The Effect of Fluid Restriction and Intake Conditions on the Shooting Performance of Competitive Adolescent Handball Players

(1) Background: This study aimed to investigate the effects of fluid restriction and intake (water vs. sports drink) on shooting accuracy and speed in adolescent handball players, a population with high sensitivity to hydration levels yet understudied in this context (2) Methods: The study included 47 adolescent competitive handball players (15.04 ±1.5 years), and the participants were divided into low, middle, and high performance according to their shooting performance in the familiarisation session. All participants were exposed to fluid restriction, water intake, and sports drink intake conditions during handball training on different days. In all sessions, a shooting performance test was performed before and after the training session and the changes in shooting accuracy and shooting speed were evaluated. (3) Results: The training protocol resulted in a 1% body mass loss. Fluid restriction reduced shooting accuracy by an average of 88.34% and speed by 14.18% (p: