Hello,
Long time lurker here. This thread has been really valuable (esp. the post in regards to low vs. mid. vs. high kicks). I usually train Thai pads with guys my height and kicking low and middle-level round kicks off my combinations. Recently, I trained with a guy who's much taller. So I had to kick much higher than I normally would and ran into some issues: 1) My pivoting became inconsistent once I had to kick higher (sometimes during this session I found myself trying to pivot off my entire foot to reach higher as oppose off the top portion of my foot like I normally do) 2) I felt I had to lean in much deeper to throw my round kick, which also affected my recoil 3) My power just dissipated (it felt more like a tap on the thai pads...normally, I get a lot of oomph/speed and power) 4) I also became gassed faster than normal. Essentially, my technique dropped this session. I think it was a combination of kicking at a new height and perhaps conditioning? (I've done other sessions in the past where my speed and power remained till the very end of class). It's also possible that my partner may have holding the thai pads too close to his body (or turned too far away from me) and also at a height higher than what I'm normally used to kicking.
Although I was initially frustrated at first at myself, I'm also glad it brought out the holes in my kicking game, especially when it comes to high kicks and training with a taller partner. I'm not super flexible and not too tall either (5'7"). Do you have any suggestions? I'm still trying to dissect why my techniques felt sloppy during this particular session.
