Impact of Life Kinetic Training on Hand-Eye Coordination in Taekwondo Athletes

Abstract

Objective: This study explored the impact of Life Kinetic training on hand-eye coordination in taekwondo players aged 11 to 14 years (x̄=12.67± 1.01) who had achieved a red belt rank or higher. Materials and Methods: To investigate the effects of Life Kinetic training on hand-eye coordination, an experimental group of athletes (n=15) engaged in 45 minutes of these exercises twice a week for 8 weeks in addition to their regular taekwondo training. A control group (n=15) continued with only their taekwondo training. Hand-eye coordination was assessed using the Purdue Pegboard hand dexterity test before the intervention. Data analysis involved a two-factor mixed ANOVA with repeated measures. The Shapiro-Wilk test and skewness assessment were employed to verify the normality of the dependent variables. A p-value less than 0.05 indicated a statistically significant difference between the variables. Results: Based on the results of hand-eye coordination measurements, group-measurement interaction significantly impacted the outcomes (p<.05) of right-hand placement, left-hand placement, pair-hand placement, and the combination test. Conclusion: Based on these results, it was found that the results of hand-eye coordination measurements of the experimental group, in which LK exercises were applied, showed more improvement than the control group that practiced traditional taekwondo training, and it was concluded that Life Kinetic training had a significant and positive effect on hand-eye coordination.