Relationship Between Physical Factors and Non-Sport Specific Movement Skills in Australian Taekwondo Athletes

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Success in many sports is reliant upon unique skill attributes which are difficult to accurately and reliably assess such as balance, timing, and general coordination. Non-sport specific motor test batteries, such as the körperkoordinationstest für kinder (KTK), are gaining prominence for their ability to reliably assess fundamental movement skill attributes. For instance, the KTK discriminates and predicts expertise in gymnasts. However, as skill tests are difficult to validate, one criticism is that results are reliant upon alternative variables, such anthropometric or physiological qualities. Therefore, the KTK may not actually be a valid assessor of skill. A method of critically evaluating these skill tests is to assess their relationship with traditional measures of anthropometry and physiology. PURPOSE: To assess the relationship between physiological and anthropometric qualities and non-sport specific motor skills. METHODS: Twelve Australian national team taekwondo athletes (mean ± SD; age 23.2 ± 3.7 yrs) completed anthropometric, physiological and fundamental motor skill tests. Anthropometry was assessed by body mass (BM), height (Ht), and sum of seven skinfolds (Sum7); physiological assessment included countermovement jump (CMJ), squat jump (SQJ), and a 20m shuttle run (SRun). Fundamental motor skills were assessed by the KTK, a testing battery of 4 non-sports specific tests including: obstacle hopping for height (HopH); backwards balance beam walking (BacBal); sideways jumping, scored for repetitions over 15 sec (SWJ); and moving sideways on platforms, scored for repetitions over 20 sec (MP). RESULTS: Controlling for gender, KTK performance correlated significantly only with CMJ height (r=.76, P<0.05). Further analysis of KTK subtests revealed BacBal performance correlated with SQJ relative peak power (r=.72, P<<0.05) and HopH correlated with BM (r=-.79, P<0.05). CONCLUSION: Findings demonstrate that physiological and anthropometric qualities have a weak association with non-sport specific motor skills in national level athletes. The KTK may be a valid assessment of fundamental movement skills as performance is likely related to non-physiologic and anthropometric attributes such as perceptual expertise.