Author(s): CHEN, Y., CHEN, W., Institution: NATIONAL DONG HWA UNIVERSITY, Country: TAIWAN, Abstract-ID: 737

INTRODUCTION:
Judo is a high-intensity combat sport that requires repeated execution of gripping, pulling, and throwing actions, placing high demands on strength, power, agility, and dynamic balance (1,2). The Special Judo Fitness Test (SJFT) is widely used to evaluate judo-specific physical fitness; however, previous studies have mainly focused on the SJFT index or heart rate responses (3). Evidence examining the relationship between shoulder throw repetitions and different physical performance capacities, particularly in adolescent judo athletes, remains limited.
METHODS:
Thirty-four male junior high and high school judo athletes (age: 14.82 (SD 1.80) years) completed the SJFT and a battery of physical performance tests, including handgrip strength, trunk flexion strength, countermovement jump (CMJ), isometric mid-thigh pull (IMTP), hip adduction strength, a 20-second agility test, and the Y-Balance Test performed on the supporting leg (4). Spearman rank correlations were used to examine associations between SJFT shoulder throw repetitions and physical performance measures (alpha = 0.05).
RESULTS:
SJFT shoulder throw repetitions were significantly and positively correlated with right-hand grip strength (r = 0.37), trunk flexion strength (r = 0.43), CMJ power (r = 0.59), CMJ peak force (r = 0.42), IMTP peak force (r = 0.47), hip adduction strength (r = 0.57), and agility test performance (r = 0.45) (all p < 0.05). In addition, a significant association was observed with dynamic balance performance in the posteromedial direction of the Y-Balance Test (r = 0.42, p < 0.05), whereas no significant relationships were found for jump height or other balance directions.
CONCLUSION:
SJFT shoulder throw repetitions are closely associated with multiple physical performance capacities in adolescent male judo athletes, including upper- and lower-limb strength, power, agility, and direction-specific dynamic balance (5). These findings suggest that shoulder throw repetitions provide a practical indicator of judo-specific physical performance and may be useful for training monitoring, performance evaluation, and talent identification in youth judo. From a practical perspective, these findings suggest that judo training programs for adolescent athletes should emphasize integrated development of grip strength, trunk strength, lower-limb power, agility, and single-leg dynamic stability, particularly in movements resembling the posteromedial balance direction, to enhance repeated shoulder throw performance.
[1] Schoof 2024/ [2] Weldon 2023/ [3] Sterkowicz-Przybycien 2019/ [4] Ho 2008/ [5] Demirci 2023