INVESTIGATION OF STRENGTH PERFORMANCE OF CADET TAEKWONDO PLAYERS: COMPARISON OF SAĞIRKAYA METHOD AND TRADITIONAL METHOD

YILDIZLAR TAEKWONDO SPORCULARINDA KUVVET PERFORMANSININ İNCELENMESİ: SAĞIRKAYA YÖNTEMİ VE GELENEKSEL YÖNTEMİN KARŞILAŞTIRILMASI

Özet

The Sağırkaya Method was developed as an alternative to the traditional weight-based classification method commonly used in taekwondo kyorugi competitions. This method classifies athletes based on their height rather than body weight. This study aimed to compare the Sağırkaya Method with the Traditional Method in terms of potential strength imbalances between competitors. The research was conducted with the voluntary participation of 20 elite cadet athletes (height: 156.19±13.61 cm; body weight: 52.62±6.25 kg; BMI: 21.68±4.74 kg/m²). After determining the athletes' height and body weight, their isokinetic knee and hip strength performance was assessed. The isokinetic strength was evaluated by measuring peak torque at angular velocities of 60º/s and 180º/s. The findings indicated moderate to strong significant correlations between body weight and knee (r=0.498-0.736; p<0.05) and hip (r=0.465-0.621; p<0.05) strength. However, when examining the relationships between height and knee and hip strength, no significant correlations were found (p>0.05). In conclusion, body weight appears to be an important factor in strength production among cadet taekwondo athletes. Since the Sağırkaya Method reveals differences in body weight between competitors more clearly compared to the Traditional Method, it was concluded that this method could lead to greater strength asymmetry between opponents, potentially creating an unfair competition environment.