7 Tips to Perfect Your Elbows
Little tweaks make all the difference in the quality of your technique. Try these gems out.
1. Don't Focus on Power — Focus on Accuracy
A common mistake is trying to elbow with power. Trying too hard to generate power tends to telegraph your shots.
Focus on accuracy, landing a well-placed and well-timed elbow. It doesn't have to be hard to cut your opponent—it just has to land in the right spot with the bone of your elbow.
2. Connect with the Point of Your Elbow, Not the Forearm
Pay attention to which part of your elbow you're connecting with during training.
The forearm is the softer part. You want to connect with the tip of your elbow to cut your opponent.
3. Generate Power Through Your Legs and Body Weight, Not Your Arms
Just like punching, kicking, and kneeing, initiate the movement with your feet, then hips, then finally the arm is last.
You get the power from your legs and torso, not from your arms.
Shadow box the complete elbow technique in slow motion and feel the chain movement:
Feet pivot
Knee turns
Hip twists
Shoulders turn
Elbow connects
Then speed it up.
You'll significantly increase your power, and it will be much less telegraphed.
4. Don't Wind Up. Initiate Your Elbow from a High Guard
Where you start your elbow matters.
If your guard is low, the elbow has to travel further to reach its target.
A high guard means your elbow is already in a good position to land. Think about it: when you're in a high guard, the point of your elbows are already facing your opponent.
Don't wind up and swing your elbow out trying to generate power.
Like I mentioned above, power comes from your legs while keeping your elbows tight.
5. Set Up Your Elbow — Don't Throw It Cold
We don't train elbows as much as everything else at the gym because they're dangerous to spar with. We mainly practice them on pads and heavy bags.
You can simulate elbows in clinching by making contact with your forearm, which is generally safe when done under control.
To throw an elbow cold is very difficult.
Either:
Fake first, then elbow.
Enter from the clinch.
Replace a short hook or uppercut with an elbow.
Don't replace jabs or straight punches with elbows—you'll usually be too far away.
Elbows are very short-range weapons, so you have to get extremely close before they become effective.
6. Get in Range First—Then Elbow
Don't throw elbows and miss.
Get into range first. Punch your way in or slide into short range using hooks, uppercuts, or the clinch.
Once you're close enough—right in your opponent's face—then let the elbows go if there's an opening.
Focus on getting Step One right before thinking about Step Two.
Step One is getting into range.
Step Two is landing the elbow.
7. For a Shorter and Sharper Elbow, Tuck in Your Wrist
This is especially important when wearing boxing gloves.
Tuck your wrist in by trying to get your palm to touch your wrist while keeping your hand open.
Your knuckles should touch your opposite chest when you elbow, with your palm facing out.
When wearing gloves, tucking your wrist shortens the elbow by about an inch. That small adjustment keeps the elbow tighter, sharper, and more efficient.
Final Thoughts
Elbows are one of Muay Thai's most exciting weapons, but they shouldn't be your primary focus as a beginner.
Spend most of your training developing solid punches, kicks, knees, footwork, and balance. Once those fundamentals become second nature, your elbows will improve much faster.
Small technical details make all the difference. Master these seven tips, practice them consistently, and your elbows will become faster, sharper, and far more effective.
About the Author
Ronnie Najjar has coached Muay Thai since 2004 and is a former professional fighter with over 30 years of experience in combat sports. He has coached everyone from complete beginners to competitive fighters and teaches beginner and adult classes, private training, and competition coaching at 8 Tribe Muay Thai in San Diego.
If you're in San Diego and want to learn Muay Thai properly, you're welcome to come train. Whether you're just starting out, preparing for your first fight, or looking to sharpen your skills, you can explore our Beginner Program, Private Training, or Muay Thai Classes.
