Pad work footage
Also known as: mitt work footage, pad drills video, focus mitt video
Video of a fighter striking focus mitts or Thai pads held by a coach, filmed to review technique, speed and combinations or share training clips.
Updated
What it means
Pad work is a striking drill in boxing, Muay Thai, kickboxing and MMA. A coach or partner holds focus mitts or Thai pads and calls combinations, and the fighter strikes them in rhythm. It trains speed, timing, power and defense against the coach's counters.
Pad work footage is one of the most popular training clips on social media, because it is fast, rhythmic and loud. The sound of pads cracking, the speed of combinations and the interplay between fighter and coach make it watchable even for people who do not train. Coaches also use it to review technique, much like sparring footage.
How it works in practice
A fixed camera on a tripod at chest height, a few meters from the action, captures both fighter and coach. Side angles show footwork and hip rotation; a 45-degree angle shows punches and the coach's pads together.
Record at 60 fps or more. Strikes are fast, and slowing down a combination reveals technique details such as guard position and weight transfer.
Keep the camera running for whole rounds. Gym lighting is often dim, so place the camera with lights behind it, not facing it, and avoid windows in the background, which cause backlight problems.
What to watch out for
Wide action camera lenses make the fighter look tiny if placed too far away, and distort them if placed too close. Test the framing before a round with a quick recording and a look at the screen.
Gym music can cause copyright claims if the original audio stays in the video, see Content ID. Replace or mute it when publishing.
Long, repetitive rounds need trimming; highlights of the fastest, cleanest combinations hold attention better than a full round. Ask other gym members before filming them in the background, especially in classes. Keep a spare battery nearby, since rounds of pad work recorded back to back can outlast a single charge.
How RawClip handles it
RawClip turns long recordings of training rounds into a short highlight: the AI keeps the fastest combinations and peak action, removes rest breaks and dull parts, and cuts the strikes to the beat of the music.