TITLE:
Research on the Relation between Hand Preference and Success in Karate and Taekwondo Sports with Regards to Gender
AUTHORS:
Yunus Emre Cingoz, Recep Gursoy, Murat Ozan, Kursat Hazar, Mehmet Dalli
KEYWORDS:
Hand Preference, Karate, Taekwondo, Sports
JOURNAL NAME:
Advances in Physical Education,
Vol.8 No.3,
August
3,
2018
ABSTRACT: This study is conducted with the aim of determining whether there is a difference between hand preference and success of adult Karate and Taekwondo athletes with regards to their gender. 255 athletes in total (144 male and 111 female) who participated in Turkey inter-university karate and taekwondo championshipsareincluded in the research. The “Oldfield Survey (1971)” that was developed to determine the hand preferences and some bio-motor characteristics of the athleteswasimplemented. In order to evaluate the success status, the correlation difference between the data obtained by following the results of the competition evaluation, hand preference and success was evaluated in the SPSS program. Dominant hand preference, athletic success and medal winning status of the athletes in both branches were compared. According tothe findings, female karate and taekwondo athletes’ dominant hand preference and medal winning status have a weak and negative relation (p.05). Therewas no significant relation between dominant hand preference and thebranches (p> 0.05). There was also no significant relation between dominant hand preference, medal winning status and branches of male karate and taekwondo athletes (p> 0.05). In conclusion, a weak relation was found out between dominant hand preference of left-handed female karate and taekwondo athletes in their favor with regards to winning medals. However, no relation was found regarding male athletes.