Özet:

The purpose of this research was to examine the relationship between plantar pressure distribution and balance in adolescent taekwondo athletes. Twenty-three adolescent taekwondo athletes participated in the study voluntarily. Pedobarographic method was used to determine the plantar pressure and plantar force. Flamingo balance test for static balance and lower quarter Y balance test for dynamic balance were applied. Pearson correlation test was used to determine the relationship between plantar pressure distribution and balance. A moderate significant negative relationship between the non-dominant leg static balance and the plantar pressure at the forefoot of the athletes (r=-.466, p=.025), and a moderate significant positive relationship with the plantar pressure at the rearfoot (r=.466, p=.025) was determined. There was a moderate positive correlation between the dynamic balance ability and the dynamic plantar force during walking in the anterior direction (r=.552, p=.008) and a high positive correlation in the posteromedial direction (r=.656, p<.001) in the dominant leg; moderate positive correlation (r=.483, p=.020) in the posteromedial direction and moderate positive correlation in the posterolateral direction (r=.437, p=.037) was observed in the non-dominant leg of participants. As a result, plantar pressure distribution and force were associated with static and dynamic balance in adolescent taekwondo athletes. It is recommended that plantar pressure data should not be ignored during the developmental period in adolescent taekwondo athletes, possible plantar disorders should be followed and balance exercises should be added to training in order to have optimal plantar pressure distribution.