IDO MOVEMENT FOR CULTURE

Background. Judo skills are performed by holding the competitor’s jacket with both hands (known as grip combat, or (Kumi Kata) while playing from above to perform throwing skills, in addition to the ground play. Handgrip strength has a vital role to play in the success of the skilful performance of the judo player during training and competitions.
Problem and aim. The study aims to find the correlations between the isometric handgrip strength and the anthropometric characteristics of the arms and hands among male judo players aged 18–20 years.
Material and methods. The participants in the study were 129 judo players from six clubs in Egypt. The average age, height, and weight were 18.9 years, 1.76 m, and 81.6 kg, respectively. According to the selection criteria, participants were divided into competition weight categories. Isometric handgrip strength was measured for all players, as well as the relative strength and the sum of the isometric handgrip strength of both hands. The following selection of anthropometric characteristics of the arms and hands were measured: arm length, hand length, hand width, upper arm length, forearm length, forearm circumference, and upper arm circumference. Pearson correlation coefficients were used to establish the correlations.
Results. The findings indicate that there is a high correlation between the handgrip strength of the hands and several anthropometric characteristics of the hands and arms at the level of statistical significance 0.01, such as arm length, upper arm length, forearm length, forearm circumference, and upper arm circumference. There is a medium correlation between the handgrip strength of the hands and a number of anthropometric characteristics of the hands and arms at the level of statistical significance (0.05), such as relative left-hand strength, relative right-hand strength, and the sum of relative strength of both hands. The isometric handgrip strength has a medium-to-high correlation with a set of hand characteristics. The results that can be obtained from the correlation contain very important information that can be used in the selection process for new players, as well as planning sports training around improving performance.