the start and end of each half are signaled with a gesture or a scarf.
• Less experienced players: start as observers to understand the space before playing.

Learning goals

• Spread out and use space well in an invasion game.
• Make team decisions based on data.
• Record game information systematically.

Equipment for a class of 25

• handballs: 2
• pinnies: 16
• cones: 16
• court templates: 8
• colored pencils: 8

Teacher tip

If you have tablets, the template can be a court image students draw on, but paper works better when it's windy. Common mistake: the whole team bunches in the middle; the map shows it without you having to say a word.

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