Question for Amateur Boxing Coaches

[hbomb2]

What are the most important things that you teach the boxers that are under your tutelage?

[Athorn4941]

School and Family are more important than boxing.

Hard work ethic gets you far.

Thats probally what I think are the most important.

[Trained By CHAD]

What are the most important things that you teach the boxers that are under your tutelage?

are you looking for a social or technical answer?

socially: depends on the age of the athlete. anything from "remember why you first wanted to box. to have fun? learn discipline? keep it in perspective to you and what you want to accomplish in life". older athletes i can tell them that the way they play their games is the way they play their life. if they fail in boxing because they are lazy and easily distracted then that's the same thing going to be their demise in the life goals. if they succeed in boxing because they are attentive, coachable and tenacious those are the same assets they will attribute to their success in life's endevours. its about guiding the athlete into an awareness that he/she is in control of their life by the choices they make. taking on responsibility instead of passing blame.

technical: drill, drill, drill. repetition is the mother of all learning. positioning/ringmanship, ranges, solid 1-2, offenses/counters/defenses

to me, positioning is the most important thing. it doesn't matter how good a boxer is at punching if they are not in position to land them. it sounds simple but quickly becoming a lost art. look at DLH vs Pac. DLH corner was instructing to throw a left hook to the body but his foot was inside the southpaw opponent's lead foot. he wasn't in position to throw that punch and noone in the corner gave him any instruction to rectify the poor positioning. i know that example is from the pro's but the amateurs is even worse with positioning. in the amateurs there are two positions to be aware of 1. positioning in relationship to opponent and 2. positioning in relationship to judges. amateur rules say that three judges must score within 1 second and many amateur boxers do not put themselves in prime viewing for three judges. then they wonder why they are losing competitions.

as an amateur coach i believe its beneficial to consider boxing a team sport; the boxer with five judges as team mates. too many people point fingers at bad judging, making officials the enemy. when boxers know the rules and how to play the game, judges score in their favor and they win.

[squarering]

I never like to say that this is the most important thing because the most important thing is everything. Technically if you believe the Jab is the most important, you put less emphasis on other thing that are just as important when they are needed. Balance is super important , but without stamina it's worthless. Speed is a huge plus but without power it can be ineffective, You have to be able to do so many things well when you need to, that every one thing that you put less importance on can be your downfall, that in turn makes it the most important thing you need at that time. I could make a list a mile long about what I feel are all of the pieces of the puzzle that must come together to be successful, but I hate to say one thing is the most important. There is a book written by the greatest basketball coach in history , coach John Wooden. He took 20 years revising what he called the "success Pyramid". It was his idea of what it took to be great and all the elements. He agonized over where each characteristic should go in the pyramid as far as what lays the base and what is the heart or center and what is the top. Many coaches follow that template and others that would attempt to build one of these would probably change some of the positioning of the elements and some would be left out while others were added, but I think they all would have many things in common. As a concrete man of 30 years I have a strong belief in foundation, That means technically I believe in basics done very very well so when you are ready you can build on it easily. But the same goes for everything.

[hbomb2]

I ask the question because I feel that integrity, respect for self and others and being disciplined in all that you do is the foundation to perpetual success. Throughout my years in boxing I have heard coaches say that they practically raised boxers that end up leaving them. I just feel that something had to be missing in that maturation process. If we only teach our boxers the skills of boxing we have failed them as they may become champions in the sport but it may become very difficult for them to become champions in life. I know so many that fall into that category and the coaches are the ones that can make a change.

[Dennis]

Life lessons are important and trying to teach the boxers responsibility, work ethic, self-discipline and morals are a big part of what coaches do. In addition, we try to teach them boxing skills. Squarering's post is correct that all aspects of the boxing skills are equally as important. Each coach has his/her own way of teaching. Some start with footwork, some stance, some the jab, some defense, etc. They will all have to be taught at some point, but you obviously can't get a beginner to grasp it all at once.