In the pocket..distance..footwork..a tango of death..

whats up dudes. Just reporting in. Had my first spar against some other trainers kid. It was great. I gassed mighty fast and i failed at infighting. But i did land some jab jab left straights that got some honorable mentions. Other than that, i was dominated. Which leads me to my question, which is, How do i gauge my distance on the inside in the pocket. I noticed that when i get close enough to throw some hooks to the body, my punches are smothered in mid flight. Glancing harmlessly off of my opponents guard. Any one have some good advice or drills i can do to improve this?

I know on the heavy bag you are supposed to keep your distance to get your punch fully extended. But i dont know how close to stand when throwing hooks to the body, Is 'forehead on the bag' close an effective range to throw punches? Or should they be thrown from around jabbing distance. A guy at the gym told me "If your jab hand can touch them, your cross can land." Does this same theory apply for body punches? Someone help me out.. this whole distance ordeal is killin me.

Someone school me on some inside the pocket fundamentals. thanks in advance!

Well u gotta find a distance comfortable for ur own style. Have u got a trainer/sparring partner to wear a body bag yet. Started using this about a year ago and not only is it an excellent tool for bodypunching technique, but for fitnees and conditioning it is un rivalled in my estimation.

This is something I've found to work well when teaching this- by that I mean, how to get close and punch effectively from that distance.
When in the ring and working the mitts, I work real close to my body. Every move is brought in close, so that the boxer gets an understanding of the footwork necessary to get in range- in fact, what 'in range' means in practical terms- and how to punch with leverage once there. And, of course, how to get out.
In my opinion and experience, you have to make these sessions as close to a 'fight' as you can get them, with movement and defensive moves worked in, and no tap-tap punches allowed. You have to work sharp to be sharp; talk to the fighter as you work, use the time between rounds wisely, and watch his feet.

Hey Southpawed

One of the biggest problems I see with boxers when they are infighting is that the shots that they use are at the wrong range. For example, a boxer will use the mid-range left hook rather than the short range left hook. It's a big difference as the mid-range shot when used 'head to head' will often fly behind the head of the opponent and simply bring that head closer to you, often banging into your face. Short range shots are as much about defence as crunching power, ensuring that your forearms and upper arms stay as close to the 'home' position as possible thus providing cover even during the execution of the shot itself. For illustration, here's two video links, the first for mid-range left hook and the second for the short range.

Hope this helps

Left hook at mid-range

Left hook at short range

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Fran@myboxingcoach

Hey Southpawed

One of the biggest problems I see with boxers when they are infighting is that the shots that they use are at the wrong range. For example, a boxer will use the mid-range left hook rather than the short range left hook. It's a big difference as the mid-range shot when used 'head to head' will often fly behind the head of the opponent and simply bring that head closer to you, often banging into your face. Short range shots are as much about defence as crunching power, ensuring that your forearms and upper arms stay as close to the 'home' position as possible thus providing cover even during the execution of the shot itself. For illustration, here's two video links, the first for mid-range left hook and the second for the short range.

Hope this helps

Left hook at mid-range

Left hook at short range

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Hallo Fran,
i think that it's exactly the oder way around... My idea comes from the way you want to land the shot. I am aiming to land it at the last 3 knuckles. In this case if you try to land a longer hook with your elbow up most likely you are going to hurt your wrist or land on the first two knuckles, which is more like a swing. So for me the proper way to throw the longer hook is with the elbow down like Joe Louis for example(not to mention that this makes the shot much more compact, difficult to see and to clinch!). When we are talking for the short left hook, it's not natural to hit a couple of sm in front ot your nose with the elbow down. Maybe the most misconceptions of the proper land form come from the heavy bag. For me there is almost impossible to land short hook! An oder point is that most of moder boxers are looping there shots and as the article name "The Left Hook at Short Range – The Mike Tyson Special!" we are coping them without understanding exactly what they are doing or way they are doing it...

[QUOTE=nikola_ganchev;963704]

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Fran@myboxingcoach

Hallo Fran,
i think that it's exactly the oder way around... My idea comes from the way you want to land the shot. I am aiming to land it at the last 3 knuckles. In this case if you try to land a longer hook with your elbow up most likely you are going to hurt your wrist or land on the first two knuckles, which is more like a swing. So for me the proper way to throw the longer hook is with the elbow down like Joe Louis for example(not to mention that this makes the shot much more compact, difficult to see and to clinch!). When we are talking for the short left hook, it's not natural to hit a couple of sm in front ot your nose with the elbow down. Maybe the most misconceptions of the proper land form come from the heavy bag. For me there is almost impossible to land short hook! An oder point is that most of moder boxers are looping there shots and as the article name "The Left Hook at Short Range – The Mike Tyson Special!" we are coping them without understanding exactly what they are doing or way they are doing it...

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Hey Nikola

Interesting point.

Aside from it being a more powerful shot, here are 2 reasons why I coach the short range left hook with the elbow down:

1. When up close, and the elbow is 'up', this means that the head of the opponent could be closer to you than the distance of your upper arm at extension. This means either your forearm has to come back towards you, hitting a target which is closer to you than the distance to your elbow or alternatively sailing harmlessly behind the opponent's head. If the shot is to land that the arm will be in a 'triangle' rather than the 'L' shape (unless of course you give yourself room with a lay back or step out.) I'd question whether this shot would be 'hurtful' enough (when up close, you gotta hurt the guy!)
2. There is less movement in the throwing arm, meaning that your defence remains strong whilst throwing the shot, and also meaning that you can throw more shots more quickly. With the elbow 'up' at close range, there is a big gap in your defence (of your body) and there's a good chance that you could be hit with 2 or 3 in the same time as you take to land one.

With the longer hooks, I am very comfortable when boxers develop their own 'styles' of punching as you have done here. There is one key restriction that I have to work to though. At amateur competition (both domestic and international), a left hook thrown with the forearm parallel to the ground must land with the palm down, otherwise it will be classed as a slap and the referee will issue a warning. The same is not true of the short range hook, or indeed the short range hook 'extended' to longer range.

To be fair to myself, I have spent many years trying to understand the mechanics of boxing and not copying them just because another boxer has used it. For boxers to improve they must gain knowledge and experience, and as a coach I must provide them with some of the knowledge.

Cheers Nikola, good post!