The benefits of pad training are too numerous to list. But let's start at the beginning.
What exactly is pad training? It's a form of kickboxing training where you practice punches and kicks one-on-one using pads. This protects the person holding the pads from injury to their hands and wrists.
Today we're going to talk about the benefits that pad training has for you.
Benefits of padlocks
- train reflexes
- good fitness training
- improvement of techniques
- Improve your defense.
Training reflexes:
One of the major benefits of training on punching mitts is that it improves your reflexes. When someone instructs you to perform a specific technique on command, you need to react quickly.
This ensures that when you go sparring, you can deliver the punch faster, and react faster to your trainer's commands in the ring. In addition, your punches and kicks become faster and harder through training on the pads.
The more often you practice a particular technique, the better you become at performing that technique.
Improving fitness:
Training on the pads is also a good conditioning workout. If your trainer focuses on speed and makes you perform combinations very quickly, with short rest periods, you build up very good stamina for kickboxing matches.
Pad work is also one of the best training methods used by all kickboxers for this reason. This type of pad work provides a very realistic training experience that closely simulates a kickboxing match.
In the ring, you also get short rest periods, and you often find yourself in situations where you're going faster than you're comfortable with.
Improving your techniques
Pads training is the best way to improve your techniques because a trainer constantly monitors you. He/she ensures your technique is correct, your hands are in the right position, and your stance is good.
Constantly hearing what needs improvement will only make you better. Furthermore, pad training offers an advantage that punching bag training doesn't: hitting pads is gentler on your hands than hitting a punching bag.
Pad training is also one of the best ways to practice and improve your techniques. You learn so much from training on pads because you have someone constantly telling you what you're doing wrong, for example, that you need to keep your hands up.
This will make you pay more attention to what you're doing wrong and what you can/should improve on. Furthermore, your punches and kicks will become harder and faster through pad training. The more often you deliver a right-hand straight punch, for example, the harder it will become.
Improving your defense:
If you have someone holding the pads for you, that person can correct your coverage by tapping you with the pads.
This trains not only your defense/how quickly you retract your hands, but also your reaction speed so you can anticipate punches. If you frequently receive blows to the head in the middle of a combination, and you have to block them during your own combination, then you are training your reaction speed.
Floyd Mayweather Jr. does a lot of these types of exercises during his pad training. You can also practice dodging while using pads! Let your training partner calmly hit you back after and/or during a combination on the pads.
This forces you to avoid his attack, making the training more realistic and competition-oriented. In a real fight, you'll naturally get hit back too.
So you need to practice dodging these punches, because if you do that, you'll learn to see them coming.
Looking for a complete training set to practice with? Check out these amazing punching mitts. You can experience the benefits of pad training yourself in no time!