Sparring heavier opponents

**Salty** · 02-04-2008 09:37 AM

A couple more things which i got from this forum actually was to occasionally punch at their lead glove if they were tagging me with it on my way inside. This i found works well against taller opponents. As to begin with it upsets their rythm and body mechanics as by the time that they can throw out that jab you are already inside and hammering their body where they can't hurt you. Secondly they start to realise that you will hit their glove on your way in so can work as a feint which you can then counter yourself as you know it will be coming. I think the main thing though is the mental aspect but you sound like you will have that under wraps in no time so let us know how you go with it

**Sharla** · 02-04-2008 09:26 PM

Thanks Salty

I have used that before and I think it worked well but for some reason I haven't tried it for a long time. Remembering that makes me think that perhaps i get mentally stale and spar the same way a lot of the time too. This is a good reminder to be a little more creative. I find it easy to think about the fitness side of things but as I've said before I'm a bit hard headed wih everything else! I think we're meant to be sparring tonight so I'l let ya know how it goes.

Ignore sad smiley above - still working them out ......

**donnydarkoIRL** · 02-05-2008 09:21 AM

Last night I had an amazing sparring session. Me in the Ring with 4 Southpaws! Each were national Champions (2 European) and all I can say is I held my own really well, putting one down, scoring a lot on another and going to war with one!

Afterward I soarred a orthodox fighter and found it tremendously easy to land on him! Sparring is great!!!

**Sharla forgot password** · 02-06-2008 07:27 AM

Originally Posted by hitmandonny

Last night I had an amazing sparring session. Me in the Ring with 4 Southpaws! Each were national Champions (2 European) and all I can say is I held my own really well, putting one down, scoring a lot on another and going to war with one!

Afterward I soarred a orthodox fighter and found it tremendously easy to land on him! Sparring is great!!!

Good to seeya back on the forum and good to hear that the shoulder is doing it's job without too much stress! Now this sparring you did - it wouldn't happen to have been at the national titles now would it ........

I'm sorry i haven't asked how it's been going with that but I have been wondering and hoping it's all going ok!

**donnydarkoIRL** · 02-06-2008 09:32 AM

Originally Posted by Sharla forgot password

Good to seeya back on the forum and good to hear that the shoulder is doing it's job without too much stress! Now this sparring you did - it wouldn't happen to have been at the national titles now would it ........

I'm sorry i haven't asked how it's been going with that but I have been wondering and hoping it's all going ok!

Ha no worries. No it was just high quality sparring. Competition for the Nationalsd begins on Friday, weigh in 11 til 1.

Ironically Sharla, sparring against Bigger guys seems to have brought me the same habit; I'm not throwing combonations near as much as I should. Shadowboxing seems to be the cure...

**Sharla forgot password** · 02-06-2008 09:45 AM

Well it's great to hear that you're sparring well - that's got to make you feel confident heading into the nationals. Good luck - butI'm sure you're good enough not to need any luck at all!

You have a point about the shadow boxing - I usually do it only at the beginning of my trainings but perhaps I should finish my training with a few rounds on sparring days. Maybe that will help me to reinforce good muscle memory for throwing combos and give me a chance to review combos etc that I might not be able to land easily on bigger opponents?

**donnydarkoIRL** · 02-06-2008 10:00 AM

I asked a number of guys about it over the past week and they all mentioned the same thing "muscle memory."
They said when you practise it enough the punches throw themselves.
I think from my own expierience there is a large amount of truth in this, as when i throw my one two the hook always itches to fly after the right!

**Sharla forgot password** · 02-06-2008 07:47 AM

Originally Posted by Salty

let us know how you go with it

So I think you made me think of a few things which helped in sparring last night. I only had one person to spar so I guess I'll get more of an idea of how it's going over the next few weeks.

I think it went well - or at least I made a start on correcting my lack of pace. I really enjoyed going fast and since I forewarned my training partner who also wanted to work on speed anyway I didn't get my head completely removed!

The double jab seems to work well defencively. I have been in the habbit of only throwing one punch at a time defencively and I'm not sure why.

I'm still struggling a bit to launch a combo offensively against a bigger person without walking into a jab myself which makes me think that maybe I allow too many pauses to occur in the round.

I think against a bigger person it might be more important to eliminate their resetting opportunities since as you said Salty i need to use angles but it's easiest to create those off of their attack. Thoughts on this anyone?

Also maybe because of some of the drills we use in our gym I'm in the habit of moving back from the first punch of a combo assuming my opponent will move foreward with a second and I'll sidestep that one. It only just occured to me how bad this habit is since sometimes they may only throw a single punch and instead of moving sideways I've just moved back and set myself up to have a hard time getting in again.

We often use drills sidestepping just single punches but if I don't know what they're going to throw in sparring (like i do in drill work) - I won't do it. I need to practice side stepping the first punch of a whole combo and staying in a bit more i think.

One thing I can say for us both though is it got a little messy! I'm thinking I have to practice sparring fast just to have balance doing it. I think when I move around fast i might move my head too far sometimes without my feet too.

Last night I was just moving around letting a little (only one smaller than me in the gym) begginner girl chase me (not punching her back) and she stepped on my foot and sent me flying halfway across the ring! Wouldn't have happened if I was balanced properly!