Journal of Electromyography and Kinesiology xxx (2014) xxx–xxx

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Journal of Electromyography and Kinesiology

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Effectiveness of roundhouse kick in elite Taekwondo athletes

Sutima Thibordee, Orawan Prasartwuth ⇑
Department of Physical Therapy, Faculty of Associated Medical Sciences, Chiang Mai University, Chiangmai, Thailand

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: The roundhouse kick is a powerful attack in Taekwondo. Most athletes intently perform this kick for
Received 2 July 2013 scoring in competition. Therefore, kinematic and kinetic analyzes of this kick were the topics of interest;
Received in revised form 4 February 2014 however, they were separately investigated and rarely recorded for impact force. Our objectives were to
Accepted 7 February 2014
investigate knee and ankle joint kinematics and electromyographic (EMG) activity of leg muscle and
Available online xxxx
compare them between high-impact (HI) and low-impact (LO) kicks. Sixteen male black-belt Taekwondo
athletes performed five roundhouse kicks at their maximal effort. Electrogoniometer sensors measured
Keywords:
Joint angle
angular motions of ankle and knee joints. Surface EMG activities were recorded for tibialis anterior,
Impact force gastrocnemius medialis, rectus femoris, and biceps femoris muscles. Based on maximal impact forces,
Electromyography the athletes were classified into HI and LO groups. All athletes in both groups showed greater activation
Roundhouse kick of rectus femoris than other muscles. The HI group only showed significantly less plantarflexion angles
Taekwondo than the LO group during preimpact and impact phases (P < 0.05). During the impact phase, the HI group
demonstrated significantly greater biceps femoris activation than the LO group (P < 0.05). In conclusion,
rectus femoris activation could predominantly contribute to the powerful roundhouse kicks. Moreover,
high biceps femoris co-activation and optimal angle of ankle plantarflexion of about 35° could help
achieve the high impact force.
Ó 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction Concerning kinematics analysis, the kicking leg undergoes a

To perform the Taekwondo roundhouse kicks, the kicking leg is
basically lifted in an arc towards the front of the body and then the
knee is rapidly extended until the instep of the foot hits the target
(Park et al., 2009). In competition, the roundhouse kick is
frequently used to get scores as it is a fast movement and provides
a powerful attack (Falco et al., 2011; Li et al., 2005; Luk et al., 2001;
Matsushigue et al., 2009). Previous studies showed that impact
forces of roundhouse kicks were approximately 1000 N–3000 N
in Taekwondo players (Estevan et al., 2011; Falco et al., 2009; Li
et al., 2005). Higher impact forces (1994.03 ± 537.37 N) were
shown in the competitors as compared with the non-competitors
(1477.90 ± 679.23 N) (Falco et al., 2009). Even in the similar skill
level athletes, the medalists performed stronger kicks than the
non-medalists (Estevan et al., 2011). Therefore, several researchers
have investigated influential factors for powerful kicks regarding to
kinematics and kinetics of the kicking leg.
⇑ Corresponding author. Address: Department of Physical Therapy, Faculty of
Associated Medical Sciences, Chiang Mai University, 110 Intawaroroj Rd., Sripoom,
Chiangmai 50200, Thailand. Tel.: +66 53 94 9239; fax: +66 53 94 6042.
E-mail addresses: sjan002@gmail.com (S. Thibordee), orawan.pr@cmu.ac.th
(O. Prasartwuth).
wide range of motion of up to 100° knee flexion, and 45° ankle
plantarflexion (Ha et al., 2009; Kim et al., 2010, 2011; Kong et al.,
2000; O’Sullivan et al., 2009). During impact phase, knee flexion
angle was significantly greater in highly skilled players (about
31°) than in unskilled ones (about 20°) whereas similar ankle
plantarflexion was about 44° in both groups (Ha et al., 2009).
Although highly-skilled athletes could be assumed to have high
impact force and vice versa, lacking values of impact forces is still
critical. Therefore, in this study, we monitored kinematics of
kicking leg and recorded the impact force to compare between
high- impact and low-impact kicks in highly-skilled athletes.
According to electromyographic (EMG) studies of kicking move-
ments, EMG recording showed that activation in quadriceps
muscle was relatively higher than other muscles (Brophy et al.,
2007; Sørensen et al., 1996). This predominant activation of quad-
riceps corresponded with knee extension movement during soccer
kicks (Brophy et al., 2007) and Taekwondo front kick (Sørensen
et al., 1996). However, in the roundhouse kick, only one study re-
ported greater activation of biceps femoris and gastrocnemius
muscles than other muscles (Luk and Hong, 2000). This discrep-
ancy could be due to methodology of analyzes since the EMG
activities were averaged throughout the kick without classifying

