## 5 Conclusions  
The aims of the present study were to determine the relationships between the physical and physiological test results from the team handball GBPT, the linear 30-m SSPT and the Yo-Yo IR1 test in female adult top-elite field team handball players. In addition, also to compare and evaluate the results from the aforementioned tests in relation to the different playing positions.  
As a key finding, several significant correlations between the locomotive results in the GBPT and the sprint performance in the 30-m SSPT and in the Yo-Yo IR1 test performance, respectively, were demonstrated. This indicate that the Yo-Yo IR1 test is reflecting most of the locomotive match activities in female adult top-elite team handball. However, the Yo-Yo IR1 test results were not correlated to the GBPT in any of the match-related activities in the team handball GBPT that included technical playing actions such as tackles, passes, jumping and shooting during specialized movements in offence and defence. Today's female adult elite team handball players are larger with increased body mass than two decades ago, which may have a negative impact on the Yo-Yo IR1 test performance. Onthe other hand, this increased body anthropometry will enhance the on-court performance in other important match activities as tackling, screening, blocking, throwing, jumping, one-to-one situations and rapid change of directions and hence on the total performance during match-play. Overall, these aforementioned data collectively suggest that the Yo-Yo IR1 test performance does not reflect and measure the overall specific physical on-court performance of female elite team handball players, but solely an individual player's ability to repeatedly perform intermittent running exercise and the ability to recover from such intense exercise, which does not include technical playing actions.  
The results of the 30-m SSPT was also not correlated to any of the team handball GBPT activities, which included technical playing actions such as tackles, jumping and throwing with a ball (during defensive and offensive actions). These data suggest that on-court sprinting with and without a ball may not be the same, and that the 30-m SSPT only to a certain extent can measure the individual sprint capacity of elite team handball players who during match-play always are sprinting with or looking for the ball.  
Unexpectedly, no significant differences between the various playing positions were found either for the team handball GBPT, the 30-m SSPT and the Yo-Yo IR1 test. However, several effects sizes indicated that the lack of positional differences was ambiguous, and that it primarily was due to the relatively small sample size in each playing position and the composition of the specific group of players. In total, the present study could still not provide direct evidence that either the GBPT, the Yo-Yo IR1 test or the 30-m SSPT are well suited to measure differences between individual female top-elite field team handball players' physical performance.  
The main study finding was that the results revealed that the team handball GBPT is better than the Yo-Yo IR1 test to measure and evaluate female adult top-elite field team handball players' ability to perform physical match-related activities, including both locomotive and technical playing actions executed as during competitive match-play. Additionally, this study also clearly indicated that team handball specific physical performance, as measured by the GBPT, and general physical performance, as measured by the Yo-Yo IR1 test and the 30-m SSPT, are different components. This must be taken in consideration when using physical tests results for the planning of optimal physical training regimens in elite team handball.