Nutrition in Combat Sports

15 Taekwondo 267
Boey and Xie [39] recorded average durations of the roundhouse kick of 0.35 and
0.30 s for male and female Singaporean elite taekwondo-in , respectively, with
velocities of 18 m.s −1 (males) and 13 m.s −1 (females). Pieter and Pieter [22] found
velocities of 15.9 m.s −1 (males) and 13.3 m.s −1 (females) for the same kick in
American taekwondo athletes, whereas Sung et al. [37] reported a value of 19.2 m.s −1
for Korean elite male taekwondo-in .
The average velocity of swing kicks, such as the roundhouse and spinning
roundhouse kicks, was 80% greater than so-called thrust kicks, such as the side kick
[40] . Serina and Lieu [40] also suggested that kicks with an initial spin, such as the
spinning roundhouse kick, will have a greater chance of causing injuries: injury
potential was strongly related to kick velocity [41] .
Psychological profiling revealed that elite Canadian taekwondo-in contributed
commitment, belief, full focus, positive images, mental readiness, distraction control,
and constructive evaluation to their success at the international level [42] . Although
they showed individual differences in the way they prepared for competition, they
all used imagery [43] .
Two weeks before the world championships, American elite male and female
taekwondo-in were more depressed, fatigued, confused, and scored higher on anger
than recreational counterparts. They were also more cognitively anxious, but there
were no differences in trait and state anxiety [21] . Trait anxiety in elite Filipino
taekwondo-in 1 week before competition explained 71% of the variance in somatic
state anxiety in the men 1 h before competition and 63.2% in the women. One hour
prior to competition, self-confidence was inversely related to somatic state anxiety
in the women and explained 53% of its variance [44] .
15.3 Predicting Taekwondo Performance
Research on predicting taekwondo performance has only recently started. Experience
has been suggested to be a more important factor than physique-related determinants
in improved taekwondo performance [16] . This was supported by Pieter et al.
[45] , who determined the extent to which somatotype and experience contributed
to performance in Filipino national and varsity taekwondo-in . The advantage in
experience does not appear to translate into a more favorable physique for the
national athletes, however, which would corroborate the conclusion by Olds and
Kang [16] that anthropometric correlates, although necessary, may not be sufficient
for success in international competition. Pieter [46] and Kazemi et al. [47] confirmed
this for Olympic taekwondo-in .
In another study, Pieter et al. [48] showed that in male Filipino varsity taekwondo
athletes, mood could correctly classify winners and losers, but this was not
statistically significant. Depression and fatigue were most influential in distinguishing
between winners and losers. However, in women, none of the mood predictors
was found to be related to the discriminant function. The heterogeneous skill of the
varsity athletes may be responsible for the low and insignificant predictive value of
mood states in terms of performance.