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jelekin.2014.02.002
1050-6411/Ó 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Please cite this article in press as: Thibordee S, Prasartwuth O. Effectiveness of roundhouse kick in elite Taekwondo athletes. J Electromyogr Kinesiol
(2014), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jelekin.2014.02.002
2 S. Thibordee, O. Prasartwuth / Journal of Electromyography and Kinesiology xxx (2014) xxx–xxx
into phases. In addition, impact forces were not reported and skill
level of the participants was not specified.
Taken together, previous studies investigated kinematics and
EMG activity of kicking leg separately (Ha et al., 2009; Kim et al.,
2010, 2011; Kong et al., 2000; Luk and Hong, 2000; O’Sullivan
et al., 2009) and these limited the application of knowledge. To
overcome these limitations, this study investigated synchronously
kinematics and kinetics in highly-skilled athletes. We chose to
analyze them in each phase and compared them between high-
impact and low-impact kicks. Therefore, the objectives were to
investigate knee and ankle kinematics and EMG activity to detect
differences between high- impact and low-impact kicks.
2. Methods
2.1. Participants
Sixteen male Taekwondo athletes with black belt certifications
and with experience in national-level competitions were recruited.
None had neurological or musculoskeletal disorders that would
influence their performances during the tests. All provided written
informed consent according to the experimental procedure
approved by the institutional review board committee (identity
of IRB deleted for blinded-review purposes, but will be restored
in the publication).
2.2. Procedure
Before the tests, the athletes were allowed to warm-up and
perform practice trials at minimal effort using their dominant leg
for kicking. The target was set at a proper execution distance and
adjusted to the height of the umbilicus for each athlete. The athletes
stood in ready stance with their kicking leg placed behind. They
were instructed to kick as strongly as possible in response to the
verbal instruction ‘‘Go’’, and avoid using any body momentum to
maximize the impact. They were also asked to kick in a natural
movement pattern with no restriction on trunk or upper limb
movements. After hitting the target, they returned to a stable stand-
ing position with the kicking leg placed in the front. Five round-
house kicks were performed with 15 s rest between each kick.
2.3. Data collection
Recording of angular motions and EMG activities were per-
formed on the kicking leg. The synchronization of all recording de-
vices was performed manually by switching the devices ‘‘ON’’ at
the same time. The event marker connected to the electrogoniom-
eter recording device was pressed while verbally instructing ‘‘Go’’
in order to mark the beginning of each kick. The foot switch con-
nected to the EMG recording device was attached to plantar sur-
face of the foot under the heel and the hallux and used to
recheck the synchronization of angular motion and EMG signals.
If onset of angular motion and EMG signals were not synchro-
nously recorded by showing greater than 50 ms deviations, the
kicks were repeated.
2.3.1. Joint angle
Angular motions of the ankle and knee joints were recorded by
twin-axial electrogoniometer sensors (DataLOG W4X8, Biometrics
Ltd., UK). Sensors were attached to the athlete’s skin on lateral
aspect of the leg. The sensor was attached at the distal one third
of the lower leg and below the lateral malleolus (ankle joint).
Another sensor was attached at the distal one third of the thigh
and upper half of the lower leg (knee joint). Prior to the data
collection, the sensors were calibrated relative to the standard
Please cite this article in press as: Thibordee S, Prasartwuth O. Effectiveness of roundhouse kick in elite Taekwondo athletes. J Electromyogr Kinesiol
(2014), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jelekin.2014.02.002
goniometer. At the onset of recording, all signals were set to zero
value in anatomical position. The signals were collected at
1000 Hz by DataLOG software (Biometrics Ltd., UK).
2.3.2. Electromyography
EMG activities were recorded from kicking leg muscles includ-
ing tibialis anterior, gastrocnemius medialis, rectus femoris and
biceps femoris. Prior to electrode placement, the skin was shaved,
abraded, and cleaned with alcohol. Disposable self-adhesive elec-
trodes (8 mm diameter, Ag/AgCl discs; Red Dot, 3 M) were taped
over muscle bellies approximately 20 mm apart and aligned paral-
lel to the direction of muscle fibers. Electrode placement for tibialis
anterior was at proximal one third on the line between the tip of
the fibula and the medial malleolus. For gastrocnemius medialis,
electrodes were placed on the most prominent bulge of the muscle.
For rectus femoris, electrodes were placed midway of the distance
from the anterior superior iliac spine to superior pole of the patella.
For biceps femoris, electrodes were placed at midway on the line
between the ischial tuberosity and the lateral epicondyle. These
locations were identified during maximal contractions in the
seated (tibialis anterior and rectus femoris) and prone (biceps
femoris and gastrocnemius medialis) positions. To ensure correct
electrode placement, EMG signals were checked during resting
and sub-maximal contractions. The EMG signals were sampled at
1000 Hz and pre-amplified (gain 4000 for tibialis anterior and
gastrocnemius medialis and gain 1000 for rectus femoris and
biceps femoris, 12 bits resolution, CMRR > 110 dB with frequency
response 6–6000 Hz at 3 dB) using MyoDat software (MIE Medical
Research Ltd., UK).
2.3.3. Impact force
A rectangular-shaped (0.3 m  0.3 m  0.1 m) kicking target
was constructed by spongy foam and covered with a polyvinyl
chloride sheet. It was fixed to the wall and attached to a mono-
axial force transducer (2 kN; LC 1205-K200, A&D Co Ltd., Japan).
Calibration was performed by applying several standard weights
on the center of the force transducer. The relationship between
voltage and weight was linear. The attack area was marked at
the center of the target in order to provide visual feedback
for the accuracy site of the kicks. The force signal was
collected at 200 Hz by Powerlab system (ADInstruments Pty Ltd.,
Australia).
2.4. Phase determination
The pattern of the roundhouse kick begins with the kicking leg
remained in slightly ankle dorsiflexion and knee flexion (Fig. 1B
and C, top panels). The lifting of the kicking leg was started by
gradually plantarflexing the ankle until reaching maximal angle.
With the ankle maintaining in maximal plantarflexion, the knee
joint subsequently reached maximal flexion angle. Then, the knee
rapidly extended until the foot hit the target. While the foot moved
towards the target, the ankle joint extended until reaching less
plantarflexion angle at the impact. After the impact, the ankle joint
abruptly plantarflexed and then irregularly moved until returning
to the floor.
Based on marked changes in the ankle and knee angles, the
roundhouse kick was divided into four phases defined by five
events (Fig. 1). The lift-off phase was defined as a period from min-
imal ankle dorsiflexion angle to maximal ankle plantarflexion an-
gle. Then, the preparation phase followed and ended at maximal
knee flexion angle. The pre-impact phase subsequently occurred
and ended at less ankle plantarflexion angle. Finally, the impact
phase began and ended at greater ankle plantarflexion angle.
 S. Thibordee, O. Prasartwuth / Journal of Electromyography and Kinesiology xxx (2014) xxx–xxx 3

