Fight without sight: The contribution of vision to judo performance

Kai J. Krabben*, John van der Kamp, David L. Mann

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to JournalArticleAcademicpeer-review

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Abstract

Objective: Although vision is typically considered the predominant sense for guiding performance, there are sports for which other senses are believed to be as important, if not more important than vision. Accordingly, in Paralympic judo, athletes with different degrees of vision impairment (VI) compete together based on the assumption that vision does not influence judo performance, as long as judokas start the match with their grip in place. The aim of this research was to test this assumption. Method: We conducted two studies. In the first we analysed data from two major recent VI judo competitions to compare the relative performance of blind and partially sighted athletes when competing against each other. In the second study, twenty-four able-sighted players competed in practice matches in sighted and blindfolded conditions. Results: In Study 1, we demonstrated that blind judokas win far less medals in VI judo competitions than their partially sighted opponents. In study 2, a significant performance advantage was found for sighted judokas fighting against blindfolded opponents. Conclusions: Vision enhances judo performance, even when judokas start the match with their grip in place. These findings suggest that it would be desirable to take measures to make VI judo competition fairer to those who are most severely impaired.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)157-163
Number of pages7
JournalPsychology of Sport and Exercise
Volume37
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Jul 2018

Funding

We would like to thank Robin Philippo, Thierry Bettonviel, Amber van Es and Zoë van Mulken for their assistance with the project. This project has been carried out with the support of the International Blind Sports Federation and the International Paralympic Committee .

FundersFunder number
Multiple Sclerosis International Federation

    Keywords

    • Blind
    • Classification
    • Judo
    • Multisensory perception
    • Sports
    • Vision impairment

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