Investigation of the acute effects of three different stretching exercises applied in taekwondo athletes on repetitive kicking performance

Introduction and Aim: In this study, the acute effects of static, dynamic and PNF stretching exercises applied on Taekwondo athletes on repetitive kick performance were investigated. Materials and Methods: Fifteen male athletes, who were active in taekwondo in different sports clubs in Kayseri, participated in the study voluntarily. Data were obtained by taekwondo anaerobic interval kick test (TAIKT) after three different stretching exercises (static, dynamic, PNF) were applied to the athletes. Stretching exercises were applied to the lower extremity muscle groups of the athletes (hamstring, gastrocnemius, quadriceps and gluteus maximus) and a 48-hour rest period was given between the tests. Results: Two-way repeated measures ANOVA was used to determine the significant effects of stretching practices (passive, dynamic, static, PNF) on dependent variables (number of kicks, score, percentage of success). Multiple comparisons were made with the bonferroni adjustment of alpha level (.05). The Chi-Square (χ2) test was used for the orientations between the stretching practices and the perceived exertion level. Descriptive statistics (means, standard deviation, standard error, effect size) were used for each dependent variable. Significance level was initially determined as p≤.05 and analyzes were performed in SPSS 25 program for Windows. According to the findings obtained in the study, when the effects of different stretching exercises were compared with passive rest, it was seen that dynamic stretching produced more statistically significant effects (p<.05). Conclusions: As a result, in this kind of combat sports where kicking performance is important, the athletes prefer dynamic stretching and avoid static stretching instead of passively resting between matches, which will contribute positively to the kicking performance of the athletes. In future studies, it is recommended to diversify gender, age, weight category, stretching times and stretching regions.