Abstract
The purpose of the present study was to examine male and female Olympic taekwondo competitors’ movement patterns according to their tactical actions by applying a Markov processes analysis. To perform this study, 11,474 actions by male competitors and 12,980 actions by female competitors were compiled and analyzed. The results yielded 32 significant sequences among male competitors and 30 among female competitors. Male competitors demonstrated 11 sequences initiated by an attack, 11 initiated by a counterattack, and 10 initiated by a defensive action. Female competitors demonstrated nine sequences initiated by an attack, 11 initiated by a counterattack, and 10 initiated by a defensive move. The five most popular sequences were the opening and dodge, the direct attack and simultaneous counterattack, the dodge with a direct attack, the indirect attack and simultaneous counterattack, and the simultaneous counterattack with a direct attack. Markov chains help provide coaches and researchers with relevant information about the frequency of actions, both in terms of their frequency of occurrence and the order of their occurrence, during a real competition. It is suggested that coaches and athletes focus on these patterns when training for a real competition.
Highlights
In elite sports, performance needs to be understood from different perspectives, including a tactical perspective
To test the hypothesis of whether technical–tactical patterns with greater probability of occurrence than chance based on Markov chain could explain the athlete’s behavior in Olympic competition, this study describes the tactical actions that occur just before or after another tactical action by using a Markov process analysis
Male competitors performed a total of 11,474 actions, which were categorized into 1,460 openings, 2,281 direct attacks, 1,711 indirect attacks, 269 anticipatory counterattacks, 1,647 simultaneous counterattacks, 935 posterior counterattacks, 537 blocks, 723 cuts, and 1,911 dodges
Summary
Performance needs to be understood from different perspectives, including a tactical perspective. Tactical decisions made during combat are not directly observable during competition; only the tactical actions performed by athletes can provide an indication of the tactics that have been applied. To make tactical decisions during competition, competitors must have knowledge of the different tactical options and their probability of success, so they can select the correct action to perform and the proper moment to act (O’Donoghue, 2010). A tactical scheme is prepared to face combat situations in order to take the opponents by surprise by using the specific tactical actions (Gréhaigne and Godbout, 1995). Tactical actions in taekwondo are usually subdivided into offensive (i.e., attacks and counterattacks) and defensive actions according to the purpose (i.e., score or avoid being scored against) of the athlete (Menescardi et al, 2019). The tactics applied during competitions have to be found in objective data (O’Donoghue, 2010)
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