Development of the Taekwondo Performance Protocol to Assess Technical Speed and Quickness

Abstract

Introduction: The aim of this study is to develop the Taekwondo Performance Protocol (TPP), with which taekwondo-specific speed and quickness performance can be measured. Materials and Methods: The study was conducted with the participation of 79 active athletes that were at least at 1st gup level (red – black belt). At the development stage of the TPP, reliability calculations were made using the test-retest method. During the examination of the validity of TPP, Illinois agility, 20-meter sprint, vertical jump, and anaerobic power (Lewis) performances and the correlations between them were examined. In addition, TPP's effectiveness in distinguishing athletes of different performance levels was examined. Results: The results showed that TPP has a high level of reliability. It was also found that TPP was associated with Illinois agility, 20-m sprint, vertical jump, and anaerobic power (Lewis) characteristics at a low-to-medium level and had a high level of distinguishing ability for athletes of different performance levels. Conclusions: The results show that TPP is an economical, simple, reliable, and valid taekwondo-specific performance test.