Effect of warm-up on visual response times in taekwondo athletes
Keywords:
Laterality, response time, taekwondo, visual, warm-up, young athletesAbstract
Response time is a critical component of performance in combat sports, where quick visual processing and immediate motor response can determine the outcome of competition. This study aimed to examine the effect of a warm-up on the visual response times of youth taekwondo athletes. The study was approved by the Ethics Committee of the University (Decision Date: 23.06.2023, No: 63), and included 23 voluntarily participating taekwondo athletes (age: 14.39±1.85 years; height: 166.61±11.04 cm; body weight: 49.83±8.34 kg). Visual response times were measured using the Fitlight reaction system (Fitlight Sports Corp., Canada), applied three times to both the dominant and non-dominant hands, with the best score recorded. On the test day, athletes first completed the visual reaction test followed by a taekwondo-specific warm-up protocol and then repeated the test. Paired sample t-tests were used to compare pre- and post-warm-up results, as well as differences between hands. A significant difference was found between dominant and non-dominant hand response times both before (dominant: 0.60±0.04 s vs. non-dominant: 0.63±0.06 s) and after warming up (dominant: 0.57±0.04 s vs. non-dominant: 0.59±0.04 s) in favor of the dominant hand (p<0.05). Additionally, post-warm-up scores showed significant improvement compared to pre-test scores for both dominant (0.60±0.04 s vs. 0.57±0.04 s) and non-dominant hands (0.63±0.06 s vs. 0.59±0.04 s) (p<0.05). These findings suggest that warm-up exercises can positively influence visual response performance in youth taekwondo athletes, potentially contributing to improved readiness and performance during competition.
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