Can't pull the trigger, what's wrong with me?

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TigerMuay

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I train as often as I can. I lift weights when I have the chance(deads, bench, squats and push). I do burpess and skipping and shadow boxing for conditioning. Do a lot of pad work but when I get in and do a hard spar I feel gasses, slow and weak and can't pull the trigger. Am I psyching myself out or what? Anyone else ever have this issue
 
1. Just because you do S+C work, doesn't mean you do the right S+C work, or do work conducive to improving sparring.

2. You are probably too tense when you spar. That's a common problem.

3. Do you ever spar "soft" (as opposed to "hard" sparring). Most pro and high-level amateur fighters I know do not spar hard very often. Hard sparring is often unnecessarily taxing, and overly prone to causing injuries. You should try sparring with less intensity, and focusing on technique.
 
When you say 'hard sparring' are you talking about intensity level or the difficulty of opponent? Do you feel slow and gassed against guys that you have the upper hand on, or when it's close/the other guy has the upper hand?
 
TigerMuay said:
I train as often as I can. I lift weights when I have the chance(deads, bench, squats and push). I do burpess and skipping and shadow boxing for conditioning. Do a lot of pad work but when I get in and do a hard spar I feel gasses, slow and weak and can't pull the trigger. Am I psyching myself out or what? Anyone else ever have this issue
Click to expand...

Try 15-30 minutes of meditation before sparring if possible.
Blears your mind and relaxes your body.
When I actively fought back in the day it did wonders.
 
I guess hard sparring is both an opponent with the upper hand and a little more aggressive. Prob 70 to 80%. I think it's def the being tense and forgetting to breath. Ive been trying for the longest time to breath and be aggressive. They all call me "mr nice guy" cause I kill the pads and bag but don't unleash/ can't in sparring. I mean I don't wanna hurt anyone but wouldn't mind tagging someone with a good few shots from time to time.
 
TigerMuay said:
They all call me "mr nice guy" cause I kill the pads and bag but don't unleash/ can't in sparring. I mean I don't wanna hurt anyone but wouldn't mind tagging someone with a good few shots from time to time.
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Look at it from a different mindset. I know I personally wouldn't like it if the guy I was sparring refused to hit me or treated me like I'm easily breakable. Your partners are trying to get some work in and don't want you playing patty cake with them. If it is hard sparring you should go hard, and to do so is the "nice" thing to do.
 
Do you have the same problem when you do lighter sparring?
 
Like others said it might be connected with you being too tense. Even when you work the bag during training try to be loose and snap your punches instead of stiff arming all of them. You'll have an overall better flow and you won't be getting as tired wasting energy keeping your muscles contracted the whole time.
 
Please provide a more detailed description of your weekly program. Include sparring, training, lifting, conditioning, etc. And do so on a daily basis.

And relax.
 
DrBdan said:
Do you have the same problem when you do lighter sparring?
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Sometimes yes, it's like I don't focus I dunno what it is it drives me crazy and by the time I get going sometimes I'm gassed. I feel bad not being able to turn it on for my sparring partners. I figure it's the not breathing right and being tense thing, I've been trying forever to stop it but it doesn't seem like it works. It's like when I focus on making myself calm I get too calm
And relaxed and don't get into it. Have a hard time finding the middle. Either too calm and passive. Or too tense and tight
 
Arlecchino said:
Please provide a more detailed description of your weekly program. Include sparring, training, lifting, conditioning, etc. And do so on a daily basis.

And relax.
Click to expand...



It's pretty sporadic because I work a lot. I get to boxing atleast twice a week. Which is usually 1 to 1.5 hours. I do shadow boxing and skipping with burpess another 2 days a week approx 1 hr each time. I also swim sometimes. Sometimes I'll get to lift once a week. Sometimes twice, I usually skip in between sets to keep my heart rate up
 
How long have you been training in striking? How long have you been sparring? Do you do any light sparring sessions?

My advice would be to do lots of light sparring. It's easier to feel comfortable because you know that you won't get injured if you make a mistake. You can also try new things and expand your repertoire.
My feeling us you
 
Sorry, on my phone here. My feeling is you're probably just lacking experience.
 
LZD said:
Sorry, on my phone here. My feeling is you're probably just lacking experience.
Click to expand...

The thing is I've been sparring for a couple years now but it's always been somewhat hard. I used to have an instructor(when I first started sparring) that just beat the shit out of me, wondering if my confidence is just shattered. I think I will try the light sparring so I can feel some confidence and try some new things, I think being scared is a bit of it too due to being made to pay everytine I made a mistake beginning. Appreciate your guys input it's helping me reflect a lot
 
when I sparr someone better than me I gas easy to. Whats helping me is when I start, I focus on my breathing I make sure im doing it, and not holding my breath. Bad habit, when I focus on not geting hit or trying to hard to land something I forget to breath lol

I'll throw a couple punches follow with roundhouse maybe into a spinning back kick didnt breath the whole time lol now im gassed
 
TigerMuay said:
The thing is I've been sparring for a couple years now but it's always been somewhat hard. I used to have an instructor(when I first started sparring) that just beat the shit out of me, wondering if my confidence is just shattered. I think I will try the light sparring so I can feel some confidence and try some new things, I think being scared is a bit of it too due to being made to pay everytine I made a mistake beginning. Appreciate your guys input it's helping me reflect a lot
Click to expand...

I have an instructor that Ive had just about fight his ass, hit him so he'd feel it, or he'd just beat on me. He thinks twice now
 
If you feel that youre gassing too quickly then its probably just adrenaline dump/nerves, same thing happened to me the first few times I sparred. If its that you have a problem pulling the trigger, such as throwing combinations or capitalizing on openings, then that could be a number of things (confidence or just hesitation cause of punches coming at you). Thats something thats currently affecting me and something that has helped me is just accepting that I'm get hit eventually and that I shouldnt let that get in the way of me landing my own shots.
 
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