Interesting thought, would you do a front kick to the leg (OK, I know they are in patterns,but would you?)?

I think the point of contact would be harder to apply effectively, whereas a side kick has a wider area of contact.

Any thoughts, anyone?

oh yea i rate the front kick.mm i see how you mean about hitting the legs, though i dont think it should be a problem.its going to do something even if its just off balance them if you dont catch them properly..like has been said its a good jamming kick and good to the groin.good to push away with.done low as like a poke to the shin with the toe end of your shoes should cause discomfort.
its also a kick you dont have to get your hips over so its ideal for beginners,even non beginners.
if its icy out..or your on iffy ground or youv just woke up...its good becuase it straight and fast and not as awkward.and power can be gotten with training.
theres the pressing kick too.thats MEANT to be low.
mm maybe thats a better kick than the side kick and front kick to do low as theres no pivot on the standing foot so less chance of imbalence and you get the side kick like foot shaping of your choosing(heel or footsword).
what do you reckon?

Personally I feel kicking the legs is dangerous. However, I have seen some okinawan styles practice this technique in what we call step sparring. in that context since it is a pre-arranged sparring technique and both participants are aware of the techniques that will be used to either attack or defend then I feel that it is okay to be used, but in free sparring where there is no pre-arranged knowledge of what techniques will be used then "no" i do not think kicks to the legs should be allowed. Only when the reciever of such kicks have full wareness should dangerous techniques like this shouldbe allowed.

I agree about groin kicks. I think if I was aiming a shot at his families future then I wouldn't use the toe, rather the instep, as it also has a larger surface and could be aided by his own biological geography.

Tek, TKD also uses leg kicks in step sparring.

Another question, could the lack of leg kicks in competition sparring have anything to do with it being too easy to score a point? When do you kick them and when do they block the kick with their leg?

Apparently TaeKyon uses leg kicks

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taekyon