Fig. 1. Impact force (A), angular motion and EMG activities traces for ankle joint and tibialis anterior and gastrocnemius medialis muscles (B), and knee joint and rectus
femoris and biceps femoris muscles (C) from a representative participant during the roundhouse kick. Transition points for four phases are marked by vertical lines. Grey bars
represent time window of 50 ms for computing joint angles and EMG activities in each phase. Note: EMG signals were gained at 4000 for the tibialis anterior and
gastrocnemius medialis muscles and gained at 1000 for the rectus femoris and biceps femoris muscles. A representative participant was categorized in the high level of
impact force group.

2.5. Data analysis
Signals of the ankle and knee joints were firstly determined for
the starting and impact points. The starting point was measured
from the ankle joint displacement when it exceeded baseline value
plus two standard deviations (SD). Baseline angle was considered
from 400 ms to 350 ms before the abrupt change of the ankle
joint motion.
All signals were processed using Chart v5.4 for Windows (ADIn-
struments Pty Ltd., Australia). Raw EMG signals were band-pass
filtered (50–400 Hz) and calculated as root-mean-square (rms)
value over a time window of 50 ms aligning at the middle part of
each phase (Fig. 1). The rms EMG data was normalized by the
highest EMG activity (%EMGmax) among all muscles during round-
house kicks. For the activation ratio during the impact phase, the
normalized EMG activities of antagonists were divided by those
of the agonists; gastrocnemius medialis/tibialis anterior and biceps
femoris/rectus femoris. The angular motion signals were smoothed
by using Triangular (Bartlett) window with a window width of 31
points. The angular positions were averaged over a time interval of

