Hitting The Pads: Somebody Explain This To Me?
by Kelvin Hunt on Jul 2, 2009 1:43 PM EDT
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I'm not really picking on Frank Mir here, this pretty much pertains to over half the MMA fighters out there. Mir actually used some nice combinations against Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira at UFC 92. We always see footage of MMA guys hitting the pads, practicing combinations over and over and over. However, almost NEVER see them working these combo's in actual MMA fights. I mean there are a select few that do so, and Frankie Edgar comes to mind as he absolutely worked Sean Sherk in this manner. I mean I know they have to be wary of take downs and everything, but what's the use in doing all this pad work if you are never going to implement it?
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Mir's striking
You know, it is obviously a different thing entirely to be in the cage and you’re in the moment… Here’s the thing… Hitting the pads isn’t only about practicing combos, it’s also to increase your speed and power, and there are a lot of people out there who don’t believe this fight will go the same way. The key to Mir winning this battle is to keep it on the feet, stay out of the way of that GIGANTIC reach, and counter. When/if Brock gets frustrated, people think he’ll revert to takedowns… And Mir is deadly from his back. Even though his game is the Jitz, the key to him winning is improving his striking and putting it on display. I mean, Brock has only been in a handful of MMA fights, his striking isn’t THAT great, it’s just he’s BIG, FAST, and he’s got REACH.
Hitting the pads isn’t only about practicing combos, it’s also to increase your speed and power
Why not just freestyle on the heavybag then? I don’t see how it can increase your speed and power when you are only hitting the pads at like 50% ya know?
That’s like a sprinter saying he wants to get faster…but practices running sprints at half speed.
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I was always taught that the focus pads are primarily used for loosening up the muscles in your arms and shoulders and helping practice hand speed and precision. Speaking of the video, am I the only one who thought Frank’s punches looked a little goofy? Before anyone flames me, I’m not knocking the guy at all. His punches, combinations and head movement looked much improved against Nogueira. It just looks….wrong.
See
Precision I can understand…..but I don’t see how it helps handspeed if you are not hitting the pads as you would in a fight…I don’t see how you can increase handspeed when the punches you throw in practice are not faster or just as fast as what you would throw in a fight. Am I way off here?
I mean I played baseball at a very high level…and everything we did in practice was the same as if you were doing it in the game…I don’t see where MMA practice would be any different.
Now, I could see this increasing speed and power…via Mike Tyson.
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In scrambles and a situation when you’re trading punches with somebody, it pays to have the confidence of knowledge of technique. A lot of guys have terrible punches because, like you said, they don’t actually use combinations and try for one big punch. Rashad Evans comes to mind. But you don’t see guys like Frankie Edgar or Mike Swick hesitating too much. It’s just one punch right after another, and these guys have the combination and technique down to a science to such a point where you can’t actually train to increase your hand-speed and precision in an MMA fight, whether it’s an official bout or training. It’s all about getting familiar with throwing combinations and having the confidence and technique to pull it off in a chaotic situation.
This is something I used to do with my guitar
One of the ways to REALLY build speed is to practice things over and over and over and over… This is because the thing that often really slows you down is the need to think about what you’re doing, and running patterns and scales and various licks at a medium clip for hours on end will commit them to memory extremely efficiently. Additionally, going slowly will not burning you out, so longer training sessions are possible. Once they’re hard wired in, it’s a very simple matter to turn up the speed. The added benefit of doing it this way, is that your technique remains damn near flawless. This is probably the reason that the “old” martial artists practice forms slowly and carefully, but were still able to execute them at blinding speeds.
by Shaun32887 on Jul 2, 2009 3:09 PM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
Good Post
lol…now…why don’t more fighters use the techniques they practice over and over and over again on the pads…in the acutual fight?
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No, you’re 100% right, Kelvin. What I meant was that in the way that they’re traditionally used, most guys the focus mitts to work their punching reps at actual fight speed and try to work that hand speed. From this it looks like Frank is maybe just concentrating on the muscle movement of throwing the strike correctly, maybe working his arm/shoulder soreness out while also going through punch reps, something like that. The thing is, though, his kicks look sharp and we all know his ground game is slick as hell for a heavyweight, but I swear those punches just don’t look right, man.
