Know Who Can Play and When Substitutes Can Enter

In indoor team handball, each team may have up to seven players on court at once, normally six court players and a goalkeeper. The IHF match squad limit is 16 players, although your competition may set a lower limit. A team needs at least five players on court to start. These limits come from IHF Rule 4:1, effective 1 July 2025.

For an ordinary substitution, the practical test is whether the outgoing player has left, both players use their own substitution line, and the change is not replacing someone still serving a suspension. The checker below covers those conditions, not player eligibility or exceptions after on-court injury treatment.

Choose the three conditions for your change; the checker shows whether to send the substitute on.

Seven On Court Is Not The Match Squad Limit

Keep the match squad and the players currently on court separate when explaining handball team rules. The squad includes the eligible substitutes available for the match. The on-court limit describes how many players the team can use at the same time. Having unused substitutes on the bench does not allow an extra player to join an attack.

The seven-player limit includes the goalkeeper. A team may replace its goalkeeper with a seventh court player, but it does not gain an eighth player. Only a player identified as the goalkeeper may use the goalkeeper’s privileges; an ordinary court player cannot retreat into the goal area to defend an empty goal. Goalkeepers must wear a colour that distinguishes them from both teams’ court players and the opposing goalkeeper. IHF Rules 4:1, 4:7 and 6:1–2

For a beginner squad, explain an empty-goal attack as a change of roles within the same player limit. The goalkeeper leaves and a court player enters through a legal substitution. The team has changed its attacking options, not its allowance of players. If the ball is lost, the nearest court player does not automatically become a goalkeeper.

Before trying that change in live practice, decide who leaves when the goalkeeper returns. Without a named outgoing player, several teammates may assume someone else is making space. Rehearse the return as carefully as the attacking change: the replacement must see the outgoing player leave before entering.

The minimum of five players is a condition for starting the match. Do not treat it as permission to ignore a suspension or to bring an unregistered player onto the court. Likewise, check the competition’s squad limit before selecting the match group; the IHF maximum does not establish that every competition accepts a squad of that size.

Eligible Players Must Be On The Score Sheet

Before the match, check the squad against the score sheet. Players arriving after the start must obtain permission to participate from the timekeeper or scorekeeper and be entered on the sheet before playing. IHF Rule 4:3

A late arrival therefore needs more than a shirt and a place on the bench. The coach should direct that player through the registration and permission process rather than straight into the next change. Keep the distinction clear: being physically ready to play is not the same as being eligible to enter.

For team organisation, make this a bench responsibility rather than leaving it to whichever player notices the arrival. The responsible team official should know who is cleared to participate before asking for a substitution. That avoids a hurried conversation at the sideline while the team is also trying to follow the ball.

This guide deals with who can play and how players change. For the rules governing steps, seconds, contact and restarts, use European handball rules.

Substitutes Enter Only After Their Teammate Leaves

Players can substitute repeatedly without notifying the timekeeper or scorekeeper, subject to specific exceptions such as restrictions after on-court injury treatment. For an ordinary change, the outgoing player must leave before the replacement enters. Both players must cross their own team’s substitution line, and goalkeeper changes follow the same requirements.

The substitution line runs along the sideline from the centre line to the mark 4.5 metres away. A faulty substitution brings a two-minute suspension for the guilty player. IHF Rules 1:10 and 4:4–5

Part Of The Change	Required Action	Coaching Cue
Outgoing player	Leave through the team’s line	Find your exit
Incoming player	Wait until the teammate is off	Off first, on second
Goalkeeper change	Follow the same sequence	No shortcut

The rule is about the actual exit and entry, not the intention to change. A teammate running towards the sideline is still on court. Calling a player’s name helps organise the change, but it does not make an early entry legal. Use the cue: “See your teammate fully off, then enter.”

Teach the outgoing player’s job as well as the substitute’s. If the outgoing player heads for the wrong part of the sideline, waiting longer does not turn that route into a legal exit. In practice, stop the sequence and send the player back through the correct marked segment before rehearsing it again.

The substitute should watch the exit rather than only following the attack. Players often anticipate the next pass and start moving towards it before checking whether their teammate has left. Give the incoming player a useful destination on court, but make entry conditional on the completed exit.

