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I'm finally going to start playing in clinch with one person at my gym (limiting it due to covid), but he is quite a bit bigger than me (and it seems like 70% of the fighters here are heavyweight). I've had every coach at my previous gym, and the coach here tell me that taller fighters are favored in clinch. I think of Sylvie's success in knee fighting and my experience in clinch with taller people before covid, and wonder if this sentiment is true. Being tall in muay thai definitely seems like an advantage, but I'm not sure if it's exaggerated during clinch. What are your thoughts on this? What advantages do taller fighters have in clinch? Are there advantages to being smaller in clinch? Do you have any advice for being the shorter/smaller partner in clinch? I understand the only way to improve is to just get hours in, so I'm very excited to finally have a partner I can responsibly train with. Thank you for your time.

Angles and leverage definitely favor the tall in clinch. That said, as a shorter fighter if you can get a taller fighter down to your angles and height - breaking theor posture and destroying their leverage - the advantage is huge. Tall fighters are also more susceptible to trips, as the center of gravity is higher. The lower base of short fighters makes us harder to off-balance.