Thread: Old tricks for footwork/balance

I have been in the boxing game a short whie and i took to the balance quiet well with a background in sport, specifically skateboarding, snowboarding and surfing.

Hats off to boxers thou, its not as easy as it looks at all.

What im finding is im in that place in my head where alot of the time my footwork is subconcience, but now and again im finding my balance off or not in a punching position, feet either too close or square on or side on too much.

my trainer always says imagine there is a block of wood between my feet, but i want to be able to move around without thinking

Originally Posted by manchestermatt1986

I have been in the boxing game a short whie and i took to the balance quiet well with a background in sport, specifically skateboarding, snowboarding and surfing.

Hats off to boxers thou, its not as easy as it looks at all.

What im finding is im in that place in my head where alot of the time my footwork is subconcience, but now and again im finding my balance off or not in a punching position, feet either too close or square on or side on too much.

my trainer always says imagine there is a block of wood between my feet, but i want to be able to move around without thinking

the only thing comes in my mind is to spin, so you get a bit dizzy, and then practice the moves, so your balance and coordination center got trained under pressure so to speak

Originally Posted by manchestermatt1986

I have been in the boxing game a short whie and i took to the balance quiet well with a background in sport, specifically skateboarding, snowboarding and surfing.

Hats off to boxers thou, its not as easy as it looks at all.

What im finding is im in that place in my head where alot of the time my footwork is subconcience, but now and again im finding my balance off or not in a punching position, feet either too close or square on or side on too much.

my trainer always says imagine there is a block of wood between my feet, but i want to be able to move around without thinking

It would be very rare for somebody to get their feet too close together, consistently. Getting them too far apart is, today, considered normal.
It just takes time and practice, to do it without thinking. You have to think about quite a lot, at first, and pay attention to your feet all the time. One thing to keep in mind: Your stance, the position you start from, is (or should be) the place at which your balance is best, you can move as fast and as powerfully as you are able. That is the position you want to maintain, or, if you have to shift, the position you want to return to as quickly as is possible.
So any movement you make with your feet should be done in such a way as to keep you as close as can be to your ideal.

you see all these videos on youtube with crosses on the floor etc and using things like cones etc. but does it all work? everything works i know but what works the best, sparring?

In order to do anything without thinking about it you will have practice the technique while thinking about it until it becomes instinct.

Footwork drills will help. Before you spar and even in between rounds of sparring visualize yourself doing things right technique wise and remember how it feels to do these things right when you are just doing drills.

First off you have shadow boxing to practice proper technique and then while doing any bag work.

Also, I know I always recommend people to YouTube but its a good place to look up boxing footwork drills. It will be much easier for both of us for you to just go there to look it up and you will likely understand it better.

Some ideas,

Hi manchestermatt1986,
Re: "old tricks" for footwork and balance, shadow box with your eyes closed. At first, consciously stay within yourself and kinesthetically "feel" your balance and footwork. Once you've got "it" (and you'll know this through "feel" and when you no longer have to think about any details - i.e. everything just "flows"), transition to shadow boxing with your eyes closed against an imaginary opponent. Make it as real as possible in your mind's eye. Lastly, be sure you do both these exercises in a clear and relatively spacious area.

Take Care,
Lito

Originally Posted by StrictlySP

Hi manchestermatt1986,
Re: "old tricks" for footwork and balance, shadow box with your eyes closed. At first, consciously stay within yourself and kinesthetically "feel" your balance and footwork. Once you've got "it" (and you'll know this through "feel" and when you no longer have to think about any details - i.e. everything just "flows"), transition to shadow boxing with your eyes closed against an imaginary opponent. Make it as real as possible in your mind's eye. Lastly, be sure you do both these exercises in a clear and relatively spacious area.

Take Care,
Lito

Thankyou, ill do this tomorrow as soon as i finish work at 2.30pm. I have squash courts here so i will get in there and give it a whirl.

whats a good method to train keeping your rear front slightly out and away from the body to keep the proper stance, i find when i circle clockwise (backwards) or start moving in and out i end up side on rather than square on

Originally Posted by manchestermatt1986

whats a good method to train keeping your rear front slightly out and away from the body to keep the proper stance, i find when i circle clockwise (backwards) or start moving in and out i end up side on rather than square on

Not sure what you mean but if you mean your not square on with your opponent that is a good thing. If your side on you have used your footwork to create an angle to land a punch. Once again hard to explain without showing you.

Yes the footwork drills you find on YouTube are good. Start out simple tho. Forward, backward and side to side. Put a cross on the floor with tape, put your front foot in the middle and work your rear foot around the other ends of the tape (4 ends).

I think shadow boxing is under estimated. Shadow box with no punches, just footwork. Also light sparring.

Originally Posted by cambay411

Originally Posted by manchestermatt1986

whats a good method to train keeping your rear front slightly out and away from the body to keep the proper stance, i find when i circle clockwise (backwards) or start moving in and out i end up side on rather than square on

Not sure what you mean but if you mean your not square on with your opponent that is a good thing. If your side on you have used your footwork to create an angle to land a punch. Once again hard to explain without showing you.

Yes the footwork drills you find on YouTube are good. Start out simple tho. Forward, backward and side to side. Put a cross on the floor with tape, put your front foot in the middle and work your rear foot around the other ends of the tape (4 ends).

I think shadow boxing is under estimated. Shadow box with no punches, just footwork. Also light sparring.

Thank you for the reply. Ill do the tape in the squash courts at the gym tomorrow. there are squash court lines on the floor and i follow them in my stance so moving round the box's, up and down the lines, pivoting on corners etc is this a good thing to be doing

when i say i end up side on, if you imagine looking down birds eye view to two orthodox stances, when i circle or move out and back in i find im nearly all side on, my right cross would be seen a mile away and id have to lose balance to land it or move my foot to throw and it would be seen anyway. I keep trying to keep my rear foot out in front of me but find im literally sideways

Balance, footwork and movement all good topics

Originally Posted by manchestermatt1986

Originally Posted by cambay411

Originally Posted by manchestermatt1986

whats a good method to train keeping your rear front slightly out and away from the body to keep the proper stance, i find when i circle clockwise (backwards) or start moving in and out i end up side on rather than square on

Not sure what you mean but if you mean your not square on with your opponent that is a good thing. If your side on you have used your footwork to create an angle to land a punch. Once again hard to explain without showing you.

Yes the footwork drills you find on YouTube are good. Start out simple tho. Forward, backward and side to side. Put a cross on the floor with tape, put your front foot in the middle and work your rear foot around the other ends of the tape (4 ends).

I think shadow boxing is under estimated. Shadow box with no punches, just footwork. Also light sparring.

Thank you for the reply. Ill do the tape in the squash courts at the gym tomorrow. there are squash court lines on the floor and i follow them in my stance so moving round the box's, up and down the lines, pivoting on corners etc is this a good thing to be doing

when i say i end up side on, if you imagine looking down birds eye view to two orthodox stances, when i circle or move out and back in i find im nearly all side on, my right cross would be seen a mile away and id have to lose balance to land it or move my foot to throw and it would be seen anyway. I keep trying to keep my rear foot out in front of me but find im literally sideways

Yes those are exercises you should always keep up on.

Also, set up some cones in a square formation and then one more cone in the middle (5 cones in all and it doesnt have to be cones as I use pop cans at home). Work your footwork all around them. Go around them and over them in between your legs. Do rounds with just footwork and rounds shadow boxing.

I cant be 100% exactly sure what you mean about your issue without actually seeing it. But it sounds like your having trouble staying on your opponents center line and keeping your opponent in your center line. When I say center line I mean in position to land a punch basically.

I recommend looking it up on yahoo or google so you can see pics and read more into it. Its hard to find info on tho so you will have to dig a little.

Anyway, a drill you can use to work on this...... Grab a partner square up on each other and dance. One takes the lead the other follows. No air punches or anything, just footwork. Work on staying on each others line.