There isn’t anyone who practices Muay Thai that doesn’t want a higher kick. To do so is an achievement and to knock one out in a match with a round kick to the head is a dream. Unfortunately, hitting the head with a kick isn’t easy. It takes a lot of practice and experience to be able to land one, more so if you want to do it consistently.Stretching, among many other things, is an important factor that plays into how high your kick is and how often you’re able to do it.

That said, here are a couple of tips for you to consider the next you stretch so your Muay Thai kicks and strikes will be much higher the next time around.

1. Stretch often and stretch deeply – The human body has an innate reflex that protects it from over stretching itself accidentally or on purpose. You’ll want to make sure that you ease past that point so that your muscle fibers contract much less the next time you stretch deeply. To do this, try to hold each stretch for at least 30 seconds until you feel your body relax. Do this four to five times a week and you’ll find yourself kicking much higher than ever before.
2. Do Center Splits – One of the most common stretches, yet often overlooked, center splits can improve your body’s flexibility by a whole lot. To do so, start by sliding your feet out away from your body as slowly as possible. Ease your way into things so that you don’t injure yourself. Use your hands for support. If you can’t do a full split just yet, don’t worry. You’ll be doing that soon enough as long as you practice stretching often.
3. Visualize Yourself – When shadow boxing or practicing with the heavy bag, visualize yourself doing a high roundhouse kick. The more you think of yourself doing it, the more you’ll likely practice. This, plus stretching and constant training will help you do high kicks much easier and much more frequently.
4. Breathe. Plenty of people often hold their breath while stretching. This is wrong. Your body needs oxygen and not breathing is only going to make stretching much harder. Not to mention it makes you feel tense. When stretching, remember to ease yourself into things and not to forget to breathe and relax at all times.
5. Stretch all muscle groups. So many people forget to that all combat sports use the whole body, including Muay Thai. As such, it’s important to stretch not only certain muscles, but all of it, including the opposing ones. By making sure that everything’s stretched and warmed up, imbalance and injuries are less likely to happen.

The tips written above ensure that your high kicks will be even higher and much more effective as time goes by. Keep these in mind and be sure to strive to improve at all times. If you do that, doing roundhouse kicks to the faces of your opponents will be as easy as breathing.