Pre-Competition Habits and Injuries in Taekwondo Athletes

Introduction: No research has been conducted on the way taekwondo athletes prepare themselves prior to competition. The objective of this retrospective survey, therefore, was to assess training characteristics, competition preparation habits and injury profiles of taekwondo athletes. Methods: Subjects for this study were Canadian male and female taekwondo athletes participating in a national tournament. Questionnaires, comprising items on training characteristics, diet, and injuries sustained during training and competition, were handed out to 60 athletes prior to competition. Results: Twenty-eight questionnaires (46.7%) were returned. The mean age, weight and height of the athletes were 22 years, 149 lbs and 68.6 inches, respectively. Most of the respondents (75%) had 6 years or more experience in taekwondo. Fifty-seven percent of the athletes were practicing taekwondo for 8 or more years, 18% for 6–7 years and 21% for 4–5 years. Fifty-four percent of the athletes dieted before competition. Fifty percent of them did not eat but drank, 33% neither ate nor drank and 17% did not drink but ate. Thirty-six percent did aerobic exercises in addition to dieting to make the weight. Thirty-nine percent practiced 5–6 times per week, 25% 4 times, 21% 2–3 times and 14% 7 or more times per week. Fifty-four percent practiced 2 hours per session, 18% 1 hour, 18% 3 hours and 11% 4 or more. Twenty-five percent sparred 1–2 times per week, 53.5% 3–4 times per week and 21% 5 times or more per week. Forty-one percent stretched before and 57% stretched before and after training. Fifty-seven percent of athletes always did warm-up exercises, whereas 43% sometimes warmed up. Sixty-four percent of athletes sometimes, 21% always and 14% never did cool-down exercises. The location of first injuries reported were 46.5% to the lower extremities, 18% upper extremities, 10.8% back, 3.6% head with 21.4% not reporting any injuries. Forty-five percent of these injuries were sprains/strains, 32% contusions, 14% fractures, and 5% concussions. Fifty-nine percent of the first injuries were incurred during training versus 41% during competition. A hundred percent of the third to fifth injuries reported happened during training. Discussion: As expected in a weight-categorized sport, more than half of the competitors dieted to make weight prior to competition. The adverse effects on the taekwondo athlete's health and performance of dehydration techniques to lose weight were highlighted before (Pieter and Taaffe, 1991), especially when practiced over several years as was also suggested for judoka (judo athletes) (Maslen et al., 1993). Not surprisingly, the lower extremities received most of the injuries reported. Sprains and strains were the most common injuries followed by contusions, which was also found in an earlier study on competition injuries in Canadian taekwondo athletes (Kazemi and Pieter, 2000). When considering all the reported injuries, the frequency of injuries was higher during training. However, in the absence of any exposure data, it cannot be concluded that the risk of injury is higher during training (Kazemi and Pieter, 2000). The sample size of this study was small and hence any definitive conclusions would be premature. Further research with more subjects should also consider the relationship between training and competition injuries, and dieting. In addition, the relationship between warm-up and cool-down routines, and injuries should be investigated.

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