“Coach, I feel like a beast on the pads but it feels like when I spar nothing translates”
^^ If this is you, you’re not alone! Most people often feel this way when they transition from hitting only the pads then going into sparring.
I think there’s a great misconception about the use of padwork, mainly because on social media we see fighters do nothing but padwork and then fight. MAYBE there’s a few sparring videos out there, but when was the last time you saw your favorite fighter drilling a technique 100s of times?
The truth is, it’s much more showey to do padwork online and post it as it isn’t as boring as repetitive drilling. Worse, sparring and making mistakes is definitely something fighters don’t want to show. (A youtube channel I reccomend you check out is MMA shredded with Jeff Chan, he’s a retired fighter so he actually posts him messing up techniques to prove to you that when you try a move it’s 9/10 times not going to be perfect the first time you try it).
So what is the whole point of padwork?
Padwork serves a purpose for 3 types of students, depending on the stage of your training.
1. Beginner – Developing technique & flow with combinations
2. Intermediate – Working on counters to attacks
3. Advanced – Setting up gameplans for a fight.
In the beginner stage, which is where most people are at, they are simply learning how to properly throw techniques on the pads and not gas out. It also teaches you the proper mechanics of flowing from one technique to the other.
In the intermediate stage, you are working on the person mimicking an attack (for example, a roundkick, where you check the kick then fire back with a switch kick cross hook) and countering it, similar to that of a fight.
And finally, when you are more advanced, you use padwork to visualize your opponents game plan and work off of it.
I think most people see themselves in step 3 when most people are on step 1 and barely step 2.
So how do we solve that seemingly big gap?
The approach you take to sparring is the same approach you would take to learning padwork the first time. Meaning, you have to step back and focus on a few techniques at a time while you are sparring before you add more. For example, if you are sparring the first time, only jab, and have your partner do the same. Then you add another technique, then combinations and before you know it you’re sparring.
The thing with sparring is that it’s chaotic and unpredictable. Padwork is very predictable because you don’t have to worry (yet) about getting hit.
So my advice to you is, treat padwork as a way to build combinations, cardio and flow. And try to apply a few moves from padwork but in incriments.
Until next time,
Coach Taylor Kelley