The impact of penalties on subsequent attack effectiveness and combat outcome among high elite judo competitors

The aim of this study was to analyse the impact of incurring a penalty (shido) on subsequent attack effectiveness and combat result among judo competitors. The sample contained 1462 throw attempts and 293 shido from 242 fights that counted toward the IJF 2013 World Ranking List, including both genders and all weight categories. Variables pertaining to attack effectiveness, combat result and combat minute were included in analyses. Data were collected through systematic observation. Two-way ANOVA and post-hoc pairwise comparisons with Bonferroni correction were used to identify the effects of gender and weight category on the number of shido given per fight A series of multilevel binomial regression analyses were conducted to predict the influence of being penalised on subsequent attack effectiveness and combat result. Main findings revealed that receiving a shido was associated with match outcome, increasing the likelihood of being defeated (OR = 3.18; P < 0.01), particularly in heavier weight categories (OR = 1.22; P < 0.01). Furthermore, the probability of being penalised increased with greater time in the match (OR = 2.41; P < 0.01). Finally, winners were more effective in attacking after receiving a shido compared to combatants who ultimately lost the match (OR = 6.51; P < 0.01). Thus, developing training tasks to enhance athletes' combativeness appears essential to avoid being penalised during the fight. Additionally, effectively dealing with being penalised is an important aspect in modern judo. The reported data may constitute a useful guide in the development of competition-specific training tasks to enhance athletes' adaptation and responses during the fight, improving performance.