Contributions of Body Segments to the Toe Velocity during Taekwondo Roundhouse Kick

The roundhouse kick is the most commonly executed kick in Taekwondo competitions. Because it is the fastest kick among kicking techniques and can easily change its motion on the basis of the opponent’s motion, the roundhouse kick is suitable for scoring points. To explore the functional role of segmental movements during the roundhouse kick, this study aimed to investigate the effects of various footwork techniques on biomechanical contributions of body segments to toe velocity during roundhouse kicks. Ten elite Taekwondo athletes performed roundhouse kicks with different footwork positions. The contributions of body segments to the toe velocity were obtained through 3D motion analysis. Results were compared by repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA), and there were significant differences in the contributions of whole-body movement, trunk movement, trunk rotation, and toe velocity. It was concluded that in the minimum knee flexion (MKF) event, for all types of footwork, thigh rotation showed the most significant contribution (51–64.4%), followed by trunk rotation (16.7–29.9%) and whole-body movement (5.1–13.4%). However, in the impact event, the contribution of thigh rotation decreased, while the contribution of calf rotation increased significantly.