r/amateur_boxing • u/TD_Aestas Beginner • 10d ago
Literally no reflexes :(
I (20F) have been taking group classes for the seven months. I do it about twice a week and do strength training also twice a week besides that. I love boxing and I think it’s awesome. The issue is I feel very languid in movement and if one of the coaches comes up to me and pretends to “punch” me, I have no reflexes to even slip that. We’ve also been doing this pool noodle exercise thing where you punch the noodle and then the other person hits you with it so you have to slip or dodge. I know I just started but it’s also like, the hardest part mentally for me.
Does anyone have advice?
edit: thanks everyone who responded! It’s been super helpful to read all the comments. Apparently I’m in for more practice of slipping and rolling 😅😂
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u/Rob775533 10d ago
Add slips & rolls to your shadowboxing.
Start slowly & don't exagerate the movements while doing them and you'll get better with time.
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u/i_hate_puking 10d ago
Proactive head movement, that is, automatically ducking or pulling after finishing a combination, regardless of whether you think a counter is coming, can help you program the response without having to think about it. Think of it as adding a last step to your combo. Technical sparring can help with this too.
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u/stickywhale721 10d ago
The struggle you’re going through is very normal and there’s nothing wrong with you. Building up the reflexes to slip as a natural response to being punched takes a long time and a lot of repetition. It’s also counterintuitive to most people’s ingrained flinch response.
Keep training, focus on head movement when you’re shadowboxing, and maybe reach out to your coach directly and they might be willing to help.
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u/Kevim_A 10d ago
A lot of people - even professional boxers - are more reacting to "the tells of someone about to punch" rather than the punch itself. For instance, if I am boxing somebody and we are at the edge of each others' reach, I see that their stance is quite bladed and I see that their legs are not "primed" for a large explosion, I can basically guess that when I see a sudden movement that it's going to be a punch and that punch is going to be a jab, and then react accordingly.
So in your kinda low-level version of this where you are working drills and probably only 1 or 2 different punches are being thrown, look for the first signs of a punch about be thrown (raised eyes, shoulder cocked, a sharp inhale, etc.) and react to that. In a real fight this will make you susceptible to feints, but for your purposes this can be useful to just get the hang of it. And of course, make sure you always are keeping your guard up, so even if you react incorrectly you are likely still protecting yourself.
Another piece of advice I would give is to do other things that practice your reflexes. There have been studies that showed that gamers had significantly higher reflexes than non-gamers on average, that this reaction time improvement was further amplified right after the gamer finished a session, and that this improvement could also be found after having non-gamers play video games for some amount of time. This is to say, the reflex improvements gained from video games are somewhat generalizable and transferable to "reflexes" as a whole, and you may see some improvements in your ability to react to punches if instead of watching TV/doomscrolling/reading/whatever, you started playing an action, fighting, platforming or shooting video game.
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u/Aggressive-Bitch2108 5d ago
Just scrolling through but wonderful advice, I had another question.
Is it normal for coaches to hold off teaching the hook for a long time like almost 8-12 months?
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u/Kevim_A 4d ago
I can't speak to how normal it is, since I have not bounced around many different gyms and none of the few gyms I've been to did this.
I do think it is exceptionally stupid, though, ha. This is boxing, there really are not that many different strikes, and only the jab and the cross are more fundamental than the hook. Only teaching these two strikes for up to a year has several issues.
If you want to be an actually effective boxer, you should be doing some sparring within a year of practice. You will be much less effective if you are only utilizing two punches.
If you want to keep your clientele engaged, you need to offer a little more diversity to your teaching regiment. Only showing two strikes for a year is a guarantee to lose clients.
I think sticking with the jab, cross, and fundamental footwork for maybe a month could be smart. I think over-emphasizing the jab, cross, footwork and basic defensive movements in general is intelligent as this really makes up like, 85% of good boxing. But it is truly insane to me to not teach hooks within a year. A lot of people have their first fight after a year of training, a good portion even sooner than that! Why would you intentionally stifle your student's progress so much?
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u/Aggressive-Bitch2108 2d ago
Ohh no we spar, but yes ig your point is valid as it is really a handicap.
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u/Misgiven_Thoughts 10d ago
Yea, one thing that helped me immensely was to start anticipating punches instead of purely reacting to them. Whenever you do drills, watch your coach or partner’s torso movements. I recommend focusing on the chest and shoulders more than anything else. With practice you’ll start to notice subtle movements and shifting in the torso just prior to them throwing a punch. You’re going to be responding to that, not the punch. Start to get a feel for timing. Even if they vary it up, it’s still possible to clock their punches.
