What kind of stretching do you need to do to improve the height of kicks?

Question

What's the name of the part of the legs that need stretching? And what's the best way to go about it... so I can make my kicks higher (from all angles)?

Answer 1

That is a very complicated question.  You should pose this to your instructor, they can give you exercises to do at home to <safely> increase flexibility.

Answer 2

Kicking high only requires that you have what is called DYNAMIC FLEXIBILITY. Many will tell you that you need to sit and hold stretches for a long time. This is false.  You need the muscle to stretch when you need it to and only for a second. This is called a dynamic stretch.  There are three basic types of stretches, then some variations of the three after that.

1.  Static or Passive - used to stretch muscles while the body is at rest - This does you no good when it comes to kicking high for effectiveness.

2.  Active - used to stretch and strengthen the muscle - This is where you use opposite force against the stretch. Example would be to go into splits as far as you can go and then have someone push your legs in while you push out, and visa versa.

3. Dynamic - Dynamic stretching, according to Kurz, "involves moving parts of your body and gradually increasing reach, speed of movement, or both." Do not confuse dynamic stretching with ballistic stretching!

All sports athletes want to have the best Dynamic stretch.

You will need all 3 but work on your dynamic stretch the most. The dynamic stretch will help your static stretch.

Get a book called the Science of Stretching. It breaks it down the best. There is also a book called Kicking high without warming up.  This book explains why you need to improve your dynamic stretch for this.

GOOGLE the 3 Stretches I mention and you will be all set.

Answer 3

kicking high will take a LOT of time and stretching :P before i started lessons like 7 years ago, i spent an entire summer stretching every day and practicing kicks i remembered from TKD when i was little, so when i got to class i was already polished for a white belt...

if you REALLY want to kick high, do splits stretches, lunge stretches and stretch kicks, kicks, im sure in a couple weeks you will notice change and in a couple months you will be great! just work diligently and don't stop for two weeks strait or you will be right bakc where you started

Answer 4

Kicking higher requires time. Work out your ham strings and quad, it's also good to work on your leg strength to put more power to your kicks, and not just height. How tall can a person you're fighting be? Do not over work your leg muscles. Pulling your muscles cause you to become weaker, and if you want to get better then hurting your important muscles for kicking is not a good thing. To be able to kick high, you obviously would need flexibility. Take it slow, but you will get it eventually. Stretch at least 3 days a week. Start by keeping your legs straight and touching your toes. Eventually you will see yourself able to put your head on your knees easily.