Investigation of selective attention auditory and visual jump reaction times of taekwondo athletes

In this study, it was aimed to investigate the selective attention, auditory and visual jump reaction times of taekwondo athletes. For this purpose, attention and reaction time that can affect the instant movement applied aganist the opponent in taekwondo were investigated using a cross-sectional research model. One hundred and sixty taekwondo athletes competing in different categories (age: 16.17 ± 3.27 years, height: 169.12 ± 11.60 cm, weight: 57.60 ± 13.44 kg, BMI: 19.90 ± 2.78 kg/m2, sport age: 6.87 ± 3.64 years) voluntarily participated in the study. After the anthropometric measurements of the participants in the study, attention test and reaction time tests were performed. Independent Samples T-test and Mann-Whitney U test were used for two-group comparisons, One Way ANOVA and Kruskal Wallis tests were used for three-group comparisons. There was no significant difference between attention scores and gender and having regional degree (p>0.05). A significant difference was found between the competition category and TN, TN-E, E1, E2 and CP attention scores (p<0.05). A significant difference was found between the national athlete, international and national degree and TN, TN-E, E2 and CP attention scores (p<0.05). While there was no significant difference between reaction times and having regional degree (p>0.05), a significant difference was found between reaction times and gender, competition category, national athlete, international and national degree (p<0.05). According to the results of this research, it can be said that athletes who are older, have more competitive experience and have more successful sports background have better reaction time and better level of attention skills.