Any tips to read your opponents punches?

[thailegacy]

Hey guys just wondering if you guys have any lil tips on how to read your opponents punches before they land, i have heard looking at the shoulders will help but is there any other things? or is it mostly muscle memory and reaction repetitive training

[1moreround]

Hey guys just wondering if you guys have any lil tips on how to read your opponents punches before they land, i have heard looking at the shoulders will help but is there any other things? or is it mostly muscle memory and reaction repetitive training

My first piece of advice is to relax. You'll be able to read your oppenent much better if you're loose and relaxed in the ring. Of course, that takes time and experience. What helps me is looking the person right in the eyes rather than the shoulders. It gives me a wider view and I'm able to react faster. If you watch Floyd Mayweather fight, he's looking dead at his oppenents eyes the whole fight and he's probably the least hit fighter in boxing today. Again, it takes practice (especially keeping eye contact mid combination) but give it a try. Hope this helps!

[thailegacy]

ok yeah floyd is sick good guy to learn, thanks man ill work on that and see

[Ringo]

There are a few little tweaks that help regarding reaction ability (NOT reaction time) when it comes to reading punches. The things you CAN tweak are -

1 - Glove position. The higher up you hold your gloves in your fighting posture, the more of a peripheral block you have in the downward arc of your vision (...what did he just say?). That means you can't see under those bulky red things that are plastered against your cheekbones. Play with your posture a little to see how much it opens up your vision.

2 - Mucle memory . When you train, spend quality time letting your trainer incorporate some swings and jabs while you do mittwork. The WORST thing you can do when a punch is coming your way is to hesitate. Speed comes when thought is taken out of the equation.

3 - Recognition. One of my favorite drills is one that we stole from a girls collegiate softball team. Get a bunch of tennis balls and write random numbers, 1 to 9, on them. Have your trainer throw them at you from about 10 feet away. Your job is to either bat them down or catch them, but you have to call out the number on the ball before you do. This is an absolute monster of a reaction and hand/eye coordination workout.

The point is this - unless you can read minds, the time you have to 'read a punch' is laughable. You will never find yourself going, 'HA! His shoulder twitched, that's going to be a left hook,' and then move accordingly. Your body will take over, you'll move about 2 inches, and you'll counter punch. Or, you'll get clocked in the dome. The best defense is to either a) press the fight, or b) tune up your reaction ability.

[thailegacy]

^^
amazing post man hahahah funny too, makes alot of sense, its just funny how the more advanced guys seem to be able to read the punches and either slip or counter without hesitation but when i work on it seems so troublesome, but it will come with time, maybe i think about it too much, i keep slipping at the wrong time and getting tagged hahha

[hr186]

Honestly mate it's all experience, everyone does something different before they throw a punch, you'll just have to get used to each individual person. It's really important to slip the first punch though, which with most conventional boxers will be a jab. I know if i slip and bob 4 or five punches in a row i've only read the first one, the reast is just head and upper body movement. The more you spar / fight the more you'll get used to reading people and like a few of the other guys have mentioned you'll develop muscle memory for it.

[NVSemin]

watch elbows, many beginners tend to stick them out first telegraphing punches.

[Fighting_Pride]

i think it's in the eyes and facial expression aside from where the gloves are placed, how the feet are planted and how squarely the shoulders are positioned

[Rockin']

i think it's in the eyes and facial expression aside from where the gloves are placed, how the feet are planted and how squarely the shoulders are positioned

to all of the guys that said you should look them in the eyes you couldn't be further off target. Look a man in his eyes and there is no way that you will see the movement of his feet (which tell tales long before the punches are ever thrown).

Look a man straight in the middle of his chest. You will see his hands, his shoulders , his hips and his feet if they make any kind of movement. In time your eyes will become sharp and you'll be picking their shots off easily. Do not take your eyes from his chest, you'll see every move that he is making and you'll do with him as you please.

Lol, look a guy in the eyes.......... Look him straight in his chest, you have no need to view his head/eyes directly. You already know where his head is, it's on top of his shoulders.............Rockin'

[thailegacy]

hahahahahaha yes man looking at the chest seems legit... been working on were to look for more awareness, actually lookiing at the feet works better then the eyes for me... but im not comfy with looking at the feet, i have seen anderson silva look straight down and still land his shots, by reading the feet... but thats him and his amazing, still cool to know what guys give away without taking advantage of...