Please cite this article in press as: Thibordee S, Prasartwuth O. Effectiveness of roundhouse kick in elite Taekwondo athletes. J Electromyogr Kinesiol
(2014), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jelekin.2014.02.002
4 S. Thibordee, O. Prasartwuth / Journal of Electromyography and Kinesiology xxx (2014) xxx–xxx
50 ms aligning at the middle part of each phase (Fig. 1). The max-
imal impact forces were calculated by subtracting the peak value
by minimal baseline value.
Three trials with the highest impact forces were chosen for
further analyzes. Differences in joint angles, normalized EMG
activities during four phases and activation ratio during the impact
phase, were tested between high-impact and low-impact kicks by
using Mann–Whitney U-test. The level of significance was set at
P < 0.05.
3. Results
All athletes demonstrated impact forces ranging from 714 N to
1986 N. Based on their impact forces, they were divided into two
groups (8 athletes each) including high-impact kicks (HI) for those
with impact forces above the median of all 16 and low-impact
kicks (LO) for those below the median. The impact force of the HI
group ranged from 1260 N to 1986 N (mean 1490.83 ± 274.45 N)
and of the LO group ranged from 714 N to 1206 N (mean
975.60 ± 189.93 N). When compared between two groups, there
was a significant difference (P < 0.01). In addition, for baseline
characteristics (height, age and experience), there were no differ-
ences between groups, except a body mass that was significantly
greater for the HI group than the LO group (P < 0.05) (Table 1).
3.1. Joint angle and muscle activation: pattern during four phases
An example of impact force, changes in joint angle, and EMG
activities during four phases in one participant is illustrated in
Fig. 1. All participants showed similar patterns of angular motions
and muscle activations throughout the four phases. During the lift-
off phase, the ankle joint changed from about 10° dorsiflexion to
about 40° plantarflexion (Fig. 1B, top panel), the gastrocnemius
medialis (Fig. 1B, bottom panel) demonstrated greater activation
than other muscles. The knee joint slightly flexed about 20°
(Fig. 1C, top panel) which corresponded with greater biceps femo-
ris activation (Fig. 1C, bottom panel) than rectus femoris activation
(Fig. 1C, middle panel). During the preparation phase, the ankle
joint became less plantarflexed to about 35° (Fig. 1B, top panel)
while gastrocnemius medialis decreased activation (Fig. 1B, bot-
tom panel). The knee joint became more flexed to about 80°
(Fig. 1C, top panel) which coincided with greater activation of
biceps femoris (Fig. 1C, bottom panel) than other muscles. During
the pre-impact phase, the ankle joint moved to about 30° plantar-
flexion (Fig. 1B, top panel). This was concomitant with an increased
activation in tibialis anterior (Fig. 1B, middle panel) and relatively
low activation of gastrocnemius medialis (Fig. 1B, bottom panel).
Meanwhile, the knee movement abruptly changed from flexion
to extension. At about 70° knee flexion (Fig. 1C, top panel), rectus
femoris demonstrated the greatest activation (Fig. 1C, middle
panel) whereas biceps femoris displayed the least activation
(Fig. 1C, bottom panel). During the impact phase, it was likely that
the agonist and antagonist muscles were both activated. This
Table 1
Baseline characteristics comparing between HI and LO groups.
Baseline characteristics Groups
HI LO
Age (year) 24.3 ± 5.9 16.8 ± 7.7
Body mass (kg)* 88.7 ± 4.2 49.3 ± 12.9
Height (m) 1.72 ± 0.05 1.62 ± 0.10
Experience (year) 11.0 ± 7.6 6.5 ± 3.0
Note. HI, high level of impact force; LO, low level of impact force.
*
Significant difference between groups (P < 0.05). Data are presented as mean ± SD.
