A good kick starts from the ground, through the feet, ankles, legs, hips, and on. Many of us have heard this before, that power comes from the ground. And there is truth to this. The ground is compact and tense. When force is generated, there is nowhere else for that force to go but against or wherever the body directs it to. Following this train of thought, the body, too, must be able to direct the force towards a target. Consider the leaky bucket concept in economics. This concept “refers to the loss of money from one part of the economy to another due to administrative costs, reduced incentives for work, or misuse”. In other words, as the money travels from the holder to the end user, the whole of the money is not intact. Hypothetically, the goal for the use of money could be noble but as the money slips through the leaky bucket the intention for the money loses its effectiveness. In this sense, if the power is lost from the point of generation to the target, then the kick will be less effective. So how do we prevent the loss of power during movement? Having a strong body and good technique may be appropriate.
Let’s start with our ankle and feet. The foot must be balanced and the ankle strong and mobile to drive off the ground. This is the first point where power is generated, in this instance. The force travels up the leg and the hips open by following the point of our toes. This process creates tension subsequently allowing the kicker to release the kicking leg. The core stiffens to lessen the loss of power. And from here the kicker makes contact to his or her target.
So, we push the ground away and rotate about the ankles then hips. This effectively creates torque for the kicking leg to follow. The core stiffens to prevent the loss of power. And this can be done by internally rotating your swinging arm. That is, the hand rotates towards the body so that the palm is facing away. The kicking leg makes contact, and the body stays strong to deliver the power through the target.