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Punch Pads and Boxing – Make it Real

Time for the next in my series of video articles looking at the boxing techniques using the punch pads. This is the 3rd article in the series and if you haven’t already watched the preceding videos, go and check out the 1st in the series .

In this video I am working with Sean McArdle.  Sean is a real hard-worker and has been boxing for a few years now.  His technical boxing development continues at a pace and he’s always fun to work with on the pads. Again I’m just putting Sean through a 2 minute round in which I work on a few different aspects of boxing.

Here’s the video, then below are a few points about what’s going on both in terms of me using the boxing punch pads and the techniques that Sean is using.

The Punch Pads Boxing Lessons #5 – Firm Target

This is a little bit of a pet hate of mine. In all of my years in boxing, I have never, ever saw a boxer purposely smash his or her face into the incoming fist of the opponent. Why would they? Unless that individual was so stupid that they should not be allowed to leave the house unaccompanied, let alone clamber up the steps into a boxing ring, I can think of no reason why a fighter would do such a thing.

So, on the pads I would not want to recreate that type of ultra-reckless opponent because (maybe unfortunately) the boxers that I work with will never meet one.  So, I have this one simple rule. I hold a firm target, firm enough that the boxer feels the impact of the punch.  They will generate all of the true speed and power of the punch, I will simply make sure that a firm pad is there to receive it.

I know that some boxing trainers swing forward their padded hand to meet the incoming punch of the boxer.  Famously, Roger Mayweather, the trainer an uncle of the World’s best pound-for-pound fighter Floyd Mayweather, is often seen doing this in the run up to a big fight.  In front of the cameras he effectively plays ‘pat-a-cake’ with the punch pads. At the same time Floyd repeatedly informs his entourage how good he is, and his entourage respond with the appropriate amount of ‘you pay the bills Floyd’ adulation.

It looks great when Floyd works like this, but then most of what he does with boxing gloves on looks great.  Despite what Roger does, I think I’ll stick with holding a fixed and firm target.  Maybe I’m missing an opportunity.  If you know of any compelling reason why I could swing the pads forward, be sure to let me know in the comments section below.

The Punch Pads Boxing Lessons #6 – Opponents Fight Back!

Make it real.  That’s the principle of this post and in fact the guiding principle of my approach to the punch pads.  During a fight, an opponent can do any number of things.  At the most basic level they have the rather annoying habit of trying to hit you, so during pads I always send ‘shots’ the way of the boxer.  In this video with Sean there are two examples of me building in this principle.

At 0:06 Sean let’s go a nice crisp followed by a solid .  The punches are sharp and accurate.  In response I swing my left hand towards Sean’s head.  This lets him know that he’s landed two nice scoring shots, but his head stayed where it was and so those good scoring shots he landed could be easily undone by the opponent landing at least one of his own in return.  When a fighter takes a shot their instinct is to throw one back.

A couple of seconds later the same thing happens and Sean drops in a nice simple to avoid the incoming.  So, it’s reinforcing that principle that after throwing your own shots it’s always a good idea to shift your head from the starting position.  It works especially nicely here because at 0:12 Sean, without prompt, goes with an to get his head away from that starting position.  That’s a lesson learnt.

Our second example demonstrates a slightly different approach in that I ‘lead off’ with the punch.  At around 0:30 I send out a jab.  OK, not really a jab, more a half-hearted pawing motion but I don’t really want to go with a full-blooded punch.  The reason I don’t use a full-on jab with the intent of landing on Sean is that the conventional pads I am wearing could cause a nasty eye injury and that would not be good, not good at all!  If I’m going to use solid shots I’ll put a on my left hand and a pad on my right.  Even better, I’ll use a brilliant piece of coaching equipment called coach spar gloves, which are a half-way house between pads and gloves.

The point is that I am doing enough reinforce with Sean the instinct of reacting to the shot, which he does by with his  and .  It’s about developing that fighting instinct to see the opponent’s action and respond in the right way, instantly and positively.  After all, it seems a terrible shame to block the incoming shot and not capitalize by landing your own punch.

Also Worth Noting…

Having pointed out a couple more lessons on the punch pads, there’s a couple of things that Sean does that I really want to point out.  The first is the fantastic at around 0:54.  It’s a great technical shot, with the little drop of the knees and the superb drive off the back foot to rotate the hips.  Really classy punch very well executed.

The second thing I’d like to point out is Sean’s brilliant use of .  Check out 0:57 where Sean pivots to his right after delivering a solid and then at 1:01 he pivots left off the same punch.  This is really reassuring as a coach to see the boxer do this because it tells me that Sean’s thinking about both defence and opening up good angles of attack at the same time.

Finally is the double attack at around 1:44 where Sean throws the one-two drawing the response from me and reacting with a followed by a right-hand/.  The double or ‘phased’ attack is one of the key boxing techniques that underpins successful amateur boxing for me.

As a bonus (for me anyway), I’ve spotted some stuff that Sean and I can work on together to improve, but that’s between him and me :O)

Any comments or observations, be sure to let me know below.

Cheers

Fran

PS – if you want to check out the final article in the series, go look at .

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