Please cite this article in press as: Thibordee S, Prasartwuth O. Effectiveness of roundhouse kick in elite Taekwondo athletes. J Electromyogr Kinesiol
(2014), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jelekin.2014.02.002
coactivation was seen at both the ankle and knee joints. As the an-
kle extended to about 25° plantarflexion (Fig. 1B, top panel), gas-
trocnemius medialis (Fig. 1B, bottom panel) and tibialis anterior
(Fig. 1B, middle panel) coactively worked. Similarly, rectus femoris
(Fig. 1C, middle panel) and biceps femoris (Fig. 1C, bottom panel)
coactivated when the knee extended to about 10° (Fig. 1C, top
panel). When compared among the four muscles, rectus femoris
and biceps femoris showed greater activation than tibialis anterior
and gastrocnemius medialis.
3.2. Joint angle and muscle activation: comparisons between high- and
low-impact kicks
All athletes in both groups demonstrated similar changes in
joint angles and muscle activations during the lift-off and prepara-
tion phases (Table 2). Significant differences between groups illus-
trated only in the pre-impact and impact phases. The HI group
showed significantly less ankle plantarflexion angle than the LO
group during the pre-impact and impact phases (P < 0.05) (Table 2).
However, differences in knee joint angle and normalized EMG
activities were not found between groups during the pre-impact
phase. During the impact phase, the HI group demonstrated signif-
icantly greater biceps femoris activation than the LO group
(P < 0.05) (Table 2). However, there were no differences in normal-
ized EMG activities of other muscles during the impact phase. As
agonist and antagonist muscles coactively worked during the
impact phase, activation ratio was calculated and shown in
Fig. 2. When compared between groups, the HI group showed sig-
nificantly greater activation ratio of biceps femoris to rectus femo-
ris than the LO group (0.90 ± 0.63 and 0.20 ± 0.06, respectively;
P < 0.05) (Fig. 2B). However, activation ratio of gastrocnemius
medialis to tibialis anterior was not different between groups
(0.30 ± 0.12 and 0.31 ± 0.11, respectively) (Fig. 2A).
4. Discussion
The present study demonstrated the impact forces ranged from
1260 N to 1986 N for the HI group and 714 N–1206 N for the LO
group. These impact forces were in line with previous investiga-
tions (Estevan et al., 2011; Falco et al., 2009).
4.1. Joint angle and muscle activation: pattern during four phases
As the roundhouse kick was classified into four phases, our find-
ings illustrated that the predominant activation of leg muscles de-
pended on whether movement occurred primarily in the ankle or
the knee joints and the direction of the movement. The lift-off
and preparation phases demonstrated predominant activation of
gastrocnemius medialis and biceps femoris respectively. These
findings were in agreement with Luk and Hong (2000). During
the pre-impact phase, all athletes clearly demonstrated the great-
est activities of rectus femoris compared to other muscles. This
was in line with Brophy et al. (2007), Sørensen et al. (1996). Thus,
this could indicate that the rectus femoris could be primarily
responsible for executing the powerful kicks. During the impact
phase, pairs of biceps femoris and rectus femoris as well as gastroc-
nemius medialis and tibialis anterior were both active. These
findings indicated that these muscles coactivated to stabilize the
joints during the impact.
4.2. Joint angle and muscle activation: comparisons between high- and
low-impact kicks
When compared between the HI and LO groups, similar joint
angles and muscle activations during the lift-off and preparation
 S. Thibordee, O. Prasartwuth / Journal of Electromyography and Kinesiology xxx (2014) xxx–xxx 5

Table 2
Comparisons of joint angles and normalized EMG activities between HI and LO groups.

