Introductions, and questions about hand speed.

[Langarm]

Hello folks,

For quick reference for those that do not like reading a page of introductions and chat, refer to the red text for my questions.

I will start off by introducing myself. My name is Mike and I am 26 years old boxing as a card amateur in the Light heavyweight division (Cruiserweight)currently, at 83kg. I am 6'2 and I prefer outboxing instead of inboxing, and to be on my back foot. I live in England but grew up and spent half my life in South Africa. I box for the City of Hull Amateur Boxing Club.

I have so far had two fights, winning my first by a majority decision on points and losing my second in a second round stoppage.


And that's that. I found this forum and this is my first post so I thought I wold make it a decent one and pose a few questions and come back to it from time to time, since I work and train every day I do not have much time to check the forums. So here are my questions to those more experienced than myself.

How does one achieve good rotation in a one/two combination of lead and backhand, while maintaining good punching speed?

I find this a relatively tough challenge, I can throw fully extended punches in combinations of course, in a good stance (With hips facing away from the oponnent so not to be square on) but they are sharp, stiff and slower than throwing them at speed while standing more square on...Anyone got any tips on how to develop good punch speed while achieving max rotation and power? Any solo-training tips?

Any tips on training to keep your guard up at all times?

Like most amateurs I have a tendency to drop my rear hand at times, and my guard altogether when retreating at pace from a flurry. Any tips on training I can do outside the gym in my own time, apart from the usual shadow boxing in a mirror, to try get out of the habbit?

What is the proper technique to throwing a LONG range hook?

Short range hooks I have down, no problems there. But if someone is standing at range and you want to throw a hook over their lead (I am orthodox, so when facing a showpaw) when they step in, it needs to be long range and thrown after a duck and weave to the outside. I find it hard to land this shot with power, once again, any tips?


--------------

Thank you for any helpful tips and advice given,

Mike

[Equilibrium]

I'm not exactly sure what you mean in your first question but i'll try to help. I wouldn't say i'm more experienced than you as i had only four fights and my last one was 6 years ago. But i do train full time and spar on a regular basis.

1-You could try making your core muscles stronger. There are many ways to do this, i'll name a few and possibly use youtube videos to explain.

The easiest one would be to use some bar/stick and place it behind your head like you would do if you want to do squats. And twist your torso from side at a good pace. The most important thing is to full extend every time.


Another good one would be this:



You could also hit a tire with a sledge hammer sideways like this:



Great workout but it's not the most convenient thing.

There are a bunch more but i think you catch my drift.


Another thing i would suggest if you don't already do it is to shadowbox holding small dumbells in your hands. Nothing big, 1-3 pounds. I think it's a great way to improve speed, it's used by a lot of people, even pro fighters.


2-Well nothing better than getting punched in the face to remind you that you need to keep your hands up.

When hitting the bag i tend to get cute and drop my hands a bit. But in sparring i get reminded pretty fast. When doing bad work the training try to wack me in the head with the pads if i keep my hands low.

Honestly dropping your hands is just a bad habit and as far as i know the only way to beat it is to stay focused on keeping your hands up until it becomes your "new'' habit.

3-Well man, not everybody can pull of long range hooks. It has a lot to do with your speed, if you are fast you'll probably be able to get away with it. But leading with a hook from the outside is dangerous cause you open yourself up.

Personally i'm a southpaw, so i totally understand what you mean. What i try to do when leading with a hook agaisnt an orthodox fighter is that i step to my right, his left.(For you it would be stepping to your left, and his right.) And then throw the the hook. That way i can my fist behind his glove and land on the side of his head.

But even then i don't like throwing lead hooks from range.

Hope it helped a little.

[Langarm]

Thanks bud for the videos, and all the feedback. The first one was hard to explain about the handspeed, even thinking about it now is hard to clarify, but the punches are fast enough, just the interval between them that are a bit slow. if you imagine a 1-2-1-2 combo. I am trying to achieve the rythm to be more of a "bambambambam" instead of "Bam. Bam. Bam. Bam" (If you imagine each fullstop a half second pause due to reaching to my max distance, shoulder brushing chin) just finding it a hurdle that is hard to overcome.


