Decision-making process in olympic martial arts

Automatized assessments of athletes’ cognitive processing in sport advance knowledge. The research aims to examine if decision time (DT) makes a significant difference in martial arts athletes, and whether DT can predict sports performances. Sixty-eight athletes practicing Olympic martial arts took part in the study (Mage = 21.85). Two computerized tests were used (TR and RCMV), developed by the Romanian company RQ Plus, the results being automatically generated. First, ANOVA procedures and Tukey post-hoc test were used to verify the differences considering DT, according to athletes’ sports performances. Next, using the Goodman and Kruskal tau association test the link between athletes’ gender and combat sports athletes’ results for DT was examined. Not least, binomial logistic regression was performed, predicting the likelihood of superior performances in athletes based on decision time. Data analysis revealed that DT is an important predictor of sports performances in Olympic martial arts. Athletes with superior sporting achievements showed faster decision time (I N R/L). Gender-related associations were examined, male athletes obtaining slightly better results for decision time, compared to female athletes. The results could support specialists for a better understanding of the role that the speed of mental processes (identification and selection) plays in martial artists’ sports performance.