Any tips on staying loose and relaxed before sparring?

Don't think... react. Control your breathing and pick off your shots, if it's not there then make an opening yourself. Don't let your opponent get you on the ropes cause that'll just make you more tired

 

Your mouthpeice might be too big if it's making you gag, i had the same problem. Just cut some off the end.

 

Im exactly the same and its something im always being told that im too tense , need to just relax! Its very difficult lol!

 

Lol it's just sparring, you don't need to be tense

 

after practice and time you will become better and with more stamina and therefore more comfortable in the ring and you won't get so tense i went through the same thing myself

 

You'll probably relax as you get more used to it.

 

Definitely sounds like emotions. I recommend you spend a bit of time in the ring if you can before your spar, maybe do some drills with someone else or even just shadow box. Basically get comfortable in your environment, it IS your environment. I've heard of guys sleeping in the ring haha.

I used to get very stressed in the ring(as most humans do), and what i'd do is try and spend as much time as possible inside there to be better acquainted.

As for mouth pieces, possibly train with it in, try differant brands as theyre all a bit differant designwise. Do what someone else said and cut the ends off a little bit for a tighter fit. The ends might be touching the back of your tounge.

ew.

 

Happens to everyone. As you get more experience you will naturally become more comfortable. As you become more skilled you will become more efficient. Alot of guys when they first start are flying all around (too much excess movement), are tensed up (burns out your muscles) and not breathing.

 

take a deep breath in through the nose out through the mouth

shake your arms around and get ready thats my adivce

 

I can honestly say thought that its not emotions. Maybe its sub-concious fear i dont know but im not trying to be big or hard but it really doesnt scare me. Especially once the bell rings i actually really enjoy it. its not something i feel as such its only when someone shouts out your tensing up relax that i even realise im tense lol. I know its just experience and practice and it is deffinatly my biggest weakness. At the moment everything is going wrong im injured and ill!!!! So never mind sparrin im hardly getting any boxing in at all or training! Its very depressing hahaa

 

If your having problems with too much tension/energy/emotions it helps to focus on thinking these things:




1) Think slower, not faster. Your emotional system is out of control, slow it down and gain control back. Control through your physical movements, thoughts and self-talk.



2) Think small, not big. Remember what is in your control and what is not. Your body, your muscles, not your opponents. The key to relax is to focus on what you control. Focus on the littlest movements your making, not on the fact that you will be sparring in 20 minutes, but on your punches your throwing on the bag to warm up, shadow boxing, or whatever the task is you are currently doing.

Focus on that, aka STAY IN THE MOMENT!



3) Simplify, don't complicate. All across the board, top achievers in any field are successful because they keep thier approach simple. If your mind is full of cluttered thoughts that are unrelated to what you are doing in the present moment, your muscles will be tense and you won't be able to perform and box as well as you can.

You need a narrow perspective while sparring, well for any part of training really, but especially sparring. You don't want your mind all over the place, just in the present moment focusing on what you are trying to do in the ring.





I recommend getting a positive routine/ habit that will calm you down before sparring, and part of it is unique to you. What you know will help 'get you in the zone' as it were. Some people need or want to be amped up, others want to relax.. for you obviously you want to relax.

Try different things --
For some people listening to music, some people its hitting the bag, some people its stretching, some people its talking and socializing to other guys in the gym so on and so forth. You gotta figure out what works for you. Rocky Marciano used to fall asleep before fights thats how relaxed he was naturally, so you gotta try things and see what works and what doesn't

 

Sounds a little far fetched but thats the way I think of it. Imagine someone coming into your home trying to take you out. It aint happening, right?

I had mates a couple years back were actually pretty incredible at our skatepark. WHen they'd goto other ones they wernt anywhere near as good because what I think was the factors in an unfamiliar environment. It wasn't really their home. If you make that ring your home, people will have a lot of trouble trying to kick you out of it.