Coaching Archives | Ringside Boxing Blog

Choosing The Best Punch Mitts

Punch mitts are one of the most necessary equipment items for training in any combat sport. It is one of the best things for fighter conditioning and development. Punch mitts, also known as focus pad or focus mitts, are a crucial part of training from beginners to professionals. The fighter gains accuracy, timing, and speed while training with punch mitts.

Focus mitts assist a fighter in almost every way. It brings a fighter into a great rhythm and makes his stance better. Most significant is that the trainer finds where his fighter is doing wrong and where he is doing good. What helps the most a coach is that they altogether increase the precision of the fighters.

A Fighter’s Guide to Nutrition and Diet

Movies, TV, and countless training montages have taught us that a fighter’s diet needs to be highly specialized to be effective.

Torso and right arm of a boxer in peak physical condition. — *To build a great body for fighting, you need to have a solid nutrition plan.*

In reality, a fighter’s nutrition plan has a lot in common with your basic “sensible diet”. It only varies in how much you eat and how often.

In this blog, we lay out our guide for a proper fighter’s diet. This will help you to not only get through your training, but get the most from it.

Holding Punch Mitts: 7 Tips for More Effective Mitt Training

Boxing coach, wearing a body protector, holds punch mitt for boxer throwing a cross. — Holding the punch mitts for a boxer is one of the most critical ways to help them train.

Introduced relatively recently, Punch Mitts have become a critical training tool for coaches and fighters throughout the boxing and martial arts world.

But you can’t just hang Punch Mitts from the ceiling. Someone has to hold them for a fighter. And that someone could be you.

If you want to learn the art of properly holding those mitts, then read on. We put together a list of seven fundamentals for creating a great mitt-work experience.

Focus on Fighting Styles, Part 2 – The Out-Boxer

The Out-Boxer fighting style can be a true wonder to behold.

An out-boxers uses the jab to keep an opponent at bay.

A master of this style uses pinpoint jabs to keep their opponent at bay, while slipping, ducking, and stepping out of the way of all incoming punches. It is graceful and highly technical.

But not just anyone can utilize this style effectively in the ring.

In our latest Focus on Fighting Styles, we will look more closely at the Out-Boxer style of fighting.

Combat Simulation: Getting the Most from your Sparring Session

Sparring offers fighters, from Boxing to MMA to Judo, an opportunity to test their skills against real live opponents. The experience of facing off against another human, even in a controlled setting, teaches you things that you can’t learn from hitting a bag.

To get the most out of a sparring session, though, you don’t just step into the ring and start brawling. If you don’t take a few key things in mind when you set up your sparring session, you may end up doing more harm than good.

In today’s article, we’ll discuss what you should keep in mind before, during, and after every sparring session.

Using a Punch Shield for Boxing Training

coach holds punch shield for boxer in blue gloves

A lot of folks don’t understand the value of the Punch Shield. Why use a punch shield, when lighter, smaller punch mitts offer a more versatile training option?

But the Punch Shield absolutely has a place in your training. Held properly, a punch shield gives a fighter a similar experience as a heavy bag, but with more mobility. You can throw heavy punches, while your training partner moves you around the ring.

Further, a Punch Shield reduces some of the wear and tear on the coach. Punch Mitts are great, but they don’t allow a coach to tolerate very many full power shots.

Read on to learn more about the Punch Shield and where it fits into your training program.

5 Effective Ways to Encourage and Motivate Young Fighters

A coach provides feedback to a boxer during mitt-work. — Keeping a fighter encouraged and motivated is critical to their successful development.

When a fighter first starts training, it can be hard to contain their fire and passion. It’s all you can do to keep up with them as they eat up everything you throw down.

But then, sometimes, you can’t seem to connect. You can’t get them to see the value of a particular exercise. Or you can’t get them to understand why they need to “fix” they way they throw their cross.

In those situations, you need to find a way to break through and get on the same page. Read on to learn about some of the tactics that might help motivate your fighters.