Sparring heavier opponents

**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 10:20 AM

Originally Posted by hitmandonny

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!

Yeah I think you have a very good point there. I guess shadow boxing is the best place to practice it as you said too since hooks and especially uppercuts are always going to be a little more awkward on the bag.

**donnydarkoIRL** · 02-06-2008 10:25 AM

Yeah, I use the bag pretty heavily usually and as a result I rarely throw any uppercuts. Thats a great point.

The best thing I find about sparring a bigger or heavier opponent is that it is easy to go to the body.

**Sharla forgot password** · 02-06-2008 10:28 AM

Originally Posted by hitmandonny

The best thing I find about sparring a bigger or heavier opponent is that it is easy to go to the body.

That's a good point you make there! I guess you could put that down as an advantage of sparring bigger people - I should use it to hone my body punching skills more! I'd never thought of that before!

**donnydarkoIRL** · 02-06-2008 10:48 AM

Perhaps it's just a thing I notice, but I also find bigger guys, when sparring smaller opponents stand very square on as if over confident in their power. I find it makes for an especially big target on the abdomen and If you aim for that in the first couple of rounds their head will soon be neglected in order to cover the body and ribs.