A Review of Striking Force in Full-Contact Combat Sport Athletes: Methods of Assessment

Abstract

With striking force playing such a critical role in the success of fullcontact combat sports such as mixed martial arts, taekwondo, and boxing, coaches and scientists must be able to track this performance metric accurately and reliably. This review will cover practitioner understanding of key kinetic variables used in the assessment of striking important concepts relating to the validity, reliability, and reporting of meaningful performance changes in the assessment process, a critique of the methods used to monitor changes in striking forces, and provide practical recommendations for practitioners in the field. This understanding will help coaches and scientists assess and interpret the effectiveness of training.

The Role of Strength on Punch Impact Force in Boxing

“…Due to these varying factors, and their differing validity and reliability, the direct comparison of punch impact force between measurement devices is not recommended (25). Nonetheless, it is recommended that practitioners who aim to assess punch impact force should select the measurement device based on ecological validity, reliability, and smallest worthwhile change (SWC) (25).…”

“…It is important to note that the data presented in Table 1 represents the punch impact forces in a controlled laboratory setting and therefore may be an overestimation of a boxer's punch impact force during a bout. Even though a punch-specific dynamometer may provide a reliable measure of punch impact force, the laboratory environment is much distinct to that of competition where other factors such as ringcraft, judgement of distance, timing, and tactical ability are important (25). For example, during a bout, punch impact force may be limited because of (a) an opponent partially evading or parrying a punch or (b) the boxer not committing to the punch with maximal “intent” because there may be the possibility of a counterpunch from the opponent.…”

“…Additionally, in these investigations, maximum punch impact force has been analyzed from punches thrown individually (3,27,42,50), in combination (11,13,18), or estimated during a competitive bout (32). Due to these varying factors, and their differing validity and reliability, the direct comparison of punch impact force between measurement devices is not recommended (25). Nonetheless, it is recommended that practitioners who aim to assess punch impact force should select the measurement device based on ecological validity, reliability, and smallest worthwhile change (SWC) (25).…”

A Review of Striking Force in Full-Contact Combat Sport Athletes: Effects of Different Types of Strength and Conditioning Training and Practical Recommendations

“…Accurate measurement with quantification of variability has enabled sport scientists and coaches to effectively determine between-individual differences as well as determine within-individual changes over time in response to training and other sport-related events. For a more thorough review on the importance of measuring striking force in combat sport athletes, refer to study by Lenetsky et al (35).…”

“…As there is no gold standard for the measurement of striking force found in the literature, it is difficult to compare the methods used in the above studies. Instead, analysis of the results should follow the recommendation of Lenetsky et al (35) that the method of striking force measurement must be able to distinguish force values and changes in values and that the reliability of the method has been established. This information was reported in 2 studies (11,19).…”