KINETIC AND KINEMATIC ANALYSIS OF THE DOMINANT AND NON-DOMINANT KICKING LEG IN THE TAEKWONDO ROUNDHOUSE KICK

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine kinematic variables relevant to kick performance with the dominant and non-dominant leg, in a roundhouse kick measured from three execution distances. Forty-three taekwondo athletes that had competitive taekwondo experience participated in the study. A dependent t-test indicated that there were no differences between extremities at any distance (p > .01). Based on these results, competitive taekwondo players do not seem to reveal differences in limb kinematics. The results also showed the influence of the distance from which the dominant leg explains a larger percentage of variance in reaction time (24%), execution time (20%) and total response time (60%) of the non-dominant leg from a short distance, whereas regarding impact force (22%), this higher percentage is explained from a long distance.