Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

Determinants of Performance in Taekwondo

2002; Lippincott Williams & Wilkins; Volume: 34; Issue: 5 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1097/00005768-200205001-01763

1530-0315

Willy Pieter, Ceasar Mateo, Luigi T. Bercades,

Martial Arts: Techniques, Psychology, and Education

Introduction: Although recreational and elite taekwondo-in (athletes) have been investigated before (e.g., Conkel et al., 1988) there is a paucity of research on Asian counterparts. Olds and Kang (2000) found Korean male elite taekwondo-in less endomorphic than their club colleagues. Somatotype in itself may not directly contribute to improved performance, but in combination with general and competitive taekwondo experience, it may facilitate high-level performance (Olds and Kang, 2000). The purpose of this study was to determine the extent to which somatotype and experience contributed to performance in Filipino taekwondo-in. Methods: Subjects (52 males, 57 females) consisted of Filipino national taekwondo team members as well as winning and losing varsity athletes competing in the University Athletics Association of the Philippines Taekwondo Championship. Winning varsity athletes were those who placed first, second and third. The national athletes were those selected to represent their country. To determine the differences in somatotype and experience between groups (national, winning and losing varsity athletes) within gender, 1-way MANOVAs were employed. To determine the extent to which somatotype and experience contributed to performance, discriminant analysis was used. The level of significance for all analyses was set at 0.05. Results: The male national taekwondo-in were more mesomorphic (3.55) than the losing varsity athletes (2.49; p = 0.010) with no difference in endomorphy (3.64 vs. 3.00, p > 0.05). They also had more general taekwondo experience (9.85 ± 2.38 years) than the winning (6.00 ± 2.13 years, p = 0.031) and losing (2.74 ± 1.98 years, p < 0.001) varsity athletes. The female national taekwondo athletes (164.29 ± 6.30 cm) were taller than both the winning (159.05 ± 5.07 cm, p = 0.040) and losing (158.29 ± 5.01 cm, p = 0.006) varsity athletes. They also had more competition-specific taekwondo experience (4.35 ± 2.18 years) than the losing varsity athletes (3.00 ± 2.17 years, p = 0.022), while the winning varsity athletes had more competition-specific experience (4.60 ± 2.41 years) than their losing colleagues (p = 0.021). General taekwondo experience (r = 0.943), competition-specific experience (r = 0.924) and mesomorphy (r = 0.377) were the predictor variables for performance in the males (canonical R = 0.786, Eigenvalue: 1.621, 62 = 41.538, p < 0.001). 73.1% of actual grouped cases were correctly classified with 84.6% correctly classified as national athletes, 71.4% as winning and 68.0% as losing varsity athletes. In the females, general taekwondo experience (r = 0.644), competition-specific experience and height (r = 0.611 each) were the predictor variables for performance (canonical R = 0.565, Eigenvalue: 0.468, 62 = 23.157, p = 0.001). Of the national athletes, 72.2% were correctly classified with 46.7% as winning and 54.2% as losing varsity athletes for a total of 57.9% of original grouped cases correctly classified. Discussion: Experience has been suggested to be a more important factor than physique-related determinants in improved taekwondo performance (Olds and Kang, 2000), which is supported by the present study. The advantage in experience does not appear to translate into a more favorable physique for the national athletes, which would confirm the conclusion by Olds and Kang (2000) that anthropometric correlates, although necessary, may not be sufficient for success in international competition. Future research should include both physical and psychological factors to obtain a more comprehensive profile of performance correlates in taekwondo.