Keep ordinary changes distinct from injury-related cases. The freedom to change repeatedly does not remove the specific restrictions that can follow on-court treatment. The checker above deliberately does not decide those cases; consult the applicable rule rather than treating a green result as blanket permission to enter.

A Suspension Cannot Be Filled By A Substitute

A suspended player cannot be replaced during the two minutes of playing time. A player’s third two-minute suspension also brings disqualification for the rest of the match. IHF Rules 16:5–8

This is different from an ordinary substitution. Seeing the suspended player leave does not create an available place that the bench can immediately fill. The team must respect the reduction during the suspension, even when an eligible substitute is waiting at the correct line.

Make the bench instruction explicit: “That place is not available yet.” A vague instruction to wait can be mistaken for a tactical delay rather than a rules restriction. The next substitute needs to know whether they are replacing a teammate through an ordinary change or mistakenly trying to restore the suspended player’s place.

Do not time the penalty as an informal break on a coach’s watch. The rule specifies playing time. Organise the bench around the official administration of the suspension, rather than guessing that enough time has passed because the player has been sitting out.

A disqualified player is also not someone to keep in the normal rotation. After the third two-minute suspension, that player cannot return for the rest of the match. Adjust the planned changes so another player is not waiting for a teammate who is no longer available.

The Responsible Team Official Controls Bench Eligibility

Designate the responsible team official. Under the IHF rules, this is the official allowed to address the timekeeper or scorekeeper and, possibly, the referees. That official must ensure that only registered officials and eligible players occupy the substitution area, and that only eligible players enter the court. IHF Rules 4:2–3

For a beginner squad, make the next replacement clear before calling a change. Name the outgoing and incoming players so both understand the pairing. Keep waiting players away from the entry route so the substitute can see the outgoing teammate leave.

Separate the tactical instruction from the permission to enter. “Go to the wing” tells the substitute where to play after entering; it does not override the requirement to wait. A short sequence works better than overlapping calls: identify the change, watch the exit, then enter and take the assigned position.

Bench organisation should support the rule without adding unnecessary ceremony. Ordinary substitutions do not require the timekeeper or scorekeeper to be notified. The useful preparation is knowing who is eligible, who is leaving, and which route both players must use—not making every change dependent on a conversation with the table.

Teach Legal Changes In A 15-Minute Possession Game

Setup: Use eight adult beginners, half a hall, one ball and cones. Run this after a progressive warm-up. Make two teams of four: three play and one waits outside the sideline. Mark a possession court and a midpoint on one sideline. Give each team its own change segment on opposite sides of that midpoint, with waiting spots clear of the playing space. No goalkeeper is needed.

These segments let both teams practise their own entry and exit route in a small-sided game. Explain that the possession court is a training layout, not the full match court. The purpose is to repeat the sequence under ball pressure without asking beginners to learn goalkeeper changes at the same time.

Minutes 0–5: Establish Possession Before Adding Changes

Play 3v3 possession without dribbling or body contact. Keep the three-step and three-second limits. Five consecutive passes earns a practice point—this is a training condition, not a match rule.

Use this phase to see whether receivers can decide and release the ball without holding up the game. The waiting player should be outside the playing space, not standing where a receiver needs to move. Show the marked change segment while the pace is still manageable.

Minutes 5–10: Rehearse The Exit Before The Entry

Keep the game moving. On your call, each team changes one player through its own marked segment. Stop to correct an early entry or wrong exit, then rehearse that change once.

Correct the specific action rather than simply announcing that the change was wrong. For an early entry, have the substitute wait and watch the teammate complete the exit. For a wrong exit, identify the proper segment and repeat the route. The correction should leave both players knowing what to do on the next call.

Minutes 10–15: Let Players Organise Their Own Changes

Allow dribbling and interceptions, but retain no body contact. Ask teams to organise their own changes. The added decisions make it harder to watch the substitution while following the ball, which is the behaviour this phase tests.

Look for five consecutive legal changes, receivers deciding within three seconds, and substitutes entering into useful space rather than crowding the ball. If changes become rushed, return to walking-speed substitutions before restoring live pressure.

Judge the drill on the change sequence as well as possession. A team can complete its passes while still entering too early. Conversely, a legal substitute who immediately crowds the ball has followed the rule but still needs a clearer playing role. Coach those as separate problems: first make the entry legal, then make the arrival useful.