Sharla, boxing gyms in our area?

[FC]

Zero experience so I guess at this stage for fitness, but I'd like to eventually end up sparring.

[Sharla]

weight and age?

Lots of Qs I know but which club you go to really has a lot to do with who else is around for you to work with.

Some clubs in Adelaide have more smaller guys, some only bigger guys etc.

There's a few clubs which will really want to pressure people to compete and others than won't.

Some that will let you compete if you have before but unless you're close to the weight of guys training and already at competition level I don't like your chances of getting the attention you need to really develop. Whereas if you're useful for them weight wise then they'll find time for you.

t's complicated in SA and you need to start in the club which suits you best because people who go from club to club become outcasts more or less and some trainers won't touch them.

[FC]

I'm 22, 168cm (5' 5") and currently 68kgs (150lbs).

Doesn't really sound that great for someone just looking to give it a shot.

[Sharla]

To be honest it is very tricky!

Ok stay away from Foxys gym - pressures everyone to compete - and doesn't teach much technique.

Quite literally all his fighters are slappers - ok in SA where the judges don't know to penalize people for hitting with the inside of the glove but really pretty technically crap and while he coaches everyone to have a lot of aggression he has not much more to teach.

TJ Smith's Premier gym - not the greatest for someone your weight - the few guys you would have to spar are a bit heavier and the coaching could be good (sometimes in phases) if you had a similar build to a few of them but otherwise really won't be consistant. It's ok for fitness with some of the beginners coaches but not the fighters coaches oddly enough!

There's a Russian guy called Nermin who sometimes coaches people. He has a great fight record and even recently has done well as a pro but communication could be difficult unless you speak Russian. Also for some reason his fighters don't typically have much success - may be because he is a little on and off as a coach.

There's an aboriginal sobriety club which is in the city. I haven't trained there so don't know many details. Could be ok.

Rod Davies near Glenelg will only take very serious people who have to patience to be babied through everything. Seriously his fighters can't even do their road work alone - he drives behind them! Plus he takes medication for pain in his leg (some old injury and circulation problems) which makes him very irrational and angry at times. Still he has guys your weight who are very successful so if you can handle a controlling, angry coach you could check him out.

Northside might be a bit far for you to travel to but I'd rate it fairly highly. Don is firm but he knows his stuff and gives a lot to the sport.

The Cove Boxing club coach seems to know his stuff. I have sparred his son (tricky little bugger) and I really like the way he does things.

Anyway here's a link with a few gyms

Boxing Gyms South Australia

I know all this sounds really dodgy and it is but kickboxing in SA is even dodgier (i kickboxed before boxing) so if you ever consider that PM me!

[pikey dave]

sharla, thank u 4 your kind words,and good luck 4 the future , dave ,cove boxing gym.

[Sharla]

Is this Dave from the Cove gym here in SA?

I completely thought you were someone else last time you posted!

Yes i did think you knew what you were talking about and your son is pretty damn tricky - in a good, talented way of course!

I haven't been around the scene much recently to hear how people are going.

Hope everything in your neck of the woods is going well! I hear the guys nationals are getting close - I hope if you have anyone entered this year they do well.

Apparently it's an even smaller team than usual this year?

[Sharla]

Hi John,

Yeah as I have said I can recommend the cove gym. I have to admit i have been away from the scene for a few months. I'm not sure of who has other heavyweights to spar with at the present time.

The glenelg club had a guy who could compete as a light heavy last year but I've heard he hasn't been at state trainings this year so i don't know if he's still there.

I would just visit all of these different clubs and make it clear that you are just checking out a few places so they don't feel like you are their guy immediately.

Having some foundation in the sport may come with it's own BS meter as far as who seems to have the tools to coach you the way you need to be coached.

At the same time some coaches will jump at the chance to take you on because you may already be at a stage where you can be good for sparring etc but some of the same coaches would not have had the structure or the effort or passion for the sport to nuture you from the beginning.

I think most would have had that passion at one stage but some will have lost it and I feel you don't want to be battling the consequences of a coach who is gradually loosing his passion for the sport all together.

Ask about the structure of their trainings. Some places will be stricter than others and some will not have enough structure. Think about how often you want different aspects of your training.

Perhaps ask if they have any fight vids on hand of their current and recent fighters. I think that will be some indication for you. Coaches who don't have fight vids you can watch either have something to hide or they don't follow up on the performance of their athletes with a structured logical training plan enough to bother or to be interested enough to make the effort of getting the vids.

At your age I suspect you have some obligations or anticipate having some obligations as far as employment or study is concerned. This means you will want to be able to train in hours which fit in with that. Some places will have training times very difficult for people who work nine to five to attend.

Also ask how they feel about interclub sparring and boxing SA in general. I think you want a coach who may recoginize ways in which boxing SA might be improved but one who still has the ability to work with it as best as possible.

You do not want to miss out on interclub sparring and to deal with political issues just because your coach can not stop fighting with all the other coaches. Interclub sparring may also be a huge benefit to your development so even if the coach you choose doesn't approve of some aspects of Boxing SA you want to see evidence of a continued effort to work with oter clubs to get this.

Many places will have rare sporadic interclub sparring but sometimes that's just not enough. Especially if you find as a heavyweight you don't have to opportunity to spar people your weight often. SA is not a huge boxing state as I am sure you are aware so you really need to work with every resource you have to have much hope of being competitive with opponents interstate. Ask how often they travel to compete also.

I intend to look around myself in a few weeks once i have finished a pressing dealine i have for uni work but i am prepared to accept that this may also just be a bad time to be looking. Some clubs including some of the good ones will have an off season and be winding down towards Christmas soon. You don't neccessarily want to miss out on training with them if they would be right for you.

So yeah look around, let me know how it goes but don't commit to any one place too quickly as exciting as it can be and good luck!