Please read before you reply I got this Thread idea from here http://www.eastsideboxing.com/forum/showthread.php?t=266219 What do you think? I mean there are some really good guys who follow everything to the exact of what the coaches say and come out great, but the style becomes aparent, stance, punching style etc From what i think is that the most creative guys come out on top by following what there coaches say but yet come out with new things themselves. At my gym theres a certain way for everything, there are 3 coaches with one other coach and the main coach teach. Which is sort of like a tap tap punches to take advantage of the amateur style. While the one i usually go to was an ex pro who seems to provide more of a pro style. While i do follow everything he says, i always try to make up combos for myself, footwork, different headmovements and practice them on the double end bag to establish a good rhythym. Alot of the things he teaches me is different, ex. would be to slip from the waist. He'd use the basic 1-2-3 type combos on pads. Then when im on the double end i'd do just that except add in a slip like 1-2 slip-3 and much more. So far i've become one of the more difficult guys to hit and developed good timing with counter punches and combos. From time to time when the coach i go to is away i hit the pads with the different ones. I find that it's also nice to add more to the arsenal, one main difference is the way those 2 coaches throw hooks, it's a thin long range hook thats sort of like a jab and it's not really for power. I don't mean to sound arrogant and say that my coaches advice isn't enough but i like adding my own twist to things and sort of being the "different guy" in the gym. It's sort of a goal of mine to be my own boxer but yet not someone who doesn't listen to advice. I'm very open to what everyone says. I really do look for the main flaws of the gym style, like a lack of headmovement and only one basic way of exiting after throwing a combo which make it too predictable. I try to fix those flaws and add in more. I'd like to know you're guy's input? Do you disagree with this method? Similar stories? etc I'd like to know what you think.
The best people I train just have an innate ability to learn. I have a lad who is a doorman - he's about 22, approx 15 stone. Always turns up for training late- always gasses after about 75 seconds because he spends more time lifting weight then doing cardio but ****ing hell he is some talent. Never seen anyone with such a capacity to make subtle changes to the way they box. If he just had the drive he'd be a champion- I'm positive.
I think that's the best way to go. No matter how good a coach is, at the start on the amateur level, most coaches aren't going to spend as much time as you'd like molding your every move and philosophizing the finer points of the sport. Listening to advice is always good, but I don't think you'll ever get better if you don't start trying new things. New counters, combinations, etc. like you described can only add to your repertoire, as long as you don't start developing habits your coach hopefully prevents from carrying on in your style.
As a teacher, I am very particular about certain things, and I've done this with a multitude of kids (and others) just starting out, as well as with those further along that have chosen to change teachers. I really focus on punching technique, and base everything off of that. Primarily because the purpose of boxing is to hit the other guy, and it should do damage when you hit him. Because all balance is based off the punch, and balance is the basis of all that is boxing. So, if your feet are right to punch, if your are always in a position to punch and on balance to punch, we are more than halfway there. That makes it so much easier to learn to avoid punches, and to counter them, if your balance is right, and if you know why you are balanced in the first place. So the other most important thing I try to teach is thought; How do I hit and not get hit? So my voice is always in the fighter's ear, advising and directing, until he sees things and understands and thinks on his own. Then he's off and running. I teach him how to punch, the basics of how to avoid getting punched, and how to think. Then he's off and on his own, and I stand around and make technicaL comments, or point out things he may not have seen. Watch Ricardo lopez fights and the interaction with Beristain in the corner.
very interesting, at first i've always thought the coach was to teach you all the way and i was doing something wrong but this helps me. great post :good
Deffo. I would say it's one of the best ways to improve because sometimes what a coach says isn't the best way for a certain fighter. At the same time, no one really has really taught me how to counter with the left hand as much as I do during sparring! I know the feeling, I have a coach who likes to throw left hooks with the fist horizontal, or throw the left, pivot and throw the right hand after but no one really taught me things like stepping back the same distance as they come in and counter while he begins to over reach and his head is past his foot.