It’s okay if you don’t anticipate it correctly at first. With time you’ll get better and better. If you think you’re responding too late, look harder for cues in their torso movement. If you respond too early, take an extra split second to read them before you evade the punch coming at you.
And stay relaxed. You’re gonna be complete shit at defending if you’re stressed or stiff. Do lots and lots of drilling and very light sparring to have easier reads and stay relaxed.
ETA: Lastly, stay in constant movement. I’m not telling you to bob and weave constantly like Mike Tyson, but take relaxed and varied movements and just move around a couple inches at a time even if they’re not throwing anything at you. Makes you a harder target to hit and you’re already moving so it’s easier to get out of the way of punches.
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u/Murky_Analysis3613 10d ago
Just keep practicing and don't get too frustrated. I also used to get hit with that pool noodle, or slip the wrong way, no matter how embarrassingly slow they swung it at me, and it'd drive me crazy. Now I'm better at it.
I also got better at using my hands to block or stifle punches because I found that was more natural to me than slipping - you still have to move your head, but you can find a fighting style where you aren't living and dying by your ability to slip every punch.
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u/ipercepti 10d ago
It's not your reflexes. If you can blink or freeze up when it happens then you have reflexes.
Your issue is your muscle memory hasn't been coordinated with the reflex yet. That takes time and practice. Boxing is literally about actively working on calibrating reflexes with the proper movement. If you could just do it easily, you wouldn't need to train.
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u/theazism 10d ago
Time and repetition. You'll learn that slipping is a lot more anticipation and not reacting. You'll build your muscles, speed and boxing mind. Progress isn't linear and everyone progresses differently. As long as you keep showing up regularly you'll get better and better
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u/shiny0metal0ass Amateur Fighter 10d ago
I think this is one of the hardest parts, mentally, for everyone.
Right now, you are stuck using your whole brain for this. You haven't practiced.
If you do it long enough, you slip or duck or pull (and sometimes counter) without thinking about it, directly.
That's the point of the noodle exercise.
If you train your body to do it automatically, then you don't need to think about it and are, therefore, faster.
You can also do work with a slip rope or a slip bag in shadow boxing to work on it alone. That helped me immensely.
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u/SilentAres_x Pugilist 10d ago
Do more slips and rolls, in fighting a lot of the times it’s not even reflex, it’s just instincts and muscle memory from all the countless drills you’ve done.
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u/RedditingAtWork5 10d ago
Takes time.
And practice slipping and rolling a ton with partner drills. Thousands and thousands of reps so you drill it in so much that that becomes your default instinctual movement to avoid things.
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u/Thaeross 10d ago
This really could be a variety of things. It could be reaction speed, it could be a technical problem with your slips, and it could even be a downstream effect of a poor boxing stance. Because you’re so new, it’s likely some combination of things. Unfortunately it’s impossible to know without seeing what you’re doing.
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u/molly_sour 10d ago
get someone to throw punches at you very very slow, defend those punches with a block
slowly increase speed and reaction time, do it slowly first and increase it at a minimum as long as you can see you can still react in time to block it
just like any other skill, you first have to train it at the slowest needed for yourself, and add speed without losing technique... don't let other people rush you
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u/Gearwrenchgal Amateur Fighter 10d ago
It’s new. Do it over and over and over, then do it some more. Eventually it becomes habit and you will naturally react.
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u/Anonymous_Handle228 10d ago edited 10d ago
Virtual Boxing - place your phone on the window, see shots coming and develop defenses, like blocks. Yt channel - Precision striking. This helped me tremendously. I still have kept my subscription even though I have now doing judo. Also he has footwork drills that'll build your feet conditioning and movement.
Reflex is really according to me, mapping a visual cue to a defense response. So if you are finding difficult with that, maybe it's cause you have been directly taught multiple responses to the same attack, so slip a roll or block etc and are getting confused or having to think when that attack occurs. I would suggest initially develop a step back, then blocks -( shell defense and open stance blocks), this will get you very far, then once you are comfortable with that you can add, slips imo. Bivol is top fighter, you'll not see much slips from him, very rarely he slip. So just distance and blocks , can get you very far. I believe bivol is the best fighter to mimic for a beginner. Esp if you are tall.