I gotcha
And as Cauliflower has pointed out down below….Mir does look to be in awesome shape….
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nothing to do with striking but Mir is supposedly weighing about 262 right now. Looking at that video, he is in phenomenal shape. Thats a lot of muscle hes added to his frame.
by cauliflower_ears on Jul 2, 2009 3:10 PM EDT reply actions
Mother Fricken Rec'd!!!
Great post, Kelvin. I’ve always asked myself this. It’s like this in the TUF house too. You see them in training but when the fight comes its way diff. What’s the point then?
GSP, Edgar, Rampage, Sanchez, are the only ones I think that actually use what they train in each fight.
Mike Goldberg: "You know Joe, growing up as a child Kimbo Slice was never given any bread with his meals. This is why he insists people... give him his bread."
Thanks
Yea, you’d think at this stage in the game…most guys in high level MMA will have at least mastered a couple of simple combo’s…unfortunately that’s not the case.
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I’ve seen Marquardt also use some nice combos. I mean, I know this isn’t boxing but sometimes you know if a guy is gonna shoot or not.
I throw some mean combos in the UFC videogame! :P
Mike Goldberg: "You know Joe, growing up as a child Kimbo Slice was never given any bread with his meals. This is why he insists people... give him his bread."
by xFenixKnightx on Jul 2, 2009 4:26 PM EDT up reply actions
What I can’t figure out for the LIFE of me is…when guys are clinched up against the cage…why doesn’t the guy that’s not pressed up against the cage…just let loose with with like a 3-4 punch combo or something?
Like in the Andre Winner/Pearson fight….Winner could have unclinched and let some shots off real quick…and he did once or twice…but why don’t they do it more often?
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by Kelvin Hunt on Jul 2, 2009 4:34 PM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
Agreed or a nice elbow. Or just push him off and restart themselves.
Mike Goldberg: "You know Joe, growing up as a child Kimbo Slice was never given any bread with his meals. This is why he insists people... give him his bread."
by xFenixKnightx on Jul 2, 2009 4:48 PM EDT up reply actions
if the fighters arent using the combinations they use on the pads then what are they using?? Are you guys inplying that even guys at the top of the game are just throwing wildliy?? pad work looks different from a fight well. . .beacuse pads no hit back.
There are 100 different ways to work the pads. and everyone works them differently. How do you know that isn’t just the pad work he wants you to see?? i’m sure he doas pad work at a much higher pace. He is probally winding down his training camp. Alot of boxing/strinking coaches dont want you to hit the pads with full force, instead you work your technique and precision on the pads and your speed and power on the heavy and speed bags. I mean the speed bag aint even fot speed as much as it is eye hand cordination.
Mir didnt just throw some good combos in the nog fight, he looked freaking amazing!
if the fighters arent using the combinations they use on the pads then what are they using?? Are you guys inplying that even guys at the top of the game are just throwing wildliy?? pad work looks different from a fight well. . .beacuse pads no hit back.
Yes, here’s a prime example….Chris Lytle(who has boxed professionally) more often than not just throws wildly…
Of course the pads don’t hit back and of course there are different ways to work the pads. However, the truth is we rarely see good 1-2’s in MMA…much less good 2-3 punch combinations…or a two punch combo followed with with a leg kick…there are very few top MMA guys that do this.
Mir didnt just throw some good combos in the nog fight, he looked freaking amazing
As I’ve already said, I was picking on Mir per se…just using the video for illustrative purposes.
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I agree Chris Lytle is a prime example. he throws wildly but he doas still use his boxing head movement. HOWEVER. . .He is NOT an example of a top guy. His record is 27-17.
I never mentioned head movement…plus you can’t really use too much head movement in MMA because of the threat of headkicks and whatnot IMO.
I was speaking specifically on combinations…Lytle isn’t a top guy…but the guy is fighting in the biggest MMA organization in the world….even so…he still has an overall record of well over .500
But, if we want to name top guys….Josh Koscheck, Dan Henderson, Matt Hughes, Jake Shields, Jon Fitch, Shinya Aoki, and there are more that all either throw wildly or haven’t developed or evolved their stand up games to put combinations together effectively in a fight on a consistent basis.
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