Behavior of female judo weight divisions on approach and grip phases in different judo rules: The top 20 athletes from the 2016 and 2020 Olympic cycles

Lindsei Brabec Mota Barreto; Esteban Ariel Aedo-Muñoz; Bianca Miarka; Dany Alexis Sobarzo Soto; Roberto Jerônimo Dos Santos Silva; Felipe J Aidar; Andreia Cristiane Carrenho Queiroz; Otávio de Toledo Nóbrega; Ciro José Brito

doi:10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e20849

Behavior of female judo weight divisions on approach and grip phases in different judo rules: The top 20 athletes from the 2016 and 2020 Olympic cycles

Heliyon. 2023 Oct 11;9(10):e20849. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e20849. eCollection 2023 Oct.

Authors

Lindsei Brabec Mota Barreto^{1

2}, Esteban Ariel Aedo-Muñoz³, Bianca Miarka⁴, Dany Alexis Sobarzo Soto⁵, Roberto Jerônimo Dos Santos Silva⁶, Felipe J Aidar⁶, Andreia Cristiane Carrenho Queiroz¹, Otávio de Toledo Nóbrega⁷, Ciro José Brito¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Physical Education. Federal University of Juiz de Fora, Campus Governador Valadares. Governador Valadares, MG, Brazil.
² Department of Education, Federal University of Grande Dourados, Dourados, MS, Brazil.
³ Departamento de Educación Física Deportes y Recreación, Facultad de Artes y Educación Física, Universidad Metropolitana de Ciencia de La Educación, Santiago, Chile.
⁴ Program of Physical Education, Laboratory of Psychophysiology and Performance in Sports & Combats, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil.
⁵ Escuela de Kinesiología, Facultad de Salud. Magister en Ciencias la Actividad Física y Deportes Aplicadas al Entrenamiento Rehabilitación y Reintegro Deportivo, Universidad Santo Tomás, Puerto Montt, Chile.
⁶ Physical Education Department, Federal University of Sergipe, Aracaju, SE, Brazil.
⁷ Graduation Program in Medical Sciences, University of Brasilia, Campus Universitario Darcy Ribeiro, Brasilia, Brazil.

Abstract

In judo combat, the approach and gripping phases play a crucial role in determining victory, and it is believed that they can be influenced by the current rules. The objective of this study was to compare the technical-tactical actions executed by female judokas in the approach and gripping subphases during international competitions held in the 2016 and 2020 Olympic cycles, which featured different rules. We analyzed 1332 combat videos from the top 20 female judo athletes in the world rankings. These videos were equally distributed across weight divisions in the 2016 and 2020 Olympic cycles (48 kg = 132; 52 kg = 72; 57 kg = 109; 63 kg = 96; 70 kg = 69; 78 kg = 106; >78 kg = 82; total = 666 combats per cycle). The athletes in the 2020 cycle spent more time executing approach actions without contact with the judogi (formless: 2020 = 26.9; 2016 = 21.3 s; p < 0.001) and less time attempting grips (2020 = 24.6; 2016 = 31.2 s; p < 0.001) than the 2016 athletes. Additionally, the 2020 athletes spent less time on one-handed grips (left collar: 2020 = 7.1; 2016 = 7.9 s; p = 0.017; right sleeve: 2020 = 4.6; 2016 = 5.6 s; p = 0.018; left sleeve: 2020 = 4.7; 2016 = 5.2 s; p = 0.031) compared to the 2016 athletes. In both Olympic cycles, athletes devoted the most time to traditional grips (left collar right sleeve: 2016 = 12.3 ± 19.9; 2020 = 12.2 ± 17.5; right collar left sleeve: 2016 = 11.5 ± 20.6; 2020 = 12.3 ± 19.9 s). Differences in the approach subphases between Olympic cycles had varying impacts on different weight divisions (formless = 52 kg, 57 kg, 78 kg; right anteroposterior = 52 kg, 57 kg, 70 kg; grip attempts = 57 kg, 63 kg, 70 kg, 78 kg, >78 kg; p < 0.05), as did changes in grip types (right collar; left collar; left sleeve = 70 kg; right sleeve = >78 kg; right dorsal = 63 kg; left dorsal = 63 kg, 78 kg; right collar left sleeve = 48 kg, 52 kg; right dorsal left sleeve = 78 kg; right dorsal left collar = 48 kg, 70 kg; right dorsal left dorsal = 48 kg, 63 kg; p < 0.05). There were notable technical-tactical shifts in the behavior of female athletes between the Olympic cycles with different rules, and these findings should be taken into account for specialized training in female judo.

Keywords: Combat sports; Martial arts; Performance; Technical-tactical analysis; Time-motion.