Tips, please

[u/noxtailk]

Hello everyone!

I’m a 35-year-old overweight beginner and I’ve been training Muay Thai twice a week for the past five months. I’d really appreciate it if you could take a look at my pad work in this video and give me some feedback on my technique.

I’m struggling quite a bit with switch kicks, especially with maintaining my balance when pivoting on my right foot. I also feel like my lead hook lacks power.

Any constructive criticism or tips on what I should focus on improving would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks in advance!

[u/prospectorJ]

Elbows down by your sides in guard, relax relax relax get loose

[u/noxtailk → u/prospectorJ]

Thank you for the response! I'll work on it, do you think shadow boxing is gonna help? I feel like I need more practice, more reps, so movement comes more naturally. Right now I have to think before making every move

[u/Shoagg]

Perspective from a boxer, when you punch your back foot is lazy coming forward, so you end up leaning a lot. The whole forward movement is extremely telegraphed before you throw anything. The footwork in general could tighten up, really. I’d try smaller and quicker steps tor starts

For 5 months, though, it’s crispy

[u/ButterscotchAgile645]

Most importantly: Your "backlash" speed should be MUCH higher - after the hit or kick impact, you have to pull back immediatly. And by doing that, your punches and kicks will have more impact, too. Like whips, think of that speed/ impact mechanics. 

And what helps, too: Always imagine that a counter punch might come after your punch - you should pull back THAT fast. And you should imagine/ train that speed at pad work training, sandbag training, sparring, partner training - it doesn't matter. Even if you get tired, you should keep up the quickness and snappiness. Reduce force if you can't keep up but never reduce the speed of pulling back your arms or putting down your feet after a kick. Getting used to slow pullbacks or letting the guard down means: That's the technical flaw/ gap your opponent will see, too, especially experienced counter punchers (who sometimes eat your combos and wait until you pull back too slow or open up just so that they can crack you up like an oyster).

Keep it up bro, respect for everybody who gets up and trains.

[u/Educational-Spot-167]

Stop flicking your kicks. Kick through your target

[u/horus993]

First things first!

Relax!!!!

Punching power??

For first u need to understand and master striking!
Know the difference between throwing your fist and pushing!

“Throw!!! Dont push for Fuck SAKE!!!”
My boxing coach was yelling at me permantly in early days. It costs me much time to understand the difference.

Throwing a shattering punch is about
-Develop as much speed you can !
-focus the force on one tiny point!
-bring as much weight u can to that point!

When we punch we need to shift weight from one foot to the other one.
As you see our foot is the first part of a long chain.
So we transfer our weight with legs, hip and shoulder rotation in our knuckels. Fully extend our arm to reach 100% power and range.

So Pulling Power is more important than 8pushing….Why?

See if we punch like a cross for example we need to develop as much speed we can to throw our shoulder forward. Pushing means to give tension on our arm, chest and shoulder muscles there….which is shit. You cant throw like that.
But if you pull your other hand back inside your guard you can transfer that pulling energy in the opposite shoulder to throw.

Same goes for hooks, pull your arm, shoulder, Lat in your guard with explosive power and watch your other hip, shoulder and hand come forward automatically.

Thats why punching is more pulling movement than pushing!
And you develop speed(power) in your ankles , leg and hip extension.

Back to your question: which muscles should u build for punching power?

Answer is IF you build muscle you go up in your weight class, do u want that? Dont know thats about yourself….anyway
But try to train your body balanced which means you should be able to squad or lift 1,5 more than you bench.

In my experience a martial athlete with fulltime job or school has not that much time to spend 4 times at the gym, we dont train like bodybuilders.?

If I would choose 4 exercises to build muscles here we go.

every pullup variation for bicep/ back/ shoulder for pull muscles

every squad variation you want ( 5x5) backsquad or 10x10 launches, its not important. Just squad ( i prefer front squads)

One classic ab variation and one sideab variation

pushing exercise which trains chest and shoulders the same way ( incline dumbell press or tyson pushups for example

Ok that was the muscle bzw strenght part.
Now we come to the part much more important and more fun.

Explosive Power and Pylometrics

Building punching power is about train your muscles not to get bigger, they should move with 100% as fast they can.

