I know in some martial arts they put some emphasis on being proficient with both an orthodox lead and a southpaw lead but you don't seem to see this in boxing much?
No you do not.
My take on it is that most boxing instruction is the same. Attribute based. If you are a righty, right hand rear, lefty, left hand rear. That is the way it has mostly been done for ages.
It does not have to be that way and for MMA is IMO not ideal.
There is no reason that you cannot become proficient regardless of which way your feet are. It requires two things. First, is a more square stance. Second, is learning the mechanics of HOW to throw each punch. The mechanics of punching are independent of which way your feet are oriented.
Not a boxer but known for his boxing abilities in MMA, when I asked Sean Sherk about this the other day he said:
"I'd rather have it and not need it, than need it and not have it." ~ Sean Sherk
I've found that switching leads can really mess with boxers since it usually isn't done, at least at the amateur level.
TheFuzz - I've found that switching leads can really mess with boxers since it usually isn't done, at least at the amateur level.
It's almost becoming a must that MMA fighters are able to go switch. You find fighters like our most recent example, Nog that have trouble with southpaws. If that's the case, why not just always fight him SP?
It seems like the same logic would transfer over to Boxing but 90% of the boxing world is stubborn and doesn't want to switch leads.
Because contrary to popular opinion. Simply switching to southpaw is not some magical advantage
At one point all the top gyms in thailand made their guys switch to southpaw. When most of them lost they realized that its better to use what is natural for you
Quite a few of the Thai fighters seem to train to be somewhat ambidextrous. They have a dominant hand but can switch and handle themselves quite well. Arguably that's more of an advantage in a sport with kicking because it can be advantageous to be able to fight with your power leg forward at times.
You'd think that if a boxer could switch back and forth it might put the opponent off his game a bit. Although I've read that southpaws can have difficulty getting fights so I don't know if that has anything to do with an aversion to switching leads among boxers?
But obviously you do see some guys switch like that. Witter does it a hell of a lot
One word: Marvelous Marvin Hagler.
"One word".......
OK, technically one word and two adjectives....
Noooooo.... three words - two (or one depending on your definition) proper nouns and one adjective
god I really hope I'm being trolled?
Yeah. But sometimes I can't remember which ones are verbs and which ones are words. I learned English by rememorizing George Bush's off the cuff remarks to the press.
^^^
You are surprisingly eloquent, in that case.
i have seen some trainers make you switch all the time - i think its good to drill like jabs with the other hand, but actually learning how to slip and all that and make it second nature on both sides is really hard - i wouldnt advise that until you have become proficient at one side
Better to be good at one than mediocre in both.
Or you could be awesome at both.
Yes you could. You see boxers at world class or even amature level are just closed minded. Its not like they tried it and got the shit beat out of them in sparring and realized it wont work. They just refuse to learn
AARISH - i have seen some trainers make you switch all the time - i think its good to drill like jabs with the other hand, but actually learning how to slip and all that and make it second nature on both sides is really hard - i wouldnt advise that until you have become proficient at one sideI start a fighter out with a more traditional mindset as well. I call it "Stance Discipline". New guys come in without that and they switch up and I see that and immediatly they eat a right kick or hand. Happened to my Boxers as well, they really freak out the first time they get a light kick in the leg. Funny times.
Anyway I've noticed that they do drop their lead hand when they go Southpaw and they just dont have the same Defensive skill sets when they switch. Against a fast counterpuncher thats a mistake they just dont need to make.
I was being sarcastic :-)
My take is, for the average fighter, don't switch. Some fighters can switch because they are naturally the other hand, ie: Oscar De La Hoya. A righty who was trained to fight southpaw, so he would have more power in his jab. But for the average fighter, don't do it.