When people first start boxing, they think that the most important part of the body is the arms, but they miss the opportunity to develop the legs. The first part of the famous phrase uttered by one of the most famous boxers in the world, namely Muhammad Ali, goes as follows: “Flutter like a butterfly…”
Feet and movement on them are very important for any boxer because besides the fact that you have to hit your opponent hard and accurately, in the ring you should always be in motion, be able to break or cut the distance, to react to the attack in time and after it to counterattack.
So, friends, don’t forget about your feet. When your position is always in one place, it will be quite difficult to win.
In this article we will give you tips on leg development, we hope that they will be useful to you, because there is no special secret in training the legs and it is very accessible, you only need to make an effort, never give up and always looking to improve!
The Basics of Boxing Footwork Drills
Get the Right Shoes
Boxing shoes are essential for a good footwork foundation. So that your feet don’t feel restricted or weighed down, you want to select the lightest possible pair. You want your shoes to provide good traction but allow you to move around the canvas freely.
Perfect Your Stance
Now you have your shoes. Now, it’s time for you to perfect your posture. This foundation is what all boxing footwork rests upon. If you don’t know how to do it, you won’t be able to master your footwork drills. Your stance should be strong and stable with your feet no more than shoulder-width apart. This width will allow you to conserve energy and increase your range of motion while also providing stability and balance.
Stay on the Balls of Your Feet
Moving with your feet from the ground helps you remain agile and responsive throughout the match. You can also distribute your body weight evenly between both feet, and move in a forward-back motion. This will enable you to shift easily in any direction within a matter of seconds.
Start from the Ground Up
It’s tempting to just jump into shadow boxing and hitting the bag. It is a mistake to focus on your feet before you train your legs. Your feet and legs are the foundation for everything you do in this sport. Your strength and agility will translate into power and efficiency wherever else.
The Best Boxing Footwork Drills
This list contains a selection of the most effective drills for building your boxing footwork. You can explore any one of these topics by yourself, or you can stay tuned for more information on
several topics throughout the month.
Jump Rope
Jump rope is a well-known training tool for boxers. You can improve your coordination, endurance, agility, and coordination with no better exercise than jumping rope. Skipping rope with a drill called the “boxer skip” is a good place to start. This drill is often used as a base for footwork and conditioning. You can find more exercises to add to your jumping rope routine in our jumping rope guide.
Box Jumps (plyometric exercises)
Box jumping is a plyometric drill that increases a boxer’s explosiveness. Boxers need to be able to move quickly between offense and defense when they are moving in the ring. Box jump drills increase boxers’ bounce.
Boxers have a wide variety of box jump drills they can do. The difficulty can be increased by increasing the platform’s height to different levels. Drills can be performed at different speeds, fast or slow. You can do single-step jumps, marching box jumps, and double-foot jumps.
It is important to focus on the goal of increasing your explosiveness when performing drills. You will see a difference in your performance when you do it more times.
The Agility Ladder (ladder drills)
Although the agility ladder isn’t a traditional training tool for boxing, it has been used in boxing training for the past few years. It is still a great tool for improving boxing footwork.
There are many ways to use the agility ladder, and there are many drills. It can teach boxers how their feet work in different ways, both naturally and artificially. It also helps to build rhythm and fluidity.
This modern boxing training tool can help you improve your footwork and teach you how to make the most of your movement. You can find the agility ladder in almost all boxing gyms and it is one of the most popular drills in training.
Tire Jumps
Tire jumps are another cross-training technique we’re using. You will need to quickly jump in and out from training tires to improve your footwork, vertical jump, and strengthen your legs and thighs. It is a perfect exercise for the lower body which you can do with punches in the air.
Obstacle Course
You can combine the above elements with any other obstacles (like cones or hurdles) to create a footwork training circuit. You can challenge your students or yourself to complete the course in as little time as possible while maintaining good footwork. This can allow you to combine many elements into one workout. This allows you to switch up from focusing on certain drills.
Take a dance
You can take a dance class at a more challenging pace and a greater chance to learn. Famous fighters such as Juan Manuel Marquez or David Branch used the barre to improve their boxing performance prior to a big fight. Ballet, and especially dance, can improve flexibility and ease of movement, as well as balance.
Shadowboxing
Although shadow boxing may be seen as a warm-up, its role in training is far more than that. Shadowboxing, in reality, is a very important part of training and has its own unique benefits.
Although it may not sound like shadow boxing will help you improve your fighting skills, there are many benefits to shadowboxing that aren’t immediately obvious.
It’s very portable. It doesn’t require you to go to the gym. A mirror is the best place to shadow boxes. You will notice subtle flaws in your technique when you look at yourself. It can be hard to fix.
This includes footwork. Shadowboxing routines that focus on solely footwork and movement will enhance your ability to use your feet in the ring.
Shadowboxing is an excellent way to improve your footwork and boxing movements cause it imitates a real fight with an opponent. You’ll soon be able to move like a pro.
Find a good boxing coach
No matter how hard you practice boxing at home, there is no substitute for a professional trainer, because you can obviously have the wrong boxing stance will be many mistakes in technique, leg positioning, knee bending, or anything else, and only a knowledgeable person can correct you. If you are a beginner, there is a chance that you will do the exercises wrong, and over time it will become a habit that you will have to correct, so to avoid this, find yourself a good trainer. This does not only apply to boxing, it can be any martial arts, sport, or other activity, a coach will always be beneficial, as opposed to training on your own.
Have a look at how the new heavy-weight champion A. Usyk takes a dance!
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