What Are Kick Pads Used For In Taekwondo

Like Freedy Roach, famously known to simulate fight game plans on mitts work with Manny Pacquiao in Boxing, Kick pads are used to simulate a fight and strategize plans to execute in Taekwondo competitions.

Taekwondo kick pads are safe, and you avoid getting injured right before the match.

Taekwondo pads also allow you to see how much ACCURACY and POWER you have in your kicks. 

In basketball, imagine shooting a ball, all net five times in a row, or a perfect contact in golf or baseball. For Taekwondo players, the sound of a kicking pad is like MUSIC TO THEIR EARS.

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It can get addictive, and kicking pads are the most fun thing for most Taekwondo players, similar to shooting a ball for basketball players.

Taekwondo players have serious fun kicking kick pads, and the sound it makes when you make a perfect contact is just excellent!

Depending on the dojang you train, beginners may be asked to train just kicking the air first to establish a good form and posture in their kicks.

Slowly, as you begin to start hitting the kicking pad, it just feels so much nicer to feel the contact in your feet on your kicks and the sound it makes.

If you have played tennis, remember how awkward your body felt doing your first-ever serve. Roger Federer makes it look so easy!

Like tennis, you will need proper body positioning, accuracy, and power to direct a ball to the service box with speed.

Similarly, Taekwondo requires us to Focus on our BODY MECHANICS and dedication to kick with control and accuracy consistently to the kicking pad. 

As you get more experienced kicking, you will get a good sense of when you made good contact with the kicking pad, and you can almost be able to tell it with the contact sounds it makes after your kick.

Like intuitively, you know when you made PERFECT CONTACT with a ball with the baseball bat. 

Kick pads will allow you to see your kicks’ accuracy and power. If you are a beginner, you may see senior belts executing various kicks with perfect precision and accuracy.

With a dedication to Taekwondo and practicing your kicks, you, too, will soon be able to execute taekwondo kicks effectively in kicking pads. 

Experienced Taekwondo players can tell within seconds how good other taekwondo players’ kicks are, judging by the contact they make with the kicking pads.

Training with kicking pads tells you much about your kicks’ accuracy, power, and body mechanics. 

Being good at kicking kick pads may also give your taekwondo teacher the confidence to put you into light sparring. And later full contact sparring with people in your dojang and later in the competition. 

If you are an experienced taekwondo player, you may remember trying your first back kick, butterfly kick, or spinning hook kick in the kicking pad.

You know it was not as accurate and powerful as it is now, and you have come a long way. No matter your level in Taekwondo, the kicking pad never lies.

The kicking pad is honest, and you will be able to dictate the level of things you will need to work on in your kicks.

For instance, you may be great at Axe kick but completely miss the target on your spinning hook kicks. 

Taekwondo Holding Kick Pads

When you have a training partner and a kicking pad, you will realize that time flies by quickly when you have fun with the kicking pad.

Having a training partner allows you to switch while the other person rest from kicking. 

A person holding a pad plays a vital role in simulating a real fight by giving different looks, i.e.,

• By coming forward with a kicking pad
• Moving Backward
• Moving sideways
• Holding the pad midsection to the body
• Holding the kicking pad to the head
• Setting up a kicking pad for a back kick.
• Spinning hook kick
• Setting up for Axe or hammer kick.

Taekwondo Kick Pads Training For Competition

Taekwondo kicking pad is a great way to STRATEGIZE and PLAN for your upcoming competition.

With your coach or training partner, you could do several drills with the pads to come up with kicking combos to execute in the real game. 

Always doing Full-contact sparring has a higher chance of getting injured right before a competition. Therefore, kicking pads allow you to simulate a real fight without an increased risk of getting hurt. 

You can practice a fighting drill repeatedly in your kick pads that allow you to throw your kick naturally during competition without thinking. 

And there are so many variations to the same kicks we can do in the kicking pads.

Let’s take an example for a simple front roundhouse kick. You can kick the front roundhouse kick:

• Moving forwards
• Moving sideways
• Moving backward
• Switching to your other foot and executing a front roundhouse kick
• Stationary front roundhouse kick
• Front roundhouse kick to the body or the head.
• You can now Combine a front roundhouse kick with a spinning hook kick, and you have endless possibilities for executing the same kick in various instances. 

Here are taekwondo players from Great Britain training and having fun with kick pads:

You may be a more defensive mindset fighter or a more offensive mindset fighter.

You can train your muscles to REACT to various circumstances, so your kicks are automatic to what your opponent gives you when it comes to competition. 

Best Taekwondo Kick Pads

I have tried various Taekwondo Kick pads over the years. I personally had a great experience with Adidas kick pads.

Addidas kick pads have a good snap, are thick, have a large target, are sturdy, and make loud sounds. They are reasonably priced and come in a variety of different colors.

There are a variety of decent Taekwondo kick pads you can look at: