Footwork Drill Tips?

Underground
1

Just got started in Muay Thai training and have noticed my footwork leaves something to be desired.
Anyone have good tips/drills to improve footwork? Any agility drills, etc. would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks for any help!!

2

skip rope like a mad man (variate your bounces) and do circle drills

3

Thanks drunknirish. What exactly are circle drills?

4

Thanks CBB. Will this drill help increase my fluidity of movement around the ring?

5

Cool - again, thx! How often you do these drills - daily/3+ times per week?

6

I'll definitely check it out. Thanks WaltJ.

Thanks folks for the help - keep 'em comin'. The more the better....

7

Master, Circle drills are where you basically side step around in a circle with other people in one direction and then one person randomly calls out "switch" & you go in the other direction. If alone preset a timer to go off every 15 to 20 seconds. Like someone else said do them as a warm up, & yes practice your foot work when you work the bag. Skipping rope is one of the best things for footwork and timing. Believe me I had terrible footwork when I first started training, so bad that my boxing instructor wouldn't let me do anything but jump rope until it got better. just keep at it, it'll come. Also, it doesn't hurt to watch fighters footwork during fights. Pay particular attention to strikers (Rich Franklin). He's good because he gages his distance from his opponent with his feet, and he is constantly circling/angling his opponent. If you are constatnly moving it is extremely hard for a non-striker to be effective. Hope it helps

8

I really can't overemphasize how important footwork really is, without it you're a dead in the water. Franklin, Arvloski, Fedor, and Lidell probably have the best in the biz. Watch their feet when they fight and the angles they move in order to control the ring

9

Oh shit, my bad, I completely forgot about CroCop, damn too many beers must be clouding my brain, duh

10

Agreed, I started out at round 230lbs. Yeah it was good going to the gym and having people comment on my size but that didn't get me shit when I started to train, further more I felt so slow and bulky when I started...it sucked! MMA, boxing, MT it's all about being explosive, and having good footwork is just another key component to the fighters make up

11

When most people think of footwork, they think of dancing around. What this often leads to is excessive movement for no particular reason. It's the same as what people do when they try to work head movement.

Remember, footwork should be used for ring generalship and dictating range. Meaning, if you have a straight ahead style, similar to Gomi in MMA or Bovy in Muay Thai, you must still have good footwork to cut off the ring when needed, and control range as required.

I am a shorter fighter and I've been having much more success lately going forward and cutting off the ring as it allows me to stay in my power range. The key is using angles to cut off the ring.

C

12

yes, angling!

13

ttt

14

Hey - Thanks a lot for the info guys. Definitely appreciated!

15

TTT!

Drills & skipping rope are very important, no one's mentioned shadowboxing yet but of course it helps.

The heavy bag is mostly used as a tool for developing power but you should always try and incorporate good footwork.

TH

16

TTT

17

good stuff

18

ttt

19

Good footwork and a good clinch game will go a long way to improve your chance to win fights.