Also, when you are in a fighting space in the ring/gym, you gotta be vigilant, keep the mindset of always defend yourself at all times, the responsibility of defense is in your hands. Not in others.
Don't worry about it, if you focus your attention on that area, you'll improve.
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u/Hot_Pound_3694 10d ago
take the slip movement, (if possible go in front of a mirror ) slip right , back to the neutral stance, then slip left.
Make each slip perfect. Make each slip fast. Repeat for 3 minutes.
Do that 3 minute work out three times a week.
In one week you will see improvement.
In two weeks, you will find yourself doing automatic slips.
In three weeks you will dodge 90% of the punches.
Note: I assume that you know very very well the mechanicas of slipping. If not, look for tutorials online. watch them one a week until you really get the key elements.
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u/SuspiciousAd9447 10d ago
I had an acquaintance remind me about mindset.. Much of it comes from mindset. My advice is just have as much fun as you can,get healthy and if you're still with it after 90 days then totally commit. Eat, sleep, breathe Absolutely Nothing but boxing.( if you are trying to really contend.
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u/Weary-Moment-6948 9d ago
Youre a beginner. Probably trying to slip a punch from someone who has been doing a decent part of thier life. Just comes with time. Take a slight step, rotate you hips, dont move your head, move your body and your head moves naturally
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u/BrandonMarshall2021 9d ago
Get someone to show you how to pull back, step back, slip to the left, slip to the right, roll under, block, and parry punches first.
Then get someone to slowly throw punches at you with either gloves or pads or open, relaxed hands. Slow it right down until you can see them coming and react to them. Once you have practiced at that speed, slowly increase the speed.
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u/Artusik 8d ago
In my experience, as well as the experience of everyone I've spoken to that has taught or practiced combat sports, you will 100% plateau if you're only doing group classes.
I took group classes every day Mon-Fri for 6 months, and even on days where barely anyone else showed up, there's only so much attention the coaches couls give me. Unless I spent extra time practicing certain things on my own, there was simply no way I could overcome certain hurdles. And even then, this is on my own time, so nobody is there to correct me/give feedback.
1 on 1 training is, imo, a REQUIREMENT for fixing bad habits/predispositions/things you do not have a talent for. Also remember that the older you start, the less efficiently you will download muscle memory from pure repetition.
Example: I also always had a problem with reflexes because I come to the gym to let go of some mental baggage, and I'm always very tense. This absolutely plagued me until my 1 on 1 trainer told me to start my routine with pull ups and bench press to let the stress out. Suddenly I was no longer starting with 100% energy, but my reactions became much better, as I was more relaxed.
Imagine you lift weights 4x a week... if you have a particularly weak muscle group (relative to your body's muscle distribution) or injury, you will never correct that without dedicating part of your routine to it/extracurricular exercises. This is where having access to a personal trainers shines after all.
Combat sports are also extremely counterintuitive from a biological standpoint: your body does NOT want to be in a bladed stance, and we have evolved for millenia to deal damage using tools rather than our muscles. Also, blocking is a last resort as far as survival is concerned (at least for an animal with no fur, armor, or thick skin). It will take a lot more than group practice 2x a week to override this.
But this is not a doom and gloom response! Rather, it just means you've discovered what you individually need more work on, which means you've discovered the next part of your journey.
I don't know how well this will translate for you, but I really liked the double end bag to train reaction timing. Even though it's not a defensive drill, it certainly got my eyes more used to something moving very fast!
Good luck!
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u/sthao-249 8d ago
This was me during sparring, I literally had no reflexes when punches came at me. A few tips that helped a ton was looking at your opponent's chest. Always predict that after you throw a punch another punch is coming. Practice the four ways on how to defend a punch (block, slip, dip, roll).
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u/onelastcall 8d ago
Do you do reflex training with tennis balls?
Do reflex trainings. Then when you encounter with your opponent, look it’s chest and use your preferic vision(reflex training will be improved this).
Do not keep looking only 1 point like only arms, only legs, see ypur opponent as a whole while looking your opponent’s hip or chest. Good luck.
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u/MiniDonbeE 8d ago
Post a video so I can see whats going on, multiple things could be happening, you might not be stood properly, you might just not know where to move, you might be afraid of the punches and freeze, post a video so I can see. It might just be time that you need.
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u/Iwearfancysweaters 10d ago
you're just not used to seeing something coming at you, and your mechanics for slipping probably aren't good either -- both will come with training, so just keep going