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The execution distance is a tactic factor that affects mechanical performance and execution technique in taekwondo. This study analyzes the roundhouse kick to the head by comparing the maximum impact force, execution time, and impact time in 3 distances according to the athletes' competition level. It also analyzes the relationship between impact force and weight in each group. It examines whether the execution distance affects the maximum impact force, execution time, and impact time, in each level group or 2 different competition levels. Participants were 27 male taekwondo players (13 medallists and 14 nonmedallists). The medallists executed the roundhouse kick to the head with greater impact force and in a shorter execution time than did the nonmedallists when they kicked from any distance different to their combat distance. However, the results showed that the execution distance is influential in the execution time and impact time in the nonmedallist group. It is considered appropriate to orientate the high-level competitors to train for offensive actions from any distance similar to the long execution distance because it offers equally effectiveness and a greater security against the opponent. Also, practitioners should focus their training to improve time performance because it is more affected by distance than impact force.

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The purpose of this study was to identify tactical characteristics of successful athletes who competed in a National University Championship. Results from the study allow taekwondo coaches and competitors to orient their training towards evidence-based practice to achieve success in competitions. Overall, taekwondo athletes performed more attacks than counterattacks. However, winners performed more counterattacks than non-winners. Moreover, winners performed more anticipatory counterattacks (ANC) and less indirect attacks (INA) than non-winners. Lastly, the order of the performance of the actions for non-winners was by decreasing frequency direct attack (DIA), INA, posterior counterattack (POC), simultaneous counterattack (SIC) and ANC, while for winners the order for most to least frequent action was DIA, INA and POC, followed by SIC and ANC. In conclusion, taekwondo athletes need to focus their trainings on both attacks and counterattacks, with its order of importance being: 1) DIA; 2) INA and POC; and 3) ANC and SIC; to increase the level of their tactical behaviour.

This study investigated the relationship between the color protector and success in taekwondo combats in the qualification championships, when electronic body protectors were used. Moreover, it analyzed the confounding effect of a participant being a top-ranked athlete in the 2012 London Olympic Games, in a sample of 462 matches. Results from the entire sample showed a non-significant relationship between the combat outcome and the winner's color electronic protector. At the level of the tournament, the results showed a significant relationship between wearing a red electronic protector and winning the combat in the Asian and the European qualification tournaments. For gender and weight categories, there was no clear color effect. A significant association was, however, found between wearing red and winning the match in the female featherweight category. The inclusion of electronic body protectors and a counterbalanced seed-condition seem to be effective for controlling the effect of the protector's color on the outcomes of combats.

The aim of this study was to analyze the performance of medallists' taekwondo athletes in University level Championship. Kicking actions were grouped into three categories; circular, linear and with a previous spin kicks. Performance was evaluated based on 1) the type and height of the kicks employed, 2) the attacking and counterattacking nature of the kicking actions and 3) the scoring profiles of these. Forty-five matches from the four Olympic weight categories were notationally analyzed in male and female populations. Kruskal-Wallis tests revealed that the reading scores in the four weight categories differed significantly in males for linear kicks, and in circular kicks to the chest, attacking kicks and total actions (p < 0.05) for females. A greater number of circular kicks was recorded in male and female taekwondo athletes; this was followed by linear kicks and those with a previous spin. Kicks to the chest were also more common than kicks to the head as well as attacking kicks were used more frequently than counterattacking kicks. Given the new competition rules, coaches are encouraged to induce athletes to increase the frequency of kicks to the head and with a previous spin to maximise the point scoring rate per kicks delivered.

Competition regulation in taekwondo has experienced several changes during the last few years, for example, kicks to the head score more points than kicks to the chest. In addition, some external factors such as the height of target and execution distance seem to affect the kick performance. The aim of this study was to analyse selected biomechanical parameters (impact force, reaction time, and execution time) according to the height and execution distance in two different male groups (experts (n = 12) and novices (n = 21)). Athletes kicked twice from every execution distance (short, normal and long) and towards two different heights of target (chest and head) in a random order. Novices kicked to the head with a longer reaction time than to the chest (p < 0.05) but experts were able to kick with similar performance for both heights. From short and normal distances experts kicked with similar performance; whereas from the normal distance novices had longer reaction and execution time than from the short distance (p < 0.05). In conclusion, in counterattacking situations, experts should perform the roundhouse kick to the head instead of to the chest, because it produces better scores with similar performance; whereas novice athletes should avoid kicking to the head because they are not able to kick with similar performance. Moreover, it is recommended that during counterattacks higher-level taekwondo athletes should intend to kick from normal distances.

In taekwondo, the stance position can potentially affect kick performance. The aim of this study was to analyse mechanical variables in the roundhouse kick in taekwondo according to three stance positions (0°, 45°, 90°). Nine experienced taekwondo athletes performed consecutive kicking trials in a random order according to these three relative positions of the feet on the ground. Measurements for the mechanical analysis were performed using two 3D force plates and an eight-camera motion capture system. The taekwondo athletes' reaction and execution times were shorter when starting from the 0° and 45° stance positions than from the 90° position (P < 0.05). Moreover, the ground reaction force was negatively correlated with execution time and positively with velocity of thigh and shank. Our results suggest that the stance position affects the execution technique of taekwondo athletes' kicks. It is suggested that athletes should not adopt the 90° stance position because it will not enable them to achieve the best performance in the roundhouse kick.