Natural left handed but feel awkward in a southpaw stance!!

[Abra]

hey guys!

Iam a Left handed .. started boxing 6 month ago .. training in muay thai gym "the only martial arts gym in town"

since i joined they just teach you the orthodox stance regardless of your dominant hand ...

after the first month I read a lot about the dominant hand and the stance so I

changed to southpaw it was awkward plus the coaches getting confused with me

and telling me to switch back to orthodox .. so I did at-least I thought I could have powerful jab and good left hook


then after all this month of training:

- I feel comfortable in orthodox with good footwork because my left leg in front!

- surpassingly I have good over-right hand and lousy left hook! but with good jab!

and now I found a new trainer who insist that I must switch back to southpaw

because this is my natural stance and plus Iam giving up the so called "southpaw advantage"

Iam now training as southpaw "since two weeks" but if feels awkward specially

footwork and combination and and all I got used to orthodox too much!!



* should I stick with orthodox if I'am comfortable with it so far and build over what i learned so far?

* or go with southpaw and be patient with this feeling of awkwardness ?

[Rockin']

hey guys!

Iam a Left handed .. started boxing 6 month ago .. training in muay thai gym "the only martial arts gym in town"

since i joined they just teach you the orthodox stance regardless of your dominant hand ...

after the first month I read a lot about the dominant hand and the stance so I

changed to southpaw it was awkward plus the coaches getting confused with me

and telling me to switch back to orthodox .. so I did at-least I thought I could have powerful jab and good left hook


then after all this month of training:

- I feel comfortable in orthodox with good footwork because my left leg in front!

- surpassingly I have good over-right hand and lousy left hook! but with good jab!

and now I found a new trainer who insist that I must switch back to southpaw

because this is my natural stance and plus Iam giving up the so called "southpaw advantage"

Iam now training as southpaw "since two weeks" but if feels awkward specially

footwork and combination and and all I got used to orthodox too much!!



* should I stick with orthodox if I'am comfortable with it so far and build over what i learned so far?

* or go with southpaw and be patient with this feeling of awkwardness ?

when you pee in a public restroom do you ask the guy in the urinal next to you how you should stand or which hand you should use?

just do it and get it done. it's your face that will be getting punched in, not mine. you do exactly what you gotta do......... Rockin'

[BG_Knocc_Out]

I personally think you should go southpaw. Or hell, since you've dabbled in both, switch-hit.

My main concern is that you're 6 months in and you haven't felt entirely comfortable in either stance.

The nice thing about forcing yourself to go southy is that you will garner the ability to become more coordinated, active, and confident in the hand you're less-dominant with. Obviously the hand closest to the opponent will gets used more (duh).


But, the thing with boxing is that it is a very unnatural act. It's not encoded in our DNA in the way organic combatives like grappling, wrestling, ju-jitsu are. Bears, dogs, and all types of animals, have the instinctive ability to wrestle around, including us. But, we don't have the natural ability to punch. It was, purely, an invention. Everything about boxing, when you learn something new, likely feels unnatural.. especially during those beginning processes.

Just try not to shy away from something because it feels funny in boxing. It will stunt your growth. Force yourself to practice the things you generally feel uncomfortable with. Put it this way, you're learning how to learn!

[Bozbay]

hey guys!

Iam a Left handed .. started boxing 6 month ago .. training in muay thai gym "the only martial arts gym in town"

since i joined they just teach you the orthodox stance regardless of your dominant hand ...

after the first month I read a lot about the dominant hand and the stance so I

changed to southpaw it was awkward plus the coaches getting confused with me

and telling me to switch back to orthodox .. so I did at-least I thought I could have powerful jab and good left hook


then after all this month of training:

- I feel comfortable in orthodox with good footwork because my left leg in front!

- surpassingly I have good over-right hand and lousy left hook! but with good jab!

and now I found a new trainer who insist that I must switch back to southpaw

because this is my natural stance and plus Iam giving up the so called "southpaw advantage"

Iam now training as southpaw "since two weeks" but if feels awkward specially

footwork and combination and and all I got used to orthodox too much!!



* should I stick with orthodox if I'am comfortable with it so far and build over what i learned so far?

* or go with southpaw and be patient with this feeling of awkwardness ?

