POSTURAL STABILITY ASSESSMENT IN ELITE TAEKWONDO ATHLETES: COMPARATIVE STUDY BETWEEN DIFFERENT AGE GROUPS

• Published in: Acta kinesiologica Vol. 11; no. 2; p. 97
• Main Authors: Bešlija, Tea, Marinković, Dragan, Čular, Dražen
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Ljubuski DPTZK 16.08.2017
• Subjects: Comparative studies; Discriminant analysis; Martial arts; Posture
• ISSN: 1840-2976

The main aim of this investigation was to characterize the postural stability profile in elite Croatian male and female Taekwondo athletes. The second aim was to compare postural stability in frontal and sagittal plane in Taekwondo athletes of different age groups. The sample was composed of three groups of Taekwondo athletes. The first group included seniors (N=38; 20.3±2.26 years), the second group included juniors (N=40; 16.6±0.63 years) and the third group included cadets (N=43; 14.625±0.73 years). The following stability parameters were used in the research: Range centre of force X (RCX); Range centre of force Y (RCY); Force (Force); Area of sway (ASWAY); Sway distance (SWAY); Speed of sway (SSWAY). Discriminant analysis showed that all variables significantly contributed to the difference between the groups. The seniors significantly differed from the cadets in all parameters, and the difference was in favour of the seniors (p≤0.05). The results indicate there are differences in oscillations in planes and all groups showed more stability in medio-lateral (m-l) direction. To conclude, postural stability parameters were higher in the senior group when compared with junior and cadet group. The findings depend on trainees’ age (seniors>cadets) and may be important for the selection, training design and health care of Taekwondo athletes. To confirm findings, in future research is necessary to verify the hypothesis that taekwondo training can positively impact on postural stability indicators.