Introduction. Response time is a crucial factor influencing performance effectiveness in wrestling. A short time of response enables athletes to engage in more effective technical and tactical actions. Despite numerous scientific studies on psychomotor abilities in combat sports, there is a lack of scientific reports on women’s wrestling, especially at the highest level of performance. The aim of this study was to determine the response time of female wrestlers with different levels of sports advancement and weight classes.
Material and Methods. Female wrestlers aged 19.08 ± 0.86 years with a training experience of 7.03 ± 1.33 years participated in the study, along with women not involved in sports training, aged 19.23 ± 0.70 years. Due to body weight, athletes were divided into two groups: lightweight and heavyweight, and based on sports achievements into medalists and non-medalist participants in the Polish Championships. Response time (including reaction time and movement time) was assessed.
Results. The research results revealed differences in response time between wrestlers and untrained women. Wrestlers exhibited shorter response times in both reaction time and movement time. No significant differences in response time were noted between wrestlers based on weight class and sports result.
Conclusions. Specialized wrestling training improves the response time of women, both in sensory and motor aspects. Body weight and sports results do not differentiate athletes based on response time. Further research should focus on determining different types of response time, including choice reaction, and their changes under the influence of training and competitive loads in wrestlers with varying levels of sports expertise. Additionally, effective training methods for improving reaction time should be explored.
