Thread: stance?

I have noticed some people advocate a narrow stance by this i mean a straight line can be drawn from the big toe of the front foot toe to the heel of the back foot,This stance presents a small target to youre opponent and gives you a nice long jab.

On the other hand some people prefer to have a slightly wider stance than this for example freddie roach likes his fighters to have a slightly wider base so as to have better lateral movment/stability and he says that if you are too narrow then it is easier for youre opponent to control you.

I guess at the end of the day it's a stylistic thing and each has their pros and cons.

My question is do you think it's a good idea to practice both ways or is it best to adopt the one youre comfortable with and stick to it?

I am interested to read the answers that the experienced coaches will offer.

It's hard to argue with Freddy Roach - he has more world champion than any other living coach (and only HIS coach Eddie Futch has had more).

I tend to think the natural (wider) stance is better for my own reasons as well. It's natural and doesn't offer as many possibilities for screwing up your balance.

As you say it IS closely related to your fighting style.

Generally I think it a poor idea to "pick a style" before you know all the basics, so this would argue against picking a stance as well.

BUT YOU MUST stand up while learning everything else in boxing so picking a stance is also a necessity.

My opinion (or guess) is that using the natural width stance is best in the beginning and then later experimenting with a narrow stance if that fits your direction of development makes some sense.

BUT I AM certainly no expert on this subject so let's hear what the smart guys say...
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Herb

I think that the stance is dictated from the primery power punch you choose to use. If you want to use powerful right hand, you must be as back as possible and with sholders turned less as possible to give you the maximum weight transfer. And if you want to use the left hook you must be squared to be able to slip to the left in order to land it.

From oder hand the stance dictates the deffencive techniques that you are going to use. If you are squared you can forget the sholder roll and if you are sideways you want be able to use the slip to the left.

I think that the problem(who am i to judge, but anyways) of alot of boxers is that they do not transit from the one stance into the oder and they are stuck with one punch. For example Joe Frazier and Gerry Cooney are staying all the time squared and they used only the left hook and in the oder hand are the guys like Sonny Liston. Dont get me wrong here. He has murderous left hook, but he landed it in combos not like leading punch. In order to be complete boxer one must be able to transit from the one into the oder stance. An example for this was young Mike Tyson. Throughout his carrier he stayed with the square stance, but when he wanted to land the right he transited into the position like some one throwing the right from narrow stance.

At the end it for me its about the defence. I have the telling; you can throw as much punches as you wish, but what counts at the end is how many punches have you eaten... So i choosed for me the narrow stance.

The feet should be where the Head and Neck are comfortable. Which is wide.

Tbh i always thought of the narrow feet in line stance as more an old school style but i could be wrong,would it be fair to say that most fighters thses days are a little wider than this,When i say wide though i don't mean standing square like mike tyson or something perhaps just 4 inches wider than inline.

I normally start of with my feet about hip width apart/natural walking gait or to be precise about 4 inches wider than the front toe back heel inline stance and sometimes i will get narrower if say i'm at long range or backing up with the jab or another one is when jabbing and pivoting to the left.But i will always take a little step over with the left foot to throw the right hand,I can throw the right from the narrow stance but i dosen't feel as comfortable and it has longer distance to travel.Also as i get closer to my oppenent i want to have a more stable base.I wasn't sure whether me alowing myself to get narrow was a mistake and something i should be correcting but having watched a lot of fighters they aslo seem to get wider or narrower as the situation dictates.Which makes sense to me ie: When on the outside be long and make yourself a small target and as you get closer get gradually wider as you begin to let more punches go.

What i found interesting was from reading the book by Edwin L. Haislet he says the when youre front toe and back heel are inline this position may be too narrow therfore to make a wider base move the right foot 3 or 4 inches to the right,Although having said that a lot of other boxing books i have read the classic boxing stance is described as having the front toe and the back heel inline and maintanin this stance at all times and this is what always confuses me

This is just an idea so try it but don't believe it (unless it works):

Stand with feet exactly under your hips naturally, feet pointed perpendicular to hips but with entire body and feet at 30-45 degrees to the right (power side) of the (imaginary) opponent.

Then pivot your front foot on the heel so the foots point towards opponent; your back foot stays almost stationary (it's going to stay at 30-45 degrees, right?)

(e.g., start facing the corner and turn towards the wall)

Adjust to become comfortable but without moving your feet very far.

You feet should be very close to the perfect distance (for you) while not being full on the target.

Also: Whenever I am messing with my stance explicitly and find that being self-conscious makes it difficult to get my "feet hip width apart" (Things just feel different when you are consciously doing something you normally do unconsciously) I make a SMALL JUMP straight up and land as SMOOTHLY as possible.

Your body will (unconsciously again) get your feet to the right place for balance and stability while landing quietly.

...Unless you are a total klutz or very drunk.