Here are 8 simple and effective muay thai drills for beginners that can be trained solo, on the heavy bag or without any equipment.
These muay thai drills for beginners are also used and trained by professional fighters in their day to day training.
These muay thai drills are especially selected for beginners to put a lot of time into drilling.
This will allow the muay thai beginner to improve very quickly.
But let’s get into the 8 simple muay thai drills that will help you improve your muay thai game.
1. Stance & footwork drill
Stance and footwork is the most important aspect that beginners must master from the outset.
And in the video below you will see an essential muay thai beginner drill that must be practiced for many repetitions in order to master.
A good foundation should be laid with many many hours of repping out this drill especially at the very beginning.
As Kru explains in the video below he did this only for months before learning any other muay thai techniques.
Just starting out muay thai your stance and footwork is important to develop early.
A beginner should spend as much time as possible repeating the muay thai stance and footwork drill in the video above.
2.Hip mobility drill for kicking
This is one of my the most effective muay thai beginner drills for developing an effective muay thai roundhouse.
This drill will to improve your hip movement and rotation for the muay thai roundhouse kick.
The roundhouse kick is the signature technique of muay thai and having good hip rotation and is essential.
This will take repetition and technique to develop.
And as a beginner you will not have this developed yet so this is a very effective muay thai drill for beginners.
It is very easy to do with little equipment or set up required.
I would advise doing this drill after being warmed up a bit.
I have also seen this drill taught by Duane Ludwige Two time UFC Coach of the Year as well as by Slylvie Von Douglass, pro fighter in Thailand.
But the video above is an even more simpler version of this drill that can be done solo in your spare time.
3. The Bang Muay Thai Dutch Drill
The Dutch drill from the Bang Muay thai system developed by Duane Ludwig is a beginner to intermediate drill that is also practiced often by higher level students at BMT gyms.
This drill is useful for developing hip and shoulder rotation from one side to the other side through alternating strikes from the Lead side to the rear. Rear to Lead.
Its quite a simple drill that is also very effective for heavy bag drills.
4. Skip Knee on Bag Drill
This drill is a must in gyms in Thailand and should be included at every training session whether or a warmup at the beginning or burnout at the end.
Being able to throw a high volume of knees in the clinch in muay thai is a good technique to master. And a rather simple one too.
5. Defense Drill on Heavy Bag
Keeping your guard up and solid defense before during and after throwing attacks is essential.
This drill by the Emperor’ of muay thai Namsaknoi will help you develop this with much practice and repetition.
The great thing is you can keep training this solo with just a heavy bag.
6. Striking & Moving
The ‘back em up’ drill from the Bang Muay Thai system is developed specifically to train striking and footwork at the same time.
Being able to punch and move with good balance is a key skill to develop.
Being able to off balance your opponent backward by moving and striking toward them at the same time getting them moving backward will be to your advantage.
This is mainly a partner drill but is just as effective to develop in shadow boxing as well with creative footwork on heavy bag.
It is quite a simple drill but will really help to elevate your game and develop solid footwork.
Therefore it is suitable for beginners to drill but after the stance and footwork drill from above is mastered.
7. Elbow Wall Drill
This drill is very useful for refining your straight punches and for developing quick and sharp elbows with little ‘wind-up’ that would telegraph your attack to the opponent.
By standing up close to a wall with your striking side you immediately eliminate the possibility of ‘chicken winging’ your elbow or flaring it out.
This reduces the likelihood your opponent will see you attack coming.
The straight line punch also has most power in this form of execution and can retract straight back for your face again.
Same for the elbow the tight angle against the wall forces you to develop a shorter but powerful snap attack on the elbow.
8. Kick to Block drill
This drill may require a little more balance and technique for an absolute beginner but working toward this will help the beginner develop quickly also.
This drill is effective for walking down an opponent while maintaining good defense and balance to be able to block, counter and attack.
Muay Thai Drills for Beginners – Wrap Up
Each of the drills presented above are extremely useful for improving your muay thai technique and these are the same drills that are used by pro fighters in Thailand and abroad.
Incorporate all of some of these muay thai drills for beginners, put in the time and see your muay thai improve at a fast rate!
