Effect of “IPPON” and “Judo 9+” Interventions on Balance and Coordination in Young Judo Athletes

Abstract

Background. One of the most important skills for judo players is coordination. In judo it is standard to focus more on strength and endurance rather than coordination. Recently coordination of judo players has become a popular topic, and the importance of coordination development has been introduced to researchers. There is a lack of research about the effect of coordination training on balance and coordination changes in judo athletes. The aim. To determine the effect of “IPPON intervention” and “Judo 9+” intervention on balance and coordination. Methods. Seven (5 boys, 2 girls) judo athletes aged 13.5±1.6 yrs., height 1.6±0.13 m, weighs 57.6±14.6 kg with training experience exceeding 9 months (3.7±2.4 years) were recruited for the intervention. A coordination training program formed out of two programs (“IPPON” intervention and “Judo 9+”) was applied for 4 weeks. Static and dynamic balance, coordination of athletes was tested before and after the intervention. Results. Statistically significant differences in coordination, static and dynamic balance of judo athletes were not found after 4 weeks of coordination training. While comparing test results before and after coordination training, we found increases (p > 0.05) of posterolateral reach in right leg (4.14 cm), anterior (0.71 cm) and posteromedial (1.14 cm) reach in left leg in a modified star excursion test, an improvement was found in the Harre coordination test (0.72 s). Conclusion. The four-week IPPON intervention and Judo 9+ exercise program was too short to significantly improve the coordination and dynamic balance of the judo sport. Keywords: static balance, dynamic balance, coordination