Comparison of the Immediate Effect of the Pre-Competition message, Core Stability Exercise and Combination of them on Functional Performance in Elite Women Karate Player

Finding the best way for improving performance is one of the most critical aims of sport activities. So the aim of this study was the comparison of the immediate pre-competition message, core stability exercises and combination of them on performance in elite women karate player.

This was a semi-experimental study (pre and post-test). 60 elite women karate player involved in this study and randomly divided into 4 groups (ie sport massage group, Core stability exercises, combined and control (number of each group was 15). The massage group received one session of sport massage, and core stability group performed one session of core stability exercise and the mixed group performed both of this intervention. Before and after applying interventions, performances were tested by the following tests: Y balance test, Triple Hop and Figure-eight Hop tests. ANCOVA and paired t-test were used to examine the differences between groups.

The results show that all three intervention groups reach a significant improvement in all performance tests (p<0.05). Also, between three interventions' effect, the most improvement was found in the mixed group, Massage and core stability exercise group, respectively.

finally results of this study show that combined training (i.e. Massage therapy and core training) has the best way to improve karate players' performance, so coaches and trainers should pay more attention to them during training sessions.