When I first started I never had this problem since most of my punches would get deflected/dodged/blocked but now that I'm getting faster and more accurate I land much more. Now here's my problem: I'm afraid of hurting my opponent. I'd rather take a flurry of punches than counter him with a straight. I think it's because of what happened recently, there's this guy who is much better than me, he slips nearly all my punches by pulling his shoulder forward, so I started to anticipate it and did a 1-2 and while he dodged the 1, he dodged right into my 2 and went down. I apologised and felt really bad since he's a really nice guy. I mean I have no issues with hitting people hard when they hit me hard but none of my sparring partners hit me hard. So how do I control my punches without punching too slow, which just leads to me getting flurried by combinations. I mean I always thought I punched at 50% but with 16oz gloves even soft punches have their impact amplified it seems.
This is Boxing, no one here can give you a reason to hit someone hard, your gonna go through the same process we all went through. Your going to spar then your gonna get hit hard & probably get hammered, then you'll start hitting hard. If theres a better fighter against you then hit him alot with speed and light touches with 50% power shots put in there. Once again, This is Boxing
explain to your opponent what he is doing wrong and practice that, there will be benefits for him and for you
Yea, if this becomes a problem for all your sparring, you'll need to fix it. Why are the other guys not hitting you as hard? Are they simply less experienced at this stage, or are they also "scared" for some reason? If you find yourself outclassing a sparring partner easily, work on things without putting everything behind your shots. But don't get used to taking flurries and don't get used to pulling back all the time; it will end up hurting you with bad and dangerous habits much more than you would probably have ever hurt someone else.
I had a similar issue when I started boxing.. Except that I get hit but I feel bad to hit hard back.. I used to apologize immediately if I even land a right hand.. The issue faded with time, I guess..
I had a similar experience a good while back with a friend i was sparing with. i slipped his hook and landed a good shot to his gut and he went down. i apologized and helped him up but i think its simply one of those things that develop naturally with time and experience. As long as you apologize tho i cant imagine any sparing partner being that mad about it
Honestly, I'd just belt them in the face. You're not doing them any favors by playing paddycake with them. Getting hit is the best motivation to learn how to not get hit, and once they're in a ring with a real opponent that guy is going to mop the floor with them. Hit them so they can decide if boxing's really for them. For most people it's not. Better they find out sooner than later.
I am currently going through the same sort of phase....my coach told me the footwork, punches are ok..what I lack is aggression...I think a lot before throwing punches, I eat some and block some..but when it's time to counter or throw em...sad... To get my aggression going he said "your girlfriend is a *****" which did not work since I don't have a girlfriend.