Parameters Lift-off phase Preparation phase Pre-impact phase Impact phase

HI LO HI LO HI LO HI LO
Ankle joint angle (°) 9.45 ± 7.34 11.40 ± 3.74 37.83 ± 7.71 42.58 ± 4.58 36.62 ± 6.23* 44.65 ± 4.45 33.53 ± 8.93* 44.89 ± 4.77
Tibialis anterior 21.93 ± 7.66 20.49 ± 9.56 10.50 ± 2.82 18.08 ± 13.61 18.16 ± 7.06 29.31 ± 18.48 20.35 ± 7.77 25.27 ± 10.39
(%EMGmax)
Gastrocnemius medialis 10.64 ± 8.30 11.87 ± 6.88 5.38 ± 4.02 5.99 ± 2.91 3.69 ± 2.03 5.10 ± 2.21 5.62 ± 2.38 6.98 ± 1.64
(%EMGmax)
Knee joint angle (°) 25.81 ± 7.75 26.13 ± 9.68 81.37 ± 14.09 69.82 ± 31.57 76.73 ± 11.39 77.23 ± 16.19 37.99 ± 8.66 41.22 ± 16.81
Rectus femoris 8.96 ± 7.27 4.45 ± 2.32 7.25 ± 2.14 9.23 ± 4.36 63.30 ± 8.63 62.48 ± 16.59 49.84 ± 19.39 62.86 ± 10.37
(%EMGmax)
Biceps femoris 35.27 ± 9.12 45.86 ± 20.46 53.97 ± 21.34 51.08 ± 15.26 9.53 ± 8.07 7.95 ± 5.15 36.56 ± 19.69 13.16 ± 5.92
(%EMGmax)

Note. HI, high-impact kick; LO, low-impact kick. Joint angles: positive values correspond to knee flexion and ankle dorsiflexion, negative values correspond to knee extension
and ankle plantarflexion. The angular positions of ankle and knee joints were averaged over a time interval of 50 ms aligning at the middle part of each phase.
*
Significant difference between groups (P < 0.05). Data are presented as mean ± SD.

Fig. 2. Activation ratio between gastrocnemius medialis and tibialis anterior muscles (A) and between biceps femoris and rectus femoris muscles (B) during the impact phase
between HI and LO groups. Significant difference between groups (P < 0.05) Note: Abbreviations: HI, high level of impact force; LO, low level of impact force. TA, tibialis
anterior; GA, gastrocnemius medialis; RF, rectus femoris; BF, biceps femoris.

