Justification of the Selection Techniques in Martial Arts using Wald's Sequential Analysis

The study purpose was to develop a selection technique in martial arts based on indices of physical development using Wald's sequential analysis. Materials and methods. 12 anthropometric indicators were determined. 9 indexes of physical development were calculated on their basis. 16 elite athletes (candidates for masters and masters of sports) were divided into two groups. Group 1 included 7 athletes (judo, sambo, Greco-Roman and freestyle wrestling) aged 18.43±0.43. Group 2 included 9 kickboxing athletes aged 18.22±0.52. Results. A prognostic table containing indices of physical development has been developed. The informativeness of the indicators varied within 296.15–1.73. The content of the prognosis consists of evaluating the results, determining the corresponding coefficients and summing these coefficients until one of the prognostic thresholds is reached. In accordance with generally accepted approaches, the value of the thresholds was set at the level of ±13, which corresponds to a probability of 95% (p<0.05). Exceeding the positive threshold improves an athlete's prospects in wrestling. Achieving a negative threshold corresponds to a perspective in kickboxing. Conclusions. The conducted research made it possible to justify and develop a method for selecting martial arts athletes using indices of physical development. The proposed technique is based on Wald's sequential analysis and is a simple, informative and objective tool for the selection and prognosis of athletes' condition.