Hey friends, it's Lizzie! Ten years of kickboxing, and the same five notes still come up. Not because I haven't learned; because fundamentals can keep coming up as you improve. The notes you need depend on what your coach sees in your own training. Here they are, what each one actually means, and what I've learned about taking a correction in a room full of people.
1. “Hands.”
Hands up. After the cross, after the kick, after the round has made me tired: my hands drift, and the note arrives. The fix that finally stuck was making the return part of the punch, not something I do after it. Jab out, jab home. Cross out, cross home. In shadowboxing, saying “home” under your breath works.
2. “Chin.”
Chin down. When I get tired or excited my head lifts, which is the worst possible place for it to be in a round with contact. The cue that helped me: look through my eyebrows at the target. Ugly, effective, and now automatic most of the time. Most of the time is the honest answer after a decade.
3. “Breathe.”
I catch myself holding my breath, and it is a habit worth asking your coach to watch for. It shows up as a tight shoulder, a slow round two, and the panic that lives behind a held breath when a shot lands. Exhaling on every strike, a sharp little “ts” through the mouthpiece, has become a useful cue for me during rounds.
4. “Relax.”
My shoulders creep up toward my ears the moment I'm tired or nervous, which is often. Tight shoulders make slow hands and a sore neck. The note is “relax,” and the fix is a shrug and a drop between combinations, on purpose, until the drop happens on its own. It still creeps. Someone still tells me. I still say “got it.”
5. “Feet.”
Flat feet, crossed feet, feet that stopped moving because the hands got interesting. Kicks come from the feet and so does every escape, and a good coach can tell from across the room when you've stopped thinking about them. The drill that helped: one round of shadowboxing where I'm only allowed to move my feet and jab. Boring. Transformative.
The note under all five
Every one of these is a version of “you stopped paying attention to your body because you were paying attention to the target.” That's not a beginner problem; it's a human problem, and it comes back every time the round gets hard. Ten years in, the notes don't stop. They just get quieter, and they arrive at more interesting moments.
How to take a correction
- “Got it.” That's the whole response. Not an explanation of why your hand was down. The coach knows why. Everyone's hand goes down.
- Fix it on the very next rep. Not next round, not next week. Try the correction while it is fresh, and ask for clarification if you are not sure what to change.
- Bring it to shadowboxing. Whatever the note was, it becomes the theme of the next warm-up. That's how a note becomes a habit.
- Want it. Real talk: ask for feedback when you need it. A quiet round by itself does not tell you whether a coach is paying attention. I still get corrected, and I still want to be.
For women in a mostly male room
A good coach gives everyone respectful attention and adapts the explanation to the person. What you don't need is corrections from the guy next to you; there's one coach in the room, and unsolicited notes from a training partner get a polite “thanks, I'm going to stick with what coach said.” Take the five notes from the person whose job it is, and let the work answer everyone else.
If you're a beginner reading this
You may hear several of these notes as a beginner, and it will feel like you're doing everything wrong. You are doing everything a beginner does, which is different. Hear the note, say “got it,” fix it once, and move on. The fundamentals can remain useful for years, even as the details change. The rest of the beginner picture is in kickboxing for beginners, and the glossary explains what the shouting means.
The note I give myself
“Slow down.” Nobody has to shout it because I hear it from across the room in my own voice now: when a round gets hard, I speed up, my combinations get sloppy and my breathing goes with them. Ten years in, the correction I most need is the one that tells me to throw fewer, cleaner things. The coach gives everyone five notes. I give myself the sixth.
Why the notes get quieter, not fewer
In year one the coach says “hands” because both of yours are at your waist. In year ten the coach says “hands” because your rear hand drifted a little after a hook late in a round. Same word, completely different note. That's what progress in this sport looks like: not the correction ending, but the correction getting smaller and arriving at a more interesting moment. If you're still hearing the big version, that's fine. Everyone did.
Bringing the notes home
After class, write the note down, one line, in your phone. Next warm-up, that's the theme. It sounds fussy and it's the fastest way I know to turn a correction into a habit, because a note remembered on Thursday is worth ten shouted on Monday. The warm-up routine it feeds is in what I do before every class.
The compliment that sounds like a correction
“Better.” One word, after a round, from a coach who has been saying “hands” for ages. It doesn't arrive often and it is worth all five notes combined. Chase that word, not the absence of the others. The notes are the coach watching; the word is the coach noticing. You want both, and you only get the second by taking the first.
One more honest thing: the notes used to sting. A decade in, I've stopped hearing them as a verdict on me and started hearing them as proof someone is still watching closely, and that change in how I listen did more for my kickboxing than any change in how I punch. If a correction stings this week, let it. Next week say “got it” a little faster. That's the whole progression, and it never ends.
Your Questions, Answered
What are the most common mistakes in kickboxing? Hands dropping after a punch, chin lifting when tired, holding your breath, shoulders creeping up, and feet going flat or crossed. Experienced fighters still get these notes too; they are human problems, not beginner problems.
How do you respond when a coach corrects you? Acknowledge the note, ask if you need clarification, and try the adjustment when it is safe to do so. Bring it into your next warm-up with the coach’s guidance.
How do you stop dropping your hands in kickboxing? Make the return part of the punch. Jab out, jab home. Say it under your breath in shadowboxing until the hands come back without you thinking.
