I thought I'd start my own thread over the other left hook one as mine is more specific to my problem. I'm just a novice however I'm looking to start taking my boxing more seriously. I'm here to learn. I tend to throw a straight right before my left hook just to have that natural weight movement to position my body ready for a hook. However ......... When I am throwing the left hook I tend to throw it more like an upper cut style as my hook comes from that bit lower and throws upwards. I am finding it difficult to feel a natural hook coming from shoulder height. It just doesn't feel natural to me, I feel as though I am forcing it. A second issue I have is the thumb position. I was told to throw the hook with my thumb facing upwards and palm facing towards me however when I throw it without thinking about it I notice my thumb faces me and my palm faces the floor. Where should the thumb/palm be facing? Any drills to help me mould my technique better? And probably stating the obvious but in order to achieve that 'natural' feeling without thinking or forcing a punch (I remember a jab didn't feel natural a long time ago haha) is to practice practice pratice?
I was working on mine yesterday, and what I found out is that your stance effects every punch you throw. Now there are exceptions, but at least for me I get the most power and velocity out of my left hook with my stance being more square to my opponent. The leg position allows me to get a lot more thrust. However, the closer I move to being diagonal, or perpendicular to the opponent, meaning my front shoulder is almost directly between the opponent and I, the weaker I feel my left hook becoming as I cannot get the proper leverage. The more squared away stance feels a lot more natural, for reference look at the stances of Frazier, Tyson, and Tommy Morrison. Also, palm down is the correct way to throw it, and though I find it difficult to throw it like that on bag work, it comes natural when fighting.
