Effect of Playing Digital Games on Reaction Time in Taekwondo Athletes

Abstract

Background

Reaction time is very important for Taekwondo athletes and digital games are thought to increase reaction time. The aim of our study was to investigate the effects of playing digital games on reaction time in licensed Taekwondo athletes.

Methods

55 healthy volunteers aged between 15-35 years were included in our study. Sociodemographic and digital game based information were recorded with an online survey and two groups were recruited: video game player (VGP) Taekwondo athletes (n = 29) and non video game player (NVGP) Taekwondo athletes (n = 26). Human Benchmark test was used to measure visual reaction time. The reaction time tests were repeated five times for both hands and the average of recorded scores were obtained.

Results

There was a significant difference between the reaction time measurement results of VGP and NVGP Taekwondo athletes as a result of statistical analyses between the groups (p < 0.05).

Conclusion

Due to the finding that reaction time is better in VGP athletes, it may be concluded that the inclusion of digital games aimed at improving reaction times may be effective in training or rehabilitation programs of Taekwondo athletes.