Characteristics of psychomotor response in boxers

LTReikšminiai žodžiai: Boksininkai; Boxers; Psichomotorinė reakcija; Psychomotor response; Reaction time; Reakcijos laikas; Boksininkai; Boxers; Psichomotorinė reakcija; Psychomotor response; Reaction time; Reakcijos laikas.

ENReaction time indicates the condition of the central nervous system in athletes (Muckus, 2003). Therefore, this indicator can also show the athletic condition. Reaction time is one of the key indicators of athletic performance in boxing. But there are not a lot of researches made on reaction of boxers. Hypothesis of the study: boxers have faster and more accurate reaction compared to untrained men. The goal of the study is to investigate the characteristics of response in male boxers and non-athletes. The study involved eight boxers who have been training for at least five years and had competed in at least one national or inter-town event, and eight untrained men. The boxers’ group contained subjects aged 20–24, body weight: 66–76 kg, height 168–179 cm. Non-athletes group contained subjects aged 22–23, body weight 69–80 kg, height 170–182 cm. Psychomotor response time of the subjects was measured by a reaction meter RA-1 measuring the frequency of movements. Every subject completed three tasks with the right hand, the left hand and both hands in response to light signals. The arithmetic mean values of the subjects’ test results (Χ), and the average standard deviation (SD) was calculated. The level of reliability of the differences between the test results was calculated using Student t criterion. The significance level (p>0.05) was chosen to evaluate the reliability of the test results. Calculations were done using SPSS 11.0. Boxers demonstrate faster simple and complex reaction than untrained men. A reverse correlation was found between the reaction time and movement accuracy. Boxers reacted faster with the left hand than with the right hand, whereas non-athletes demonstrated better right hand reaction than left hand reaction although all subjects had a dominant right hand. Presumably, the velocity of left hand motions is developed in boxing training.Complex reaction was slower than simple reaction both in boxers and non-athletes. With a bigger number of attempts the simple reaction of non-athletes improves and reaction time becomes more consistent, whereas simple and complex reaction time remains consistent among athletes throughout the entire test time and even tends to become longer. [From the publication]