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Hi, been training for 6 years and have had a couple of amateur fights before. I am orthodox and my technique looks good but it doesnt feel good when excecuting it. I very often feel unbalanced and that something isnt right when throwing strikes/defence/ footwork. I very often get frustrated , been training alot since my journey started and ive been to thailand many times. The frustration is that i so often feel very unbalanced, and no matter how much i practice it it just doesnt seem to get better. I have pes cavus on my left foot i dont know if that has anything to do with. As soon as i go southpaw i feel so much more grounded and my balance is better, i have more power in every strike from the left side when i go southpaw compared to the right side when i am in orthodox. I always tought just stick with orthodox and keep going even though it still feels unnatural after 6 years of training, but it dont seem to get better. All of the frustration, i am very often thinking of going all in on southpaw just because my balance is so much better with my right leg standing in front. I know people say the offense may feel better in southpaw, and i have to work alot on defence . Just feels way better in southpaw ( offence) and when i shadow in southpaw defence also feels easier, blocking, moving. Any tips , thoughts? anyone who has felt the same? Dont know what to do. thanks :)

There is a really good 2+ hour video in the Muay Thai Library project which documents the legend Karuhat deciding to switch Sylvie from orthodox to Southpaw. It shows you how he did it, and talks about the reasons why he did it. It's really good: Karuhat was a switching fighter, one of the best, so some of this is just his own ability to step into southpaw, but he was trying to solve specific things in Sylvie's style. She ended up fighting for about a year and a half in Southpaw before switching back. I think its great, honestly. I prefer her as a southpaw fighter. She eats up space a little bit more, is much stronger up front, and kicks better. The problem with most moves to Southpaw is that offensive weapons may very well improve, but defense will suffer until fully developed, so in fights the comfort level might not be there for a long time. Generally though, if you feel better in southpaw that is a huge reason to go that way. And, southpaws have natural advantages in most matchups, you automatically gain those.

This is probably far afield, but reading your thoughts brought to mind this thread I did on how Thailand's rigors of training, the very shape of its hyper-masculine practice, support a kind of trans- experience for Westerners. Lots of sociology and theory in this thread, but who knows it might connect up with other thoughts: