weight on back foot vs shifting weight for right cross

Hey guys I know this has been probably brought up before, but I'm going to be asking a question and maybe give some insight at the same time. First off I'm not a boxer, I tried it for a while but things got complicated and I had to stop. I do punch the heavy bag though for a good workout.

Anyway I always thought in order for a punch to hit hard there needed to be a big shift of weight. But I've been experimenting a little and I've found that keeping the weight on the back foot produces just as much, if not more power.

So a little experiment I tried. Stand in front of a wall in your boxing stance. Then put your right fist against the wall as if you just threw a right cross at it. Now drive into the wall by pushing off your back foot and you will notice how your weight naturally shifts onto your left foot somewhat. It should feel like a very solid connection and powerful. From analyzing a lot of videos I see boxers that tend to plant that left foot and shift their weight onto it. But what happens is you naturally lean forward and even closer to the opponent than necessary.

Now do the same thing again except this time keep the heel of the left foot off the ground slightly and the majority of your weight on the back foot. Don't shift that weight onto the left foot. Twist as far as you can and notice how you naturally drive off the ball of your right foot. Notice how solid the connection feels.

So anyway I always thought that in order for a punch to be really hard you needed to shift the weight into the punch. It seems counterintuitive to keep the weight on the back foot and the natural instinct is to shift the weight, but it seems to work a lot better, for me at least.

I'm wondering what you guys think. Is it a natural instinct for humans to want to shift weight and is it actually better to go against that instinct? Just some things to ponder, I'm always looking for the best way to do things.

Well observed ;D

Youve got the idea, very interesting post, i like that you figured out the little wall trick there. as humans we are top heavy, our head tips us over, any movement we do is prone to have us more on one leg than the other, the main problem seems to be posture, but obviously there are lots of things involved, as fighters we learn to do everything we can to stay balanced, when moving and striking, etc. knowing this tendancie makes it easier to understand good technique, and to know what it is when you hear it. therefore apply it to your own movements and set ups, etc.

Upper body wise i think its about good bone alignment and knowing which muscles to throw the shot/support the shot with, but also like you noticed with the feet and legs, balance, too far onto the front foot (leaning) puts your stance in such a position which hinders the amount of drive you can get from the back leg, also from the front, so it will slow down movements and weaken shots. its because your back knee isnt nicely under your pelvis its slightly behind it, which isnt good for power in a shot or for any movement that may come afterwards in terms of speed and control. what causes this is being too much on the front so your front knee will also be too close to being near directly under the pelvis in a position which is hard to drive off from because of the lack of power in the quads, your hamstrings on the rear leg are strong and can drive you no problem. however the quads on the front leg need some assistance via positioning for leverage (bending knees, favouring the back leg) to help get the job done as well as the hamstring can do it for the other directions.

leaning also means your rotating your body and lunging it forwards at the same time, which is wild, loses you mobility and choice of direction for a good variety of differing manouvers you may use to stay elusive (makes you predictable, timeable), its a shot asking to be countered, and generally not a good idea for injuries, or against a boxer with solid straights. i cant think of a reason why leaning is good? only time its good is if your feet have been caught off guard and it saves you from recieving a fight ending shot, but youve gotta fight without leaning as much as possible to be able to apply leaning every so often without getting caught out, to keep the other guy as honest as you can.

Keeping the weight back and driving the right hand that way is basically a really good shove. Transferring the weight and turning over it, whipping the shoulder and fist through, etc..lends itself towards a more concussive impact.

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Originally Posted by greynotsoold

Keeping the weight back and driving the right hand that way is basically a really good shove. Transferring the weight and turning over it, whipping the shoulder and fist through, etc..lends itself towards a more concussive impact.

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Did you try the experiment with the wall? If somebody can shift their weight into the punch and get away with it I say go ahead. But in my opinion it is much safer to focus on rotation, instead of shifting. You are more balanced and the power generated is sufficient.

