Lower-limb coordination during the rear-leg roundhouse kick in competitive taekwondo: a vector-coding analysis
6 affiliations
- 1School of Intelligent Sports Engineering, Wuhan Sports University, No. 461 Luoyu Road, Wuhan, Hubei Province 430079 China
- 2Key Laboratory of Sports Engineering of General Administration of Sports of China, Wuhan Sports University, Wuhan, 430079 China
- 3Engineering Research Center of Sports Health Intelligent Equipment of Hubei Province, Wuhan Sports University, Wuhan, 430079 China
- 4Specialised Research Centre for High-Quality Development of Competitive Sports, Wuhan Sports University, Wuhan, 430079 China
- 5School of Education (Normal School), Dongguan University of Technology, Dongguan, 523808 China
- 6Sports and Health Industry Science and Technology Innovation Center, Dongguan University of Technology, Dongguan, 523808 China
Abstract
Objective: To investigate whether differences exist in coupling angle (CA)-derived joint coordination pattern characteristics and coordination variability between the dominant side (DS) and non-dominant side (NS) during successful scoring rear-leg roundhouse kick (RLRK) in competitive taekwondo athletes.
Methods: Twelve male taekwondo athletes were recruited to perform RLRK with both the DS and NS. Lower-limb kinematic data were collected using a Vicon three-dimensional motion capture system. Signals from the Daedo electronic protector and a Kistler force platform were used for valid trial selection and movement event identification. Custom-written MATLAB code was used to calculate CA trajectories and coordination variability for lower-limb joint couplings. CA data were analyzed using circular statistics, with mean CA used to characterize CA-derived joint coordination pattern characteristics, and coordination variability was compared using paired-samples t-tests.
Results: No significant bilateral differences in mean CA were observed during the knee-lift phase. The bilateral differences in mean CA were mainly observed during the kicking and recovery phases, reflecting side-related differences in coordination characteristics represented by CA. Specifically, significant bilateral differences were found in the frontal-plane hip–ankle coupling and sagittal-plane knee–ankle coupling during the kicking phase (p = 0.037; p = 0.026), and in the sagittal-plane knee–ankle coupling during the recovery phase (p = 0.016). Significant side-related differences in coordination variability were observed across all three movement phases. During the knee-lift and kicking phases, significant differences were found in the sagittal-plane knee–ankle coupling (p = 0.002; p = 0.015). During the recovery phase, significant bilateral differences were observed in the frontal-plane hip–ankle coupling (p = 0.008), sagittal-plane hip–knee coupling (p = 0.027), and sagittal-plane knee–ankle coupling (p = 0.044).
Conclusions: Competitive taekwondo athletes exhibit side-specific lower-limb joint coordination control strategies when executing RLRK. These differences were reflected in mean CA-based coordination pattern characteristics and coordination variability. Lower coordination variability in certain joint couplings on the DS during the knee-lift and kicking phases suggests that the DS may adopt a relatively more stable coordination control strategy during the key output stages of the movement. In the recovery phase, bilateral differences were mainly reflected in joint-specific coordination organization and in the distribution of coordination variability.
Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at https://doi.org/10.1186/s13102-026-01831-5.
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BibTeX
@article{guo2026lowerlimb,
title = {{Lower-limb coordination during the rear-leg roundhouse kick in competitive taekwondo: a vector-coding analysis}},
author = {Qi Guo and Yong Ma and Lin Liu and Gan Liu and Mengyao Jia},
journal = {BMC Sports Science, Medicine and Rehabilitation},
year = {2026},
month = jul,
doi = {10.1186/s13102-026-01831-5},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1186/s13102-026-01831-5},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Lower-limb coordination during the rear-leg roundhouse kick in competitive taekwondo: a vector-coding analysis
AU - Qi Guo
AU - Yong Ma
AU - Lin Liu
AU - Gan Liu
AU - Mengyao Jia
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/07/31
JO - BMC Sports Science, Medicine and Rehabilitation
DO - 10.1186/s13102-026-01831-5
UR - https://doi.org/10.1186/s13102-026-01831-5
AB - Objective: To investigate whether differences exist in coupling angle (CA)-derived joint coordination pattern characteristics and coordination variability between the dominant side (DS) and non-dominant side (NS) during successful scoring rear-leg roundhouse kick (RLRK) in competitive taekwondo athletes. Methods: Twelve male taekwondo athletes were recruited to perform RLRK with both the DS and NS. Lower-limb kinematic data were collected using a Vicon three-dimensional motion capture system. Signals from the Daedo electronic protector and a Kistler force platform were used for valid trial selection and movement event identification. Custom-written MATLAB code was used to calculate CA trajectories and coordination variability for lower-limb joint couplings. CA data were analyzed using circular statistics, with mean CA used to characterize CA-derived joint coordination pattern characteristics, and coordination variability was compared using paired-samples t-tests. Results: No significant bilateral differences in mean CA were observed during the knee-lift phase. The bilateral differences in mean CA were mainly observed during the kicking and recovery phases, reflecting side-related differences in coordination characteristics represented by CA. Specifically, significant bilateral differences were found in the frontal-plane hip–ankle coupling and sagittal-plane knee–ankle coupling during the kicking phase (p = 0.037; p = 0.026), and in the sagittal-plane knee–ankle coupling during the recovery phase (p = 0.016). Significant side-related differences in coordination variability were observed across all three movement phases. During the knee-lift and kicking phases, significant differences were found in the sagittal-plane knee–ankle coupling (p = 0.002; p = 0.015). During the recovery phase, significant bilateral differences were observed in the frontal-plane hip–ankle coupling (p = 0.008), sagittal-plane hip–knee coupling (p = 0.027), and sagittal-plane knee–ankle coupling (p = 0.044). Conclusions: Competitive taekwondo athletes exhibit side-specific lower-limb joint coordination control strategies when executing RLRK. These differences were reflected in mean CA-based coordination pattern characteristics and coordination variability. Lower coordination variability in certain joint couplings on the DS during the knee-lift and kicking phases suggests that the DS may adopt a relatively more stable coordination control strategy during the key output stages of the movement. In the recovery phase, bilateral differences were mainly reflected in joint-specific coordination organization and in the distribution of coordination variability. Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at https://doi.org/10.1186/s13102-026-01831-5.
SN - 2052-1847
ER -