## 1 Introduction  
Handball is a team sport in which the aim of each team is to invade the opponent's field, occupying common spaces, with the continuous struggle for ball possession and goal pursuit. The attack and defense sequences of both teams go through complex and unpredictable tactical and technical plans that may influence the players' technical and tactical behaviors [1, 2, 3, 4].  
These dynamic and high-intensity demands place significant stress on players' shoulders, particularly during overhead movements common in handball. Shoulder adaptations resulting from such practice include increased medial rotation torque and an increased range of motion in external rotation. However, this is often accompanied by a decrease in total shoulder range of motion and internal rotation range of motion. These factors can contribute to changes in shoulder mobility, particularly in handball players who experience reduced flexibility [5].  
Shoulder injuries are common among handball players and can be attributed to the movements performed, such as spine rotational motion and various projection angles required by these positions, frequent jumps and falls, as well as a high degree of contact with opposing players [6].  
Over time, there has been a growing interest in the application of ancient treatment techniques, such as cupping therapy [7]. Although scientific evidence on the use of cupping by athletic populations is scarce [8], existing research suggests that cupping may be beneficial for a variety of musculoskeletal conditions [7]. By improving local microcirculation and enhancing the transport of metabolic by-products such as lactate, cupping can aid post-exercise metabolic recovery [9]. Therefore, the use of cupping therapy may be beneficial for handball players who are predisposed to shoulder injuries.  
Cupping therapy is a non-invasive, negative pressure mechanical massage technique, performed using a suction cup that sucks the skin when pumping with a cupping gun. This process triggers a local aspiration on the skin, creating a vacuum inside the suction cup positioned on its surface, using negative pressure to promote increased blood circulation [10; 11; 12].  
There are several ways to perform cupping therapy, such as dry or static, sliding, dynamic, intermittent, or scarifying suction cups. In 2013, cupping therapy was classified into five categories, which were updated in 2016. The updated classification categorized cupping therapy into six categories [13].  
According to [PERSON] (2018) [14], the three main types of cupping therapy are dry cupping, wet cupping, and massage cupping. Dry cupping or static cupping consists of performing a single suction on the skin. Wet cupping involves making small incisions in the skin so that there is bleeding and, afterwards, the suction cup is positioned above the incision to induce more bloodletting. Massage cupping or dynamic cupping involves suctioning the skin and moving the suction cup along the surface of the skin, while maintaining suction [14]. Dynamic cupping involves the creation of negative vacuum pressure combined with positive pressure from the superficial massage performed by the suction cup. This technique aims to enhance blood and lymph flow, facilitating the removal of toxins and improving cellular nutrition [15; 16].  
The reported effects of cupping include increased perfusion to the skin [17], reduced tension in the fascia and muscle [18], promoting the relaxation of tense structures, decreasing muscle activity, and inducing analgesia [19; 20], biomechanical alteration of the skin [7], increased pain threshold [20; 21], reduced inflammation [22], reduced stress, by inducing deep relaxation in the patient [21], and modulation of the cellular immune system [23].  
To our knowledge, there is no published studies on the effects of cupping on the active range of motion (AROM) of the shoulder in senior male handball players. Thus, the aim of the present study is to verify the immediate effects of dynamic cupping on shoulder AROM of senior male handball players.