Try punching the heavy bag like this. Keep the weight on the back foot and keep the left heel off the ground. Throw the right cross by imagining someone has rope tied to your left shoulder and is yanking it back really hard. Keep your right arm completely relaxed and allow your entire body to rotate and shoot that punch straight out at the bag. No shifting weight, just allow your body to rotate around like a top. Your arm will automatically shoot out because of the momentum of your entire body rotating very fast and convulsively.

I'm not certain but having my weight on the back foot when I contact the bag is almost like the bag is getting contact with the ground. It feels solid and all that power generated is not pushed back into my body, instead it is absorbed into the bag.


And WayneFlint, thanks a lot for the thorough response. It really gave me a lot of insight into the mechanics of a punch and tips. I agree that bone alignment is very important and I have found that shifting weight into the punch takes away that alignment, as opposed to keeping the weight on the back foot which generates a very solid connection from the ground to your fist.

First, sorry for my bad english.

I like to STEP with the jab, then throw the straight right (without stepping) and have the weight on the back foot.
But a lot of times when you step with the jab, the opponent will move back and you won't be IN RANGE to land the straight right, SO you will STEP with that left foot diagonally forward to the left. That way you are shifting weight (cuz you are moving) and i see no BAD things about it, its a powerful shot that lands, and that diagonal step keeps you away from any counter punch.
The second variation is used most of the time by boxers in the past and today. Each one works in different situations. It's not just about punching power, because both ways the shot will be powerful. It's about landing the shot and giving the opponent as little places to counter as you can.

So while you are stepping diagonally are you still keeping your weight on the back foot? Or are you shifting it to the front? Shifting weight through stepping is not a problem, but when that weight goes over the front foot I would think that it would impair mobility just a little bit. Then again it's all about whatever works for the boxer.

Very keen observations. There are so many advantages of keeping the weight on your back foot. And it's funny you mentioned keeping the left heel up. Scrap refers to this as your "biomechanical brake" I believe. It keeps you from shifting your weight and frees up you hips to rotate throughout the punch.

Maybe I'm missing something...If I throw my right hand with my weight on my right foot, and my left heel off the floor whirl my shoulders to the left, in order not to tip over or something similar, wouldn't I have to, at least briefly, put my weight onto my left foot, since my shoulders are turning to my left, and wouldn't I have to pivot my right foot inward to turn my hips in the same direction as my upper body?
It sounds to me like you are talking about building the punch from the top down, instead of from the bottom up. That may be me not following...

Man, I'm sorry...i was mis-reading. Pardon me. This has been bothering me all morning and I went back and re-read the original post...sorry

No worries. This stuff is kind of hard to describe in words anyway. Now re-reading my first post I'm wondering if you thought I meant keep the left foot off the ground lol? I could see why that would be very confusing.

I am talking about building a punch from the top down though as you have said. The problem with twisting the foot as it is commonly taught is sometimes it turns into a very slow sequence or arm punching because not enough of the torso is rotated. Similarly, driving off that foot tends to push the momentum forward and cuts off that full rotation of the torso. By twisting at the shoulders instead, the punch is sent out a lot faster.

The shoulders are very important in generating the power, when you can swing your shoulders and let the relaxed arm shoot out like a chain with a wrecking ball attached to it you will feel it. After impact with the heavy bag if the weight is on the back foot you will feel the stopping power as a driving force up the right leg.

Joe Louis is a good example. He rotated fully with almost every punch. Obviously you won't punch as hard as Joe Louis lol, but you will generate a lot of power. A lot of it is about relaxation. When you drive off that back foot you tend to tighten up your legs, but your punch usually hasn't even launched yet and already the hips are restricted.

What dictates movement is where the Head is,everything in proportion works of it.

This has some really good information here.

My question is throwing the straight right like he is advocating (rotation vs shifting), how would you follow with a left hook? Traditionally we are taught you twist with the hook and weight goes from the lead leg and returns to the rear.