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!