phases were reported. These results indicated that these two
phases unlikely influenced on the differences in their impact
forces. Interestingly, differences in joint angles and muscles activa-
tions were shown in the pre-impact and impact phases. This study
found significantly less plantarflexion angle in the HI group (about
35°) than the LO group (about 45°) during these phases. Since our
results found no differences in tibialis anterior and gastrocnemius
medialis activations between groups, the difference in the ankle
joint angle cannot be explained by dynamic stabilization. This find-
ing may be explained by static stabilizers which involve joint con-
gruity and osseoligamentous structures (Palastanga and Soames,
2012). As the ankle plantarflexes, area of contact between articular
surfaces is reduced so that the joint become less stable. At less
plantarflexion angle (about 35°), ligaments may not be stretched
too far thereby providing for more joint stability, and vice versa.
In other word, at this position, ligament would be more flexible
and could effectively counteract to the impact force. With the goal
of generating powerful kicks, our findings pointed out that the low-
er plantarflexion angle (about 35°) might be the proper position
that the athletes would keep for executing the high-impact force.
Furthermore, this study found significantly greater biceps femo-
ris activation in the HI group than the LO group during the impact
phase. An increased activation in the biceps femoris has also been
reported during the final phase of other martial arts kicks (Quinzi
et al., 2013; Sbriccoli et al., 2010; Sørensen et al., 1996). An expla-
nation might be that the biceps femoris could play an important
role as an antagonist muscle to decelerate the kicking leg (Quinzi
et al., 2013) and prevent anterior tibial translation during knee
extension (Aagaard et al., 2000; Aalbersberg et al., 2005). It might
work as eccentric action to stabilize the knee joint and prevent
quick knee collapse during the impact.
As mentioned previously regarding co-activation during the im-
pact phase, the activation ratio of biceps femoris to rectus femoris
were close to 1:1 in the HI group as compared with the LO group
(Fig. 2B). This was consistent with Landeo and McIntosh (2008)
who revealed that muscles co-activation around the knee joint in-
creased when the kicking leg had to exert a higher force against a
larger target. Due to the need for strong attacks, the higher propor-
tion of biceps femoris co-activation could be linked to the greater
joint stability. A possible explanation might be that better knee
joint stability could enhance the transfer of kicking force impact
(Nunome et al., 2006). When the knee joint becomes stable, an
ability to transfer the kicking force from the thigh to the lower
leg would be better than when the knee joint becomes unstable.
Thus, the balance in activation ratio of biceps femoris to rectus
femoris could provide stability for the knee joint which could
result in a more powerful kick.
For the implications, it can be suggested that keeping the ankle
joint at less plantarflexion angle (about 35°) from the pre-impact
phase through the impact phase would help generating higher
impact force. In addition, the strengthening of rectus femoris needs
to be focused. Of importance, co-activation of biceps femoris and
rectus femoris during the impact needs to be trained. Enhancing
joint stability during the impact, eccentric contractions of biceps

Please cite this article in press as: Thibordee S, Prasartwuth O. Effectiveness of roundhouse kick in elite Taekwondo athletes. J Electromyogr Kinesiol
(2014), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jelekin.2014.02.002
6 S. Thibordee, O. Prasartwuth / Journal of Electromyography and Kinesiology xxx (2014) xxx–xxx
femoris should be frequently practiced. To improve co-activation,
training while providing visual feedbacks with either impact force
or EMG monitoring might be beneficial.
A limitation of this study was that the fixed target might have
provided a restricted view for attacks. With its setting close to
the wall and its small size, athletes may have focused on accuracy
rather than the power of the kicks. With the fixed target, the ath-
letes might have limited their kicking forces at less than maximum
in order to avoid their foot being injured. The rigid target might
also have limited follow-through movement of the kicking leg.
Therefore, the large size and unfixed target connected with tri-
axial force transducer is recommended for future research. More-
over, focus should be placed on the naturally kicking patterns in
the competition, e.g. jumping before kicking and a moving target.
Lastly, other influential factors, e.g. velocity of the kicking leg,
kinematic and kinetic changes immediately after impact and
non-kicking leg might be relevant to the powerful kick and could
be further explored.
In summary, all athletes clearly demonstrated the greatest
activities of rectus femoris compared to other muscles during the
pre-impact phase. These indicated that rectus femoris could be pri-
marily responsible for the execution of the powerful roundhouse
kicks. Other factors affecting on the impact force were shown as
the increase in biceps femoris coactivation and less plantarflexion
angle in the HI group than the LO group.
Conflict of interest
We confirm that there is no conflict of interest associated with
this publication.
Acknowledgement
This work was funded by the Office of the Higher Education
Commission, Thailand, Faculty of Associated Medical Sciences
and the graduate school of Chiang Mai University.
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Sutima Thibordee, Ph.D. Student in Biomedical Sci-
ences at Chiang Mai University. She received her M.S.
degree in Movement and Exercise Sciences from the
same University in 2006. Her major research interests
are biomechanical analysis of sport techniques and
analysis of surface EMG in athletes and healthy subjects.
Orawan Prasartwuth, Ph.D. in Biomedical Sciences,
Associate Professor of Physical Therapy at Chiang Mai
University. She is currently the Head of the Department
of Physical Therapy, Faculty of Associated Medical Sci-
ences. She is the Director of Postgraduate course in
Movement and Exercise Sciences. Her research focuses
on delayed onset muscle soreness, central and periph-
eral contributions to muscle fatigue, and force deficit
and tendon adaptation to eccentric exercise.