The rest of the answers and those vids are great, thanks a bunch!

[DeepSleep]

I have been fighting since I was a little kid (12 years now), perhaps I can help a little bit with the lead hook against southpaws although it is difficult to teach without being able to demonstrate in person.

1). Practice, Practice, Practice.

2). In my gym when people have a tendency to drop their hands the trainer will stand by them and watch them work the bag, every time you drop your hands you get a good shot to the liver to remind you. After some time your hands stay up no problem whether or not you’re working the bag or sparring.

3). I'm a southpaw and unless you have a distinct speed advantage over your opponent(I'm not very quick so I don't have this luxury unless the guy I'm fighting has molasses in his joints) leading with the hook can be quite difficult to pull off from a distance. Your best bet is to use it to punish jabs, you can loop it over poorly thrown jabs or you can slip to your left and throw the hook to the body(following with a straight right after is a very satisfying combination). One time I do like to throw a hook from a distance is if I can "walk" him into it. Often times since people aren't used to fighting southpaws they robotically move to their left since it is the textbook maneuver to do but fail to realize that you must beware of the lead hook that can come when you shift, if you notice your opponent rhythmically moving away from your power hand you can time a lead hook as he takes his step to the outside and expect to get it off without to many counterpunching issues since most people have trouble punching on the move let alone counterpunching on the move. Remember all of this pertains to fighting southpaws; I’m the wrong guy to ask about Orthodox vs. Orthodox lead hooks.

Hopefully that helps a little bit.

[BOX-A-LOT]

Hello folks,

For quick reference for those that do not like reading a page of introductions and chat, refer to the red text for my questions.

I will start off by introducing myself. My name is Mike and I am 26 years old boxing as a card amateur in the Light heavyweight division (Cruiserweight)currently, at 83kg. I am 6'2 and I prefer outboxing instead of inboxing, and to be on my back foot. I live in England but grew up and spent half my life in South Africa. I box for the City of Hull Amateur Boxing Club.

I have so far had two fights, winning my first by a majority decision on points and losing my second in a second round stoppage.


And that's that. I found this forum and this is my first post so I thought I wold make it a decent one and pose a few questions and come back to it from time to time, since I work and train every day I do not have much time to check the forums. So here are my questions to those more experienced than myself.

How does one achieve good rotation in a one/two combination of lead and backhand, while maintaining good punching speed?

I find this a relatively tough challenge, I can throw fully extended punches in combinations of course, in a good stance (With hips facing away from the oponnent so not to be square on) but they are sharp, stiff and slower than throwing them at speed while standing more square on...Anyone got any tips on how to develop good punch speed while achieving max rotation and power? Any solo-training tips?

Any tips on training to keep your guard up at all times?

Like most amateurs I have a tendency to drop my rear hand at times, and my guard altogether when retreating at pace from a flurry. Any tips on training I can do outside the gym in my own time, apart from the usual shadow boxing in a mirror, to try get out of the habbit?

What is the proper technique to throwing a LONG range hook?

Short range hooks I have down, no problems there. But if someone is standing at range and you want to throw a hook over their lead (I am orthodox, so when facing a showpaw) when they step in, it needs to be long range and thrown after a duck and weave to the outside. I find it hard to land this shot with power, once again, any tips?


--------------

Thank you for any helpful tips and advice given,

Mike

How does one achieve good rotation in a one/two combination of lead and backhand, while maintaining good punching speed?

A: I'm not really understanding your question


Any tips on training to keep your guard up at all times?

A: As you mentioned, this happens when you're backing up from an opponent's flurry. Well, I'd say, get a training partner or have your coach do the pads with you and have him simulate a flurry and take it from there.

What is the proper technique to throwing a LONG range hook?

A: Coaches generally advise not to throw hooks from long range. I sorta agree and disagree. I am a southpaw myself, and I think, for a lunging lead-hook to be successful, your opponent has to cooperate. It's all in the timing with the lead-hook.

