Dropping your hands is a common issue in boxing, especially for those new to the sport.
However, it’s crucial that you learn to keep your hands up so that you can block any incoming punches and, overall, better protect yourself.
In this article, we will cover 5 different strategies to help keep your hands glued to your chin.
1. Shadowboxing
Shadowboxing is the best place to refine your technique.
If you keep dropping your hands, you need to incorporate more shadowboxing into your routine and pay specific attention to your form.
Here are a few different tips that will help:
- Go slowly.
If you can’t do it slowly, you can’t do it quickly.
- Use a mirror.
By watching yourself in the mirror you can see where you’re making mistakes.
- Use dumbbells.
Using small dumbbells as your shadowbox will help to build greater endurance.
- Close your eyes.
By closing your eyes, you can pay more attention to how each movement feels.
2. Record yourself
Sometimes, like boxers, we don’t even realise when we’re dropping our hands.
If you record yourself you can play the footage back slowly and see where you’re going wrong.
Usually, we drop our hands during different combinations that we haven’t practised as much.
Recording yourself will help you become more aware of your habits.
After identifying your mistakes, pick one to address.
Don’t try to change too much at once.
3. Go one at a time
Get used to your hand staying close to your chin by practising one arm at a time.
One way you can do this is to place a mouthguard between your glove and chin and practice throwing punches with the other arm.
In this way, you build the muscle memory of one arm being glued to your face.
4. Use the speed bag
The speed bag is a great way to build endurance in your shoulders and get used to keeping them high.
Along these same lines, you can also practise throwing high punches on the heavy bag – anything that will tire your shoulders out.
5. Use a partner
When you’re doing mittwork, have your partner hit your face when you drop your hands.
As you’re working with them, think about tapping your face after each combo to help build muscle memory.
Overall, if you incorporate these 5 techniques into your training, you’ll be keeping your hands up in no time.
Though there are times in boxing when you may not want your hands close to your face, you’ve got to learn the rules before you can break them.
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