A handball in Australian Rules Football is a method of passing the ball by holding it in one hand and striking it with the clenched fist of the other. It is the only legal way to hand-pass the ball in AFL — throwing is explicitly prohibited. The handball can travel in any direction: forward, sideways, or backward, with no restriction on distance or direction.

How to Execute a Legal Handball

Why Throwing Is Illegal in AFL

The prohibition on throwing is one of Australian Rules Football's foundational rules, present in the game's earliest codification in 1859. The design intention is to make passing under pressure harder than in codes that allow throwing — requiring a specific punching action creates a skill ceiling that rewards good decision-making and technique. A throw would allow players to propel the ball with far greater control and distance than a handball, fundamentally changing the game's skill balance.

The handball-not-throw rule also produces one of AFL's distinctive tactical features: because handballing is less efficient than kicking over distance, teams must balance handball chains against the risk of turning the ball over in congested areas. This tension between handball and kick is a core element of AFL game style.

When Players Choose to Handball

A player under tackle who cannot kick must dispose of the ball legally — handball is the only option in close quarters. More broadly, players handball when a kick would be too slow, too risky, or when a teammate is too close for a kick to be effective. The handball's ability to go in any direction — including backward — gives AFL a fluidity of movement unavailable in codes restricted to backward passes only.