Modern Day Mitt Masters

[U_TALKING_2_ME?]

I just had a convo with Joe Goosen the other day (known him since i was 10 because my dad and his friend used to manage fighters, well my dad was just the financial backer) anyway we were talking about the trainers of today and the old-school trainers and he said that the only thing you need today to be a trainer is a pair of focus mitts and some flashy dance routine to play high powered pattycake with a fighter, and how these fighters today are brainwashed thinking that that these guys really know how to train a fighter. he said that these "modern day mitt masters" as he calls them would not know a fish hook from a left hook because they never apprenticed under someone who also apprenticed under someone thus there is no real chain of know-how and just like the old saying "If you cant knock-em out with knowledge baffle-em with bull****". and really when i think about it he is right because i see some of these guys in every gym i go to now. what are your thoughts? have you seen these guys too?

[TheAuthority]

I just had a convo with Joe Goosen the other day (known him since i was 10 because my dad and his friend used to manage fighters, well my dad was just the financial backer) anyway we were talking about the trainers of today and the old-school trainers and he said that the only thing you need today to be a trainer is a pair of focus mitts and some flashy dance routine to play high powered pattycake with a fighter, and how these fighters today are brainwashed thinking that that these guys really know how to train a fighter. he said that these "modern day mitt masters" as he calls them would not know a fish hook from a left hook because they never apprenticed under someone who also apprenticed under someone thus there is no real chain of know-how and just like the old saying "If you cant knock-em out with knowledge baffle-em with bull****". and really when i think about it he is right because i see some of these guys in every gym i go to now. what are your thoughts? have you seen these guys too?

I like the term "Mitt Master" - Youtube is full of them.

Way too much emphasis is placed on looking good to the detriment of actually being good - Style over substance !!!

I really dislike this "Mayweather Style Mittwork". You can watch a 3 minute round and not see one punch thrown with correct technique and power.

[..WaRSpencE..]

Yes...

I've seen the guy that uses the body suit in Mayweathers camp at the Silver Gloves here in Chicago, and he does mitts just like Roger, flashy, fast, and it catches the eyes of many...everyone looked on to see how "cool" it looked and of course they were showing off..I don't even think his boys won..but that's beyond the point..

When I train my son, we work on actual combinations..I use mitt work to simulate sparring, I move back, forward, give him angles and throw occasional shots so he can practice his slipping, and head movement..

[MTN]

A lot of the Mayweather style mitt work isn't meant to be used as a way to throw proper technical punches. Its a reaction drill that helps build timing, speed and reflexes which Floyd has the best of. Does Floyd throw punches in a fight the way he does his mittwork? Of course not.

People who see others do that Mayweather style mitt work always comment on how that's not the proper way to throw a punch and in essence its not. It wasn't built for that. People need to learn the real reason why that style of mitt was meant to do.

Its funny cause I do that style of mitt work with my coach and had the opportunity to work with various different coaches and everyone has there own style to it. Generally, people just like to hate when they see that type of mitt work but would they hate or discredit when Floyd does it? Of course not... They pick and choose who they can trash on.

[Pony Boy]

I agree with Mr. Goossen, a lot of guys don't know the basic fundamentals of boxing. They just want to throw a million punches and look good doing it. I also agree with MTN, the mitt work routine used by Roger Mayweather is a reaction drill used for coordination, timing, speed, reflexes, improve peripheral vision and muscle memory. I rather see a guy master the jab before he moves to the right cross and so forth. Everyone wants to be a trainer but a lot of guys don't know how to get their guys in shape, make weight or fight strategy, and some of this guys are so called pros.

[Verstyle]

I like the trainers not to push the mitts hard so it seems as if I'm hitting it hard. I like it semi-powerful so I can do more of the work; not the trainers. You do that and you'll notice yourself getting more tired because you're doing more energy. These trainers that swing the mitts hard so the fighter sounds like he's doing it hard, is ridiculous.

[Ray Corso]

Flash mitts come from the amatuer boxing trainers and was used as their mirror to check on techniques then. The pro style is what was shown in the "Raging Bull" movie and how Freddy employes mitts and chest protection. The way Mayweather utilizes them is strictly a finishing method to "feel good" nothing else. You can take the early "shoe shine" crap and look like a fool doing it but thats the extent of what its for now a days.
I used them on my amatuer team to teach correct techniques on offense and more so defensive but never to the extreme speed drill garbage that some trainers employ. I want clean snap from my kids and speed but the mitts were to check on them not a building tool like the bags are. Its like some guys are auditioning as a team on "Mitts for Show Offs" the new tv show for trainers who cheerish the limelight as much as the fighters do.
BUT if it gives a positive sumation in the gym then do it because a fighter preparing to fight needs all the positives he can have. Ray.

[U_TALKING_2_ME?]

I dont think he was talking so much about the style of the mitt work as much as he was talking about how the "mitt masters" have no true know-how and the mitts are the only thing they have to offer a fighter. me personally i enjoy all types of work but i prefer the old style that makes ME have to generate the snap for the positive feedback pop from the mitts.

[Cuauhtémoc1520]

I agree 100%. When I was trained as a boxer, I never did mitts period. I trained in the old school ways in Mexico and never even focused on mitts or any of those flashy moves.

Not saying mitts aren't an important tool, they are if you use them right and use them to TEACH boxing.

I have been training now for a little over 10 years and I learned and apprenticed under real trainers. So much of boxing is in teaching the fundamentals and basic footwork and body positioning that is lost in today's trainers IMO.

Not saying I know everything like some here (won't name names) because I think it's important to stay humble and still learn every day about the art of boxing but I have run into trainers with their own gyms that honestly have no business teaching kids anything.

Even boxers tend to think they are trainers and just because you have boxed doesn't mean you are qualified to be a trainer.

[New England]

I like the term "Mitt Master" - Youtube is full of them.

Way too much emphasis is placed on looking good to the detriment of actually being good - Style over substance !!!

I really dislike this "Mayweather Style Mittwork". You can watch a 3 minute round and not see one punch thrown with correct technique and power.

you see his technique and power in the fights


the mitts arent improving floyd's technique at this stage. they are getting him sharp


roger mayweather's method of working mitts is tremendously effective at getting floyd ready for a fight and sharpening him. i've always thought of the trainign and methodology in boxing as result based. if it works it works, and it clearly works for floyd's specific purposes (sharpening the planet's greatest boxer and getting him ready for a fight after what's often a long layoff.)


if you watch a full mayweather training session the mitt work is a tiny part of it. it's just the flashiest part that looks the best that they'll put into a 24/7 over and over again



i do agree, some of these guys in the gym "working mitts" look like total clowns and clearly have no idea how to train a boxer.