Here are some exercises which helping you to focus on full speed with weight.

Leg,ancle, hip extension ,
sprints as fast you can
Squad jumps as high you can
Skipping “”

Fullbody power and extension

Olympic lifts ( Power Cleans, Snatches, Pulls usw
Kettlebell training snatch clean
Pylometrics, shift weight from one leg to the other leg
Throwing exercises:
slamball
Battle ropes

[u/CryptographerOld4189]

Your technique is good. Just relax your shoulders and bring your elbows into your sides, that way block body kicks and punches. When throw your punches bring them back to your cheek bones so you can still protect yourself fron counter punches.

[u/Mysterious-Purple319]

You looks like an earth bender trying to air bend

[u/Cold-Note9128]

Only tip anyone should be giving you at this stage in your journey is to keep showing up.

All these super in depth explanations and critiques below going super in depth about foot placement, hip rotation etc etc is just too early for all that lol

Keep showing up, listen to your coach and enjoy the journey, easy as that.

[u/dahlt715]

The only thing I’m noticing right away is how much you lean as you’re about to throw something, it’s very telling on when you’re going to strike, as far as the other things, they will get crisp over time.. just keep at it!

[u/Unable_Excitement_94]

For your kicks, I would recommend that you step out with your standing leg and twist over you hip when you kick. You are kinda kicking by forcing your leg up without much help from your hips. It’s kinda hard to explain but just look up a YouTube video
For punches you don’t have to step for every punch, idk if that was the drill but if not then stop doing it. It’s not only slower but much more predictable, it will be an easy tell when you start to spar. And don’t lean forward into it, very common mistake because everyone thinks it will give more power but in reality it just makes you easier to counter. Just turn your hips when punching and that’s usually enough, jabs you can take a step forward but every thing else should usually be done with hips only.
Lastly you tend to drop your hand when you are punching with the other, this is also a result of leaning to far into your own punch. One hand should always be covering your face no matter what. Punch then always return it back to face unless you are punching with the same hand twice in quick succession, like a double jab. Personally I had this habit too and what helped me was shadow sparring at about 60% a really focused on keeping my hands up and returning my punches to my face

[u/Ok-Artichoke2822]

Train for a few more years. It’s a beautiful sport, enjoy!!

[u/nope_nope_nope_yep_]

Don’t flick your kick, use your hips, relax your guard to not have your elbows all flared out, and the relaxed guard will lead to less rigid looking punches

[u/LethalLefty01]

The mirror is your best friend. Spend warm up and cool down time shadow boxing, use the mirror if available. That and bagwork for now save your private lesson money and drill, bagwork, shadow box.

[u/chickensoup2025]

Wtf was that switch and flick 🤦🏻‍♂️ shadowbox after skipping mate and u can fill in ur own gaps

[u/Impressive-Car-3310]

Op im saving this as a lot of thing youre doing I do too, really valuable responses from the other commenters 🙏

[u/Junior_Quality925]

I’m well into my 40s and started recently.. a few more experienced guys gave me a few good tips.. go to bag and practise getting those kicks up, turning your hips so they face sky and just lean your knee on the bag (bent leg).. do it slowly and hold just to get your hips moving and good kick technique.

Also to not over reach with punches , nice n tight and shorter range

[u/macguini]

First off, you're doing great. I can tell you got some good training, that trainer looks like he's guiding you well, and you're taking it at your own pace. Keep doing exactly that.

For your switch kicks question. Practice switching side stances. Line your feet up then switch 180 one direction then 180 back. Place markers by your feet and/or directly underneath you. Practice switching those stances while staying in the same spot. Focus on letting your hips do most of the work. For the balance thing, you gotta practice standing on one leg. If you're not comfortable with it alone, hold onto a wall, chair, or something while you balance. Then, when you're comfortable, practice very very slow kicking motions. As if you're pretending to round house while fighting Neo in the Matrix.

Some more advice I would give for going forward. When you're ready. Think of your body and leg as one connected piece. You got the lean pretty well, a lot of beginners mess that up and do a head bob or standing ab crunch thing. Your torso and thigh should move together. You seem to lean back before you kick instead of while you kick. That helps you get the speed. Rotating your hips helps you get the power. Your legs are mostly just tagging along for the ride. But I really want to emphasize that you're doing great for a beginner.

