Help for defense against left hands

[Rocky Balboa]

I was sparring yesterday and I got hit for the first time with a solid punch. I overcomitted a counter-right and got a stiff jab "down the pipe". I was so mad at myself for how dumb a mistake that was. Later on I sparred a bigger and older guy but we were only allowed to use right hands. Using the Philly Shell-style shoulder roll and counter I did perfectly, fighting by the books and landing counter uppercuts and straights to the chin and plexus. I realized my biggest problem is left hands, most notably left hooks. With my left hand down and my shoulder ever-ready to roll, I always see it coming and never get hit, ever. But with my right hand high I always seem to forget about left hooks and am always caught by them. I need help ... what should I do?

[Salty]

I think the best lesson to learn for a guy new to the sport is that you are going to be caught. It's the frequency and severity of these punches which matter. This is why sparring is so important, you've identified the weakness in your defence and now you and your trainer go about rectifying it. I have had this problem too, the cause... I was unconsciously concentrating on his right glove rather than between his gloves. Made my reactions to his right great, but his left hook just didn't register as quickly. Good luck with it brother

[Chris Nagel]

These aren't leads that you're getting hit with right? Are you getting countered with the jab/left-hook (getting timed), or is this just happening when you're trading punches with your opponent?

If you're standing in face-punching range, you ought to keep your right hand up to at least near your shoulder so that you can bring it up on a moments notice, and when you're throwing a left hook in close, you should have your right hand up by your cheek just in case you don't see that left hook coming, vice-versa when you're throwing your right hand.

You might also want to read this: http://www.saddoboxing.com/boxingfor...tml#post438138

[StrictlySP]

Hi Rocky,
You wrote:

But with my right hand high I always seem to forget about left hooks and am always caught by them. I need help ... what should I do?

Salty wrote:

I think the best lesson to learn for a guy new to the sport is that you are going to be caught. It's the frequency and severity of these punches which matter. This is why sparring is so important, you've identified the weakness in your defence and now you and your trainer go about rectifying it.

Very nicely said...

Successful boxing consists in part of "properly" trained/ingrained "automatic" responses; so with a specifically identified problem, it can be rectify through lots of conscientious "isolation drilling" and "isolation sparring" (done in a variety of ways). With that said, don't overlook/underestimate the "power" of drilling and put all your marbles in sparring. While sparring is THE ultimate preparatory exercise in boxing; functional, objective-driven drilling goes a long, long way in developing and ingraining the proper responses that are required to compete successfully in the sport. So, you'd do well to incorporate plenty of it in your regimen alongside gradient sparring.

Anyway, hope you're doing well. Take care and good luck ("luck" equating to when preparation meets opportunity).

Best Regards,
Lito

[Chris Nagel]

Sorry Rocky, I completely overlooked the main points of concern in your post. :x I'm just glad that Lito answered it very well. I can help give you examples of what Lito mentioned in his post if you're interested.

P.S. I tried to rep Lito, but it didn't seem to be going through at first, so I kept trying. Hence the megarep on this one.

[Rocky Balboa]

Thanks guys, now that I think about it the problem seems to be vision. My lead hand is always down and I always see right hands. I keep my right hand up and my vision seems to be hampered by that so I'll have to figure that out. Thanks guys all your posts were helpful