The Associations Of Inhibitory Control With Physical Fitness, Skill Performance, And On-field Performance In Taekwondo

PURPOSE: Previous studies have suggested the crucial role of inhibitory control for success in taekwondo. However, empirical evidence is still lacking on the relationship between inhibitory control, skill performance, and on-field performance in taekwondo athletes. Moreover, the measures of inhibitory control have been performed using lab-based cognitive tests without considering the sport-specific context in most cases, which may affect the ecological validity of study outcomes. To address this issue, we employed light stimulation (i.e., BlazePod) to design a field-based inhibitory control task involving sport-specific skill to measure cognitive functioning related to a counterattack context in taekwondo. This study investigated whether and how lab- and field-based inhibitory control, physical fitness, and skill performance, differentially related to on-field performance of taekwondo. METHODS: Twenty-six taekwondo athletes aged 15-18 years were recruited to participate in this study. All participants were asked to complete fitness tests (Y-balance test, standing long jump, 20-m sprint, T-test, motor coordination test, aerobic capacity), taekwondo skill tests (frequency speed of kick test, taekwondo-specific agility test), and lab- and field-based go/no-go tasks. Specifically, inhibitory control performance was evaluated by subtracting simple reaction time (RT) from go/no-go RT. Finally, three nationally certified coaches evaluated participants' on-field performance using a 5-point Likert scale. RESULTS: A linear regression model with high predictive capacity (r = 0.83, R2 = 0.69, adjusted R2 = 0.45) revealed the associations of dynamic balance (p = .043) and motor coordination (p = .019) to on-field performance. Interestingly, the field-based rather than lab-based inhibitory control performance showed the strongest association with on-field performance (p = .008). CONCLUSION: In sum, taekwondo on-field performance may be associated with dynamic balance and motor coordination, especially for inhibitory control when performing taekwondo skills. Our findings suggest that the design of inhibitory control tasks involving sport-specific skills using sports technology may advance the understanding of the key success factors in Taekwondo.