Can anyone list some drills I can use alone or with a partner to develop my headmovement and my footwork. For some reason lately I'm having trouble connecting with my cross when my opponent retreats.
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Great advice from Martin. Not much to add to that....maybe some shadowing drills.
Martin or anyone else,
I have always been told in boxing it is important to lower the head (chin slightly tucked)to prevent the chin from being exposed. This position also protects the throat. When moving my head as a way of preventing it from becoming an easy target, at time I find myself moving my head with my chin up. I find it easier to move my head this way. I assume this an incorrect way of moving my head, how do I break this habit? I also want to point out that I find my neck getting tired after keeping my head in a lowered positon (chin slightly tucked) after a while, is this common?
i used to put a little ball (you know the ones, the kind that comes in the vending machine at the supermarket for a quarter that bounces very high) under my chin cos i was not used to tucking my chin. everytime i raised my chin the ball would drop and well, that told me i raised my chin.
not sure if others do this or something similar.
stick - do you use the ball when your doing bag work and shadowboxing or like when your walkin around your house, etc
i was training on my own, so mainly when i was shadowboxing. when i have a partner to work with we do the focus mitts and sometimes my partner would remind me hands high, chin tucked :-)
if you are hardcore, i suppose walking around the house or outside with chin tucking the ball would work :-)
Stickgrappler, i do that one...
Seeker the main reason you have some trouble landing the cross when your opponent retreats is simple. It is the wrong weapon to use in that situation. simple jab/ cross rules are that on the first jab if a guy stays you cross, he backs up, you jab again. If you are in tight and a guy is disengaging from close range, a hook is a much better weapon, as the guy tends to move right into it if he backs straight up, whereas backing up helps him against a cross due to the fact that him going backwards helps to diminish the impact.
But there are times to get a cross in with a retreating opponent, especially if he is just moving enough to be out of range. Most important is to remember to get your feet close enough to him before throwing the punch. Lots of guys try to "chase" a guy with a cross and step with the front foot and leaving the back foot planted because they are in a hurry to get the punch off. They end up coming up short on the cross and being caught in a very wide stance, shich is good for sitting down on a guy stuck in the corner or hurt, but sucks for chasing/ cutting a guy off.
Keep you feet under you is my best advice, several archived footwork drills will help with that.
i just watched the beginning of HBO's TYSON last night.here's a quote from George C. Scott as Cus D'Amato:"Always keep your chin tucked down into your chest. I don't care if you are running roadwork or just walking around school or watching T.V. Keep that chin tucked down. And your eyes looking up and out."
alright so no one is going to make the balls under chin joke.....fine...I'm going back to the UG :-)
lol @ ryanJ
If you want to learn true sheer balance, and develop the ability to hit someone harder from a balanced position, get one long shoestring, tie both your feet together, and get down on a bag...you'll develop your own style of footwook, naturally...
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