Is this good advice

[nottingham90]

(Boxing) for some reason in sparing lately whenever I try to body jab or cross I always hit their elbows/arms first. Very annoying and discouraging. It seems like my opponent seems it coming or glove is just not fitting in between. My coach simply said (which sounds logical) to throw my punches a bit lower but I feel like of they are any lower than the elbows it's getting very low almost pointless. Even after watching the best body jabber mayweather I can't seem to figure out how he is so successfully with this punch always hitting the pit of the stomach.

 

[fightingrabbit]

Stop trying to land it clean. Land it on the elbow then come up to the head.

You're not going to land every punch clean, the sooner you come to grips with this the better.

 

[Captain_Dammitt]

I was told recently to aim at the clavical

 

[N00bLifter]

Stop trying to land it clean. Land it on the elbow then come up to the head.

You're not going to land every punch clean, the sooner you come to grips with this the better.

Interesting. I am new to sparring and the bolded part really gets me out of my zone during sparring. My punch don;t land and I get discouraged. Then I get stuck in my head and I receive a beating.

 

[aries]

(Boxing) for some reason in sparing lately whenever I try to body jab or cross I always hit their elbows/arms first. Very annoying and discouraging. It seems like my opponent seems it coming or glove is just not fitting in between. My coach simply said (which sounds logical) to throw my punches a bit lower but I feel like of they are any lower than the elbows it's getting very low almost pointless. Even after watching the best body jabber mayweather I can't seem to figure out how he is so successfully with this punch always hitting the pit of the stomach.

Well he's fast, good positioning, unpredictable and has great timing. But the fact that he lands good jabs upstairs is probably a big factor. Once you get someone worried about an attack at one level it's much easier to get success at another.

If you are regularly catching their elbows with straights to the body you might have a poor angle. You need to get them so they are more square to you then that gap between their elbows becomes very difficult to close off.

For instance, assuming your are both orthodox, if you are throwing a simple 1- low 2 then if you haven't stepped off to get a better angle i.e. to your left then a straight punch is just going to catch on his lead elbow and glance of his stomach especially if he is quite bladed. So step off on the jab to your left and you'll have a much better angle to land the straight to their body. You might need to double up your jab so you can fit in an extra step to get you further around.

Another way to set them up is to get their hands up high. A convincing long range lead hook before that low straight will work well to bring them up and out.

 

[fluffball]

This applies more to kicking, but also very much to punching. Even if the attack lands on the arms, it still takes it's toll on the other guy. Especially if he isn't compressing his body on the side where the punch lands, even if you hit him full on the arm, it still hurts the body.

I am admittedly terrible at compressing my body, and usually just block body punches with my elbows. From looking at me, you did absolutely nothing and didn't hurt me, but trust me it hurts.

You may have seen the video of Chuck Liddell punching a radio DJ in the shoulder because the guy wanted to see what it felt like. Obviously Chuck TKOd the guy. That's an extreme example, but you get the point.

 

[jensen34]

Punch them in the face instead.

Get smaller gloves.

 

[sk00pie]

Most important take away is do not get discouraged when your opponent blocks a punch, its going to happen, especially when you first start sparring and are probably very readable. Below are a few techniques I like to incorporate with the body jab that may help as well:

1. Fake a head jab first, then fire one to the body. If your opponent is expecting the jab upstairs and covers there is a better chance their body is less protected.

2. Jab to the body, then immediately lead hook to the head. Similar concept to tip 1, if you jab to the body and they block, their arms are most likely low and centered, leaving them opened for a head hook.

 

[apizur**]

The "not every punch is going to land clean" is a great piece of advice. What's really gonna fuck with you is when you land a super clean punch and you just stand there and stare at your own handy work.

Try throwing the right to the body at the same time he's jabbing with his left (assuming you're both orthodox fighters) Try it in the middle or at the end of the round.

 

[Shoemaker]

You want him to bring his elbows up. One way to do this is to drop level, but jab towards his neck. Once he's use to you dropping level to throw an upjab, throw one into his stomach. To him the setup will look exactly the same.

 

[Devonmac95]

all good advice in here, one thing i love to do to get a good body jab in is to use it as a counter to a head punch like a ajab, straght, or hook, you duck under and throw the body jab, and like what someone else was saying, you can follow it up with a head hook/jad, and start messing with guys working high and low feints so they dont know where the jab is gonna go