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How to Improve Your Kicks

In order to best utilize the power in your legs, you have to learn how to kick high. A roundhouse kick delivered to the side of an opponent's head can be devastating, yet if you can't kick higher than your waist, you'll never be able to make the most of your leg power. There are three basic things you need to work on if you want to improve your kicks. 

Stretch them out

Stretching is very important to improving the height of your kick. You should stretch every day for at least 15 minutes a day, paying special attention to your hamstrings. Stretches such as the splits, touching your toes and standing straight leg kicks-where you stand in place, keeping your legs straight, while elevating it as high as it will go-can greatly improve your flexibility and maximum kick height.
 

Practice, practice and practice some more!

Like almost anything else, repetition is the key to success. When you join a martial arts school, it's not a mistake that they practice the same kicks, punches and manoeuvres over and over again, even though they learned those specific techniques months or even years ago. By practicing, you build up more endurance. Muscle strength and endurance are important attributes for any martial artist to possess. The more strength and endurance you have in your legs, the higher and more powerful your kicks will be.
 

The pivot

Some kicks, like the front kick, don't require you to pivot. However, with most of the most deadly kicks, such as the roundhouse or spinning side-kick, you need to learn how to pivot on the foot that remains on the ground, quickly and effectively in order to achieve maximum height.  This is where the practice pays off. The more kicks you do, the better you'll become at pivoting.