• Korean Journal of Applied Biomechanics
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.367-373
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• 2014

Most athletes execute rhythmic hop as a preparatory motion in Taekwondo sparring. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of rhythmic hop on the response times and kicking velocities of Taekwondo kicks. Twelve male elite Taekwondo athletes performed a roundhouse kick and a back kick as fast as possible immediately after seeing an external stimulus in rhythmic hop and in no hop, respectively. The three-dimensional marker data of the whole body were measured at sampling rate of 200 Hz. Paired t-tests were used to compare dependent measures between hop and no hop conditions. Results indicated that the rhythmic hop did not affect response time statistically but improved the kicking velocity significantly than no hop did. Different instants of detecting an external stimulus in rhythmic hop for the back kick showed significantly different response times. Conclusively, rhythmic hop is recommendable for the purpose of kicking velocity, but not for the purpose of response time. Athletes should be careful in executing rhythmic hop as their preparatory motions for the back kick, since the response time could be shortened or lengthened according to the instant of detecting an external stimulus.