An example would be like, if an opponent has a habit of droppin' his lead hand, then that would be your cue make that explosive strike with the hook.

Lets review the lead hook

a) Your opponent has to cooperate(ie droppin' his hands), and you have to time it perfect.

b) You really have to explode on the shot, or else it can be fatal for you.

[Langarm]

Ah, some great answers, thank you so much!

Great that I can talk to some southpaws about it, since the opponent I lost against was a southpaw.

I understand what you mean about punishing someone with a lead hook, and it is something I do pull off against other orthodox fighters (When they drops their guard on their backhand). What I generally look for to land a lead hook on a orthodox fighter from long distance is if they lunge with their jab, and have a habbit of dropping their rear guard as they do it.

In that situation I would step back and rotate at the same time while landing a stiff, long range hook to their exposed rear guard while being just out of range of their jab.

Heh, it sounds alot more complex in explanation than it really is to be honest....Also I would be alot more tempted if they throw a 1-2 and overlean their backhand.


Back to the southpaw talk, I do not have much experience sparring with southpaws....So yeah, it does confuse me...But you guys have given me some pearls of wisdom and good points to think about, thank you so much!

[mrboxer]

Hello folks,

For quick reference for those that do not like reading a page of introductions and chat, refer to the red text for my questions.

I will start off by introducing myself. My name is Mike and I am 26 years old boxing as a card amateur in the Light heavyweight division (Cruiserweight)currently, at 83kg. I am 6'2 and I prefer outboxing instead of inboxing, and to be on my back foot. I live in England but grew up and spent half my life in South Africa. I box for the City of Hull Amateur Boxing Club.

I have so far had two fights, winning my first by a majority decision on points and losing my second in a second round stoppage.


And that's that. I found this forum and this is my first post so I thought I wold make it a decent one and pose a few questions and come back to it from time to time, since I work and train every day I do not have much time to check the forums. So here are my questions to those more experienced than myself.

How does one achieve good rotation in a one/two combination of lead and backhand, while maintaining good punching speed?

I find this a relatively tough challenge, I can throw fully extended punches in combinations of course, in a good stance (With hips facing away from the oponnent so not to be square on) but they are sharp, stiff and slower than throwing them at speed while standing more square on...Anyone got any tips on how to develop good punch speed while achieving max rotation and power? Any solo-training tips?

Any tips on training to keep your guard up at all times?

Like most amateurs I have a tendency to drop my rear hand at times, and my guard altogether when retreating at pace from a flurry. Any tips on training I can do outside the gym in my own time, apart from the usual shadow boxing in a mirror, to try get out of the habbit?

What is the proper technique to throwing a LONG range hook?

Short range hooks I have down, no problems there. But if someone is standing at range and you want to throw a hook over their lead (I am orthodox, so when facing a showpaw) when they step in, it needs to be long range and thrown after a duck and weave to the outside. I find it hard to land this shot with power, once again, any tips?


--------------

Thank you for any helpful tips and advice given,

Mike

you ask a lot of questions for your first time[i like that in a newbie someone who wants to learn],what is it you want to know,if you have short range hooks down,and you can switch to long range,then what problem are you displaying,on that type of punch after the long range switch the power will be declined a bit because of the switch factor if you switch the power does not remain the same

[Langarm]

Sorry for long delay before replying, been working all week and was supporting our one of our boxers at the Novice ABA Finals this weekend (he won btw ^-^, new Yorkshire bantam weight champion).


Anyway, to come back to the long distance hook question.

With a close range hook I get my power from rotating my torso and it's a "stiff arm" hook. The palm of my hand faces downwards, I find this the most comfortable.

With a long range hook, I find it very hard not to overrotate and go off-balance. Which in turn takes alot of the power out of the shot and leaves me vulnerable to a counter.

So if you have any tips on throwing those long range hooks, on rotation, balance or anything...Any tips would be appreciated, new and old. So I can drill it in the gym when I shadowbox!