add power to a kick

[klonk]

I think kicking against some kind of resistance is valuable in working out the right alignment of forces, by which I mean the lines of movement where your motion is transferred as energy into the ball. You can feel the forces pushing back. I'm still thinking a weighted ball might be helpful, since the end purpose is propelling a ball.

The direct tactile feedback of striking against resistance, felt within your body, is informative in refining your motion even when your fundamentals are correct.

[Trick]

So much bad advice.

Kicking a partner held kicking shield is a good advice

[Giles]

This is a nice partner exercise for practicing/testing a heel kick/straight kick to the front. It was used by one of my teachers.

One person take the role of “truck”, the other does the kick. The truck person holds a large shield pad or some other kind of thick padding against the front of his body. Thick enough to ensure that no injuries or pain can result from an impact. The kicker stands ready in the middle of the room. Then the “truck” walks briskly towards the kicker with the aim of bulldozing through him. The kicker has to deliver a single straight heel kick with enough kinetic energy to stop the “truck” in his tracks, stop him dead, while not losing his own balance, i.e. falling forwards or backwards in the process. If he succeeds in this, then after a while the “truck” can run at the kicker.

[klonk]

So much bad advice.

We're Internet Experts™.

[Trick]

I don't like to do any barbell squats without a partner or safety bar. So I do bodyweight squats, pistols and good ole chicken which help a lot with stability and power:



I also don't have a bag or sizeable trees and my wife hates it when I hit the brick wall at home. So I just do a couple hundred kicks (and punches etc.) in a solo routine 3-4 times a week. It surprised me how useful this is.

Since about 6 weeks I have been learning XYLHQ(the basics) Drilled Caijibu with already great result(not only for the legs). It’s way different from the mocabu but in a way similar to the “Hai”(walking) I did years ago when doing Taikiken. I’ve done a lot of bag, shield and body kicking when younger, I think it’s like bicycling. once got it newer loose it. But drilling those XY walks can’t hurt and probably will boost the kicks

[everything]

I probably should've mentioned more clearly that I'm not doing any kicks with the sole of the foot.
Maybe that's the tree kicking? I don't know if I can kick it with a round kick.
But anyway good ole chicken looks great.

I think better quad and hamstring strength has got to be good in general.

One of my teammates is always straining his hamstring.

I told him to check out kb swings and nordic curls.

In the meantime, I think it's not strictly power that I need.
It's better aim (contact point), and also quicker release,
which is still related to power - how quickly I can initiate that
movement, because the opportunity window is small.
In rare cases, I do have the chance to "wind up" first, though.
Doesn't hurt to have a little more power.

[BruceP]

Knee-deep to waist-deep water for power

Bumping a tennis ball through a croquet wicket (or something similar) with increasing power as accuracy improves

[johnwang]

I probably should've mentioned more clearly that I'm not doing any kicks with the sole of the foot.
Maybe that's the tree kicking? I don't know if I can kick it with a round kick.

The tree kick should be trained with the ball of the foot. I'll never suggest any training online if I have not benefited from it myself.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-h0eYYI ... e=youtu.be

[everything]

Knee-deep to waist-deep water for power

Bumping a tennis ball through a croquet wicket (or something similar) with increasing power as accuracy improves

oh great idea about using the water. great on tennis ball, too, thanks.

[everything]

I probably should've mentioned more clearly that I'm not doing any kicks with the sole of the foot.
Maybe that's the tree kicking? I don't know if I can kick it with a round kick.

The tree kick should be trained with the ball of the foot. I'll never suggest any training online if I have not benefited from it myself.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-h0eYYI ... e=youtu.be

ah ok I won't try this one as I'm using "laces", shin, or side of foot (or somewhere in between).

[dspyrido]

Since about 6 weeks I have been learning XYLHQ(the basics) Drilled Caijibu with already great result(not only for the legs). It’s way different from the mocabu but in a way similar to the “Hai”(walking) I did years ago when doing Taikiken. I’ve done a lot of bag, shield and body kicking when younger, I think it’s like bicycling. once got it newer loose it. But drilling those XY walks can’t hurt and probably will boost the kicks

As you are doing chicken I would like to ask you to run an experiment. Go find a leg press and record how you go. Then if you keep training this consistently for 3-6 months see how much of a change you have in the leg power. I'm curious if the effect was as noticeable on others as it was on me.

As for kicks - the power in a kick is based on stability. This helped a lot.

On the flipside if the leg gets caught it's all in the stability to recover it. Happened to me a few months back and I was driven back but did not fall. I recovered the leg and was not taken down. I suspect this sort of leg training made a big difference.

[dspyrido]

I think better quad and hamstring strength has got to be good in general.

---

In the meantime, I think it's not strictly power that I need.
It's better aim (contact point), and also quicker release,
which is still related to power - how quickly I can initiate that
movement, because the opportunity window is small.
In rare cases, I do have the chance to "wind up" first, though.
Doesn't hurt to have a little more power.

I stretch all the time and only practice low to mid section height kicks with the occasional high kick once I am warm and comfortable. I've never pulled anything attempting a kick and am pretty sure it's all due to stretching and careful practice. OTOH I've seen others get groin strains (one turned completely bruised), pulled ham strings and the worst was told to me by a guy who slipped a disc while attempting high crescent kicks.

Stretching is vital.

Speed comes with stretching and patient practice. Power comes from the mass, speed and stability. Adding leg power to piston the front kick or the hips on round kicks at the end makes it hurt so much more. I only learnt this with patient solo kicking practice to get better technique. I understood it better when I practiced with a partner and a shield. I only knew this worked when I sparred and competed.

[everything]

My hamstrings are not flexible but I stretch them a lot. My calves are very inflexible, so I also stretch them often, several times per day. Since I tore one (kind of typical middle aged male tennis player injury according to my PT), I am super cautious about it.

The power for me (seen in flight of ball) all comes from clean contact and speed of the leg motion. I say this because you feel and see it clearly when you do this correctly like with a golf drive or tennis serve. So from that, I know that at other times my technique must be off, and that's the primary issue. A big issue I've noticed for myself is that if I have a lot of time to think and "wind up", that can really negatively affect my power. Vs. if I have no time, that is when I actually use more power, probably because the overall action (including brain) ends up being faster.

[Steve Rowe]

I found technique the answer.
Studying the placement of the supporting foot will give you distance and angle.
Understand the difference between a thrust and snap kick.
Bend the supporting leg until it can project your bodyweight into the kick rather than pivoting over it.
Often a lift of the heel of the supporting foot on impact adds to the power.
Chambering the kicking leg properly adds more power from the hamstring, gives better direction to the kick and enables you to kick closer to the opponent.

[everything]

thanks a lot. I'm not really sure what everyone means by chambering. I would say for me things work better if I almost kick straight back first rather than lift up my foot with too much of a bent knee.

I've been thinking technique isn't really 80% of this after watching the Women's World Cup as the women never really rip it.