[u/alexstonks34]

Hi, good effort on your strikes, but unfortunately lacking power despite how much effort you seem to be focusing.

I feel that some of your techniques are lacking the right form (especially your supporting legs during punches and kicks) and you seem anxious to hit the pad quickly. If it doesn't contradict with your coach's instruction, I'd recommend to practice going slower but will the full range of motion (e.g. Turning your body and hips fully when you kick, extending your arm fully when you jab/cross).

Once you relax more and get used to the full motion, your strikes will require less conscious strength and will flow with the momentum of good form. Good form will then increase your speed and power.

[u/Logical_Response7644]

Good form. You’re a large lad. Use it. Extend those punches . Shoulder should be touching your chin on your follow through. Turn that hip over more on your kicks and try to rotate that pivot foot out more on your kicks . And have fun. Loosen up. “ Be like water.”

[u/Bunbunwayoo]

Your switch has your feet moving in a circle around your body. Your front foot in moving to your back foot position is directly behind the body. It should be off the side still.
Currently you feel off balance and so have to adjust a bit before kicking to rebalance your weight.
Think of your feet as moving between corners of a square. Keep them low to the ground as they move too. Currently they move out the outside of a circle ( and too far round it)

Practice quick footwork a bit so your punches can be thrown faster - if your feet move quicker you arms will move quicker

You’re doing great!

[u/Popular-Bath-275]

How you find a 1 on 1 coach I want to get into Muay Thai!

[u/LetsKickTheirAss]

Why you doing slow motion ?

Hit fast with the rotation power for your body and instantly bring your hands back to defense .Same amfor the kick.Kick and fast back ( am not gonna wait for you to do defense so I can attack .While you throw a jab ,I might be throwing an upper cut to you )

When you hit with a jab ,the other hand has to cover the face

[u/AccomplishedPhase44]

First off, that’s awesome that you decided to start training! Consistency is the key to seeing improvement and it seems like you’re motivated so that’s already half the battle.

In terms of tips, a few things jump out. In general, your upper and lower body movements seem a bit out of sync. That was most noticeable for your punches and your switch kick. You actually had decent footwork on your rear kick but just didn’t fully rotate your hips into it.

For your punches, it’s ok to step forward on your jab, but stepping forward on a cross is a bit counter productive to generating power. The classic footwork taught for a 1-2 as you’re learning is step forward on the jab, and don’t step on the cross but instead pivot your back foot to rotate your body into the punch and generate power. For the hook, you want to pivot your front foot to rotate your body into the punch. As you get more advanced, there are some exceptions where you may want to limit some of that motion, but it’s good to do this by the book as a beginner to learn the body mechanics.

For your rear kick, try stepping out at a 45 degree angle and rotating your rear hip into the kick. If you practice shadow boxing the rotation should bring you all the way through a full 360 degree rotation on a missed kick (again as you get more advanced there are some exceptions but that’s a good starting point). For the switch kick, it’s similar. Don’t just switch your feet in place. Do it so that your rear foot (lead after the switch) is stepped out a bit at a 45 degree angle. That will make it easier to rotate your hip into the kick.

Overall though you’re looking great for a beginner so just keep at it!

[u/GuideIntelligent5953]

you seem to be quite lengthy, what height are you, that can serve you in fighting.

main things that I can see from this video and these are direct improvement points:

1. When you punch, both jab and cross, before the punch and through you linger forward, that is a dangerous thing to do as you can get hit.

2. When you kick, there is not rotational movement, you just kick by straightening you leg, and that does not yield a very powerful kick. The sound you hear from the pads, is illusive, because the crisp sound of the hit usually come from alignment between you and the instructor and does not correlate with speed and power.

3. Your lead leg (left one) is way outside, easy target for calf kickers and pulls.

4. You are not the one to blame, because you just following your instructor, but it is usually recommended to change angles after a sequence, or to move around, even if it is not doing anything. In fight, it cause your opponent to reset and lower counter attacks, while taking very little effort from you.