Muscle memory is the key here. You're still relatively new to boxing and your muscles haven't fully adapted to the technique of punching, pivoting and so on. No matter which stance you choose now, you will only feel completely comfortable once you have have dedicated numerous hours to it and it's techniques.

I guess what I am saying is, right now, you are not restricted to one stance. If you had been boxing for 3 years then suddenly wanted to fight as a southpaw, you'd struggle.

So my answer to your question would be this: Don't judge what stance you would like to fight with based on how comfortable you are now, because you are not fully comfortable in either yet. Think about what stance would suit you and your style best in the future as well, what type of fighter do you want to be when you have dedicated a few years to the sport? You have a choice right now, experiment then dedicate yourself to that stance.

[Zaroku]

hey guys!

Iam a Left handed .. started boxing 6 month ago .. training in muay thai gym "the only martial arts gym in town"

since i joined they just teach you the orthodox stance regardless of your dominant hand ...

after the first month I read a lot about the dominant hand and the stance so I

changed to southpaw it was awkward plus the coaches getting confused with me

and telling me to switch back to orthodox .. so I did at-least I thought I could have powerful jab and good left hook


then after all this month of training:

- I feel comfortable in orthodox with good footwork because my left leg in front!

- surpassingly I have good over-right hand and lousy left hook! but with good jab!

and now I found a new trainer who insist that I must switch back to southpaw

because this is my natural stance and plus Iam giving up the so called "southpaw advantage"

Iam now training as southpaw "since two weeks" but if feels awkward specially

footwork and combination and and all I got used to orthodox too much!!



* should I stick with orthodox if I'am comfortable with it so far and build over what i learned so far?

* or go with southpaw and be patient with this feeling of awkwardness ?

The next de la Hoya!

[Ringo]

This is actually not that uncommon.

I'm a righty, but I box southpaw. The reason is that my left jab (read: the punch I will throw the most) moves somewhere between the speed of a glacier and species extinction. It's bad. But, if I switch and fight southpaw, all of my punches are substantially faster. It has to do with coordination dominance and the types of muscle fibers built into your dominant and nondominant sides.

That said; when it comes to engaging in a sport where you will get punched in the face (and in due course, you're expect to punch someone in the face), the best bet is to settle into whatever stance you feel most effective in, and learn that. Getting over 'awkwardness' is done through repetition.

[Rockin']

bronco mccart was right dominate but fought south paw. one mean ass left hook on that man.

[juggernaut666]

hey guys!

Iam a Left handed .. started boxing 6 month ago .. training in muay thai gym "the only martial arts gym in town"

since i joined they just teach you the orthodox stance regardless of your dominant hand ...

after the first month I read a lot about the dominant hand and the stance so I

changed to southpaw it was awkward plus the coaches getting confused with me

and telling me to switch back to orthodox .. so I did at-least I thought I could have powerful jab and good left hook


then after all this month of training:

- I feel comfortable in orthodox with good footwork because my left leg in front!

- surpassingly I have good over-right hand and lousy left hook! but with good jab!

and now I found a new trainer who insist that I must switch back to southpaw

because this is my natural stance and plus Iam giving up the so called "southpaw advantage"

Iam now training as southpaw "since two weeks" but if feels awkward specially

footwork and combination and and all I got used to orthodox too much!!



* should I stick with orthodox if I'am comfortable with it so far and build over what i learned so far?

* or go with southpaw and be patient with this feeling of awkwardness ?

Its not about being comfortable its about adapting...ive started boxing southpaw a year ago and love it as I can switch it up now and throw better signature punches based where my opponent will be or give me...in southpaw stance my left hook is stronger than right and my punches from the south stance are straighter for some reason when I shoot them in...,when I want to land my good night shots I will revert back and dig in with my naturally more powerful right,my regret in boxing training is not learning the south paw stance 20 years ago..all the advanced fighters ill know or should know all angles to fight,this is also what made Tyson so unpredictable at his peajk he attacked from both stances...learn BOTH do not limit one skill set for two reasons to confuse opponent and if need to have a plan b and c.


yes it is awkward but a extra light bag workout after training or before for an hour on just concentrating on the stance wont hurt...start off with just throwing a alead right for a month then incorporate the left and so forth. You don't have to fight automatically in sparring with the south stance give it 3 months on a training HB basis so you wont feel like a fish out of water and get confused and frustrated in actual sparring. if anything getting to know the southpaw style will help you fighting one when you know how to actually do it and what to expect.