I've recently taken up TKD (ITF style)
and i went for my first tournament, what i found out was my weakest part of my sparring was my kicks, I have got long legs, but i don't lock out my legs and i don't kick fast enough, in other words I don't use my legs to their full advantage.
Have any of you experienced people got any tips to improve the speed and technique of my kicks please????

Kick more (hundreds of times more, work on a heavy bag). Also, get your technique right. Make sure you impact only when your kick is fully extended, this means you've got to work your range as well.

It's always a good question, but since you're new I'll keep it simple.

PRATICE PRACTICE PRACTICE!

BTW. Work on your timing. Timing will beat speed everytime.

I'll have to agree, kick as many times as you can, as often as you can.

I usually start my kicks really low, and then work up, good for warm-up.

Also, work on Dynamic stretching as well as passive stretching. Passive stretching is good, but won't do you much good if you don't keep loose, which is what Dynamic stretching will do for you

I COULD ONLY SHARE YOU ONE THING. TRY KICKING ON BAG 10 ROUNDS FOR 15 SECONDS AS A STARTER GRADUALLY INCREASING YOUR KICKS EACH LEG UP TO THE TIME YOU CAN KICK 30 ROUNDS FOR 30 SECONDS EACH LEG.

BTW, DON'T JUST SWING YOUR LEG. RAISE WITH YOUR KNEE FOLDED THEN RELEASING YOUR KICK TO THE BAG LIKE A STRETCH RUBBER BAND SUDDENLY RELEASED. TAKE NOTE OF THE FORCE IT WOULD MAKE.

a super way, is to kick as slow as you can this will increase everything [IMG]http://www.fightingarts.com/forums/ubb/wink.gif[/IMG]

you should kick as slow as you can try practising kicking really slow over a chair
and stretch as much as possible in spare time even try watching tv sat in the splits

One thing my instructor told me was that "you aren't studying Tai Chi! So kick like you mean it." Imho, kicking slowly will strengthen your legs but you want *power* and there's a difference between strength and power. (power = mass * acceleration * distance / time) i.e. Decreasing the time it takes to kick increases power. As such, I'd advise kicking at "regular speed" against a resistive surface like a heavy bag.

Kicking slowly trains your muscles in that kind of motion. If you still do not have the technique correct, kick slowly to make sure you get it right but if you are correct kick fast. Kicking fast is considerably more difficult to do with correct technique than kicking in slow motion and more important in a sparring situation.

Most people initially think that it is your muscles that create power but it's actually more about the amount of mass you can put behind a strike in the shortest period of time.