Why is my left hook so bad?

[Akhi]

I can't for the life of me throw a decent left hook, to the body or to the head. When I'm shadowboxing or hitting a bad it's OK, but in sparring I can count the number of hooks ive landed on one hand.

I'm not doing too bad without it, but it's just weird having an entire punch completely missing from your arsenal.

My stance is really back-foot heavy, is this why?

[ChowAce]

You said it yourself, your stance is really back foot heavy. You have to shift your weight to the front foot more when you throw your left hooks. The left hook is also the most unnatural punch to throw, could be another reason why you feel like your left hook is bad.

[Akhi]

thanks

having to redistribute your weight every time you want to throw 1 punch will be annoying but i guess with practice it'll feel more natural

any tips on the long hook? that ones terrible no matter what I'm doing. at least I can generate power on the short hook, my long hook is more like a arm swing...slow as **** too

[Spiegelo]

thanks

having to redistribute your weight every time you want to throw 1 punch will be annoying but i guess with practice it'll feel more natural

any tips on the long hook? that ones terrible no matter what I'm doing. at least I can generate power on the short hook, my long hook is more like a arm swing...slow as **** too

Yeah man that is by far the hardest punch to throw. It takes a long time for it not to look like a calzaghe slap. Shadow box and throw that punch a lot on the heavy and double end bag. And then there's having your coach correct/make fun of you every time you hit the pads to make you slowly get better. Basically what I'm saying is, practice practice practice!

[Spiegelo]

Also it sounds like you have poor balance. A backfoot heavy stance means your footwork needs work as well. Don't put your weight in your heel, stay on the balls of your feet.

[sugersean15]

step in whit it and faint a right hand first

[Spiegelo]

step in whit it and faint a right hand first

Yeah the feint right/Left hook is a nice trick every once in a while, but you don't want someone with poor balance needing to feint or throw the right every time to shift his weight, just so he can throw the left. If it's something you do out of necessity, then you have a problem. A good example of this is Tito. Once Oscar noticed this, BHop and Winky saw it too, and he couldn't win more than 1 round against either man.

[Akhi]

Also it sounds like you have poor balance. A backfoot heavy stance means your footwork needs work as well. Don't put your weight in your heel, stay on the balls of your feet.

my coach says i should stay on my backfoot so i can use my height better..he's a euro type trainer: stand tall, lean back slightly, stick with 1-2's, etc.

your right about needing to throw the right, I can ONLY throw it after pivotting with my right foot after a 1-2

hearns had a nice hook for a tall guy...and he could throw it to the body while still being a 'boxer'. thats what i want

de la hoya's is nice too:

[Spiegelo]

my coach says i should stay on my backfoot so i can use my height better..he's a euro type trainer: stand tall, lean back slightly, stick with 1-2's, etc.

your right about needing to throw the right, I can ONLY throw it after pivotting with my right foot after a 1-2

hearns had a nice hook for a tall guy...and he could throw it to the body while still being a 'boxer'. thats what i want

de la hoya's is nice too:

Ah I've got a diff frame so it's a diff story for me. I fight with a more traditional knees bent stance. In that case, like you said watch fighters who fought tall and throw decent hooks like Ali and Hearns. Even Klitschko has a pretty decent left hook when he opts to throw it.

Oscar however bends his knees and hooks off the slip a lot, plus he's left handed, so while his left hook is a thing of beauty it wouldn't relate to your style so much.

[..WaRSpencE..]

Actually the left hook is best when the weight of your body is distributed to the back foot, the torque from your hips down to your front foot are KEY!...