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When opponent leans back to evade

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monsieurpooh

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Sometimes my opponent leans his head pretty far back to evade a punch. Yet when I try to pressure forward, he can often recover instantly and counter with something like a right cross. Does leaning back put him in a bad position at all? What are the correct ways of taking advantage of someone leaning backwards to dodge a punch? He is taller than me, if that makes any difference
 
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but seriously...if he leans back like that, his feet are probably planted and his body should be exposed.

Chuck favored throwing the overhand in a situation like that.
 
Haha, not that far back... and not going limp, and his hands are still up.
 
Paradigm said:
ibpTAYvgSlVH1S.gif


but seriously...if he leans back like that, his feet are probably planted and his body should be exposed.

Chuck favored throwing the overhand in a situation like that.
Click to expand...

Looking at that gif again, if Weidman had chosen to go to the body, he would have almost 100% chance of landing cleanly. It would have been the highest percentage punch to throw, but his choice obviously wasn't wrong.:P

Is this only for boxing? kickboxing? MMA? That's important here as it opens up possibilities. If he's concentrating on leaning his head away from your punches, you could switch it up with a leg kick.
 
One of the best ways is to feint him into leaning back as you move in. Don't commit to shots you expect him to lean away from or you'll end up just as off balance as him and won't be able to reach him or recover in time to get him with the next punch. Try throwing a few jabs as you move forward. If that doesn't get him to lean, feint a cross. Your goal is to get him to lean while he's still in range to be hit and you're in a position to attack. So jab and feint as you move forward until he leans back from too close, then hit him and he'll fall like Silva even if he isn't leaning as far back. An overhand is a great option to throw.

If you can't get him with that, punching him in the body is a fantastic idea.
 
When he leans back he exposes his midsection, and there's a good chance that he's inhaling at the same time.

That's a perfect time to drop down and unload a straight punch into his abdomen.
 
monsieurpooh said:
Haha, not that far back... and not going limp, and his hands are still up.
Click to expand...

i wish i could find the clip of Chuck from TUF Brazil 2 but its probably copywrited and unavailable on youtube. its of him showing the fighters in the house how and why he threw his overhand.

actually found a bit of it on youtube...starts at 1:00:



Noblet10 said:
Looking at that gif again, if Weidman had chosen to go to the body, he would have almost 100% chance of landing cleanly. It would have been the highest percentage punch to throw, but his choice obviously wasn't wrong.:P

Is this only for boxing? kickboxing? MMA? That's important here as it opens up possibilities. If he's concentrating on leaning his head away from your punches, you could switch it up with a leg kick.
Click to expand...

risk vs reward...i think we can all agree that Weidman made the right choice.

what about a 1-2 to get him to fade back and then throw a straight or switch step knee to the body? assuming this is MMA or Muay Thai...
 
Trick him by moving your feet into range but throwing with your weight back. Now when he leans out of range of your first punch (which is thrown just to get him to react) you can let your weight come forward with your next punch and eat up that range before he can recover.
 
I like to fake that i am going to go in with punches, but instead go for a hard hard lowkick. Leaning back will make it hard to block or move away from the low kicks.
 
Watch Saenchai vs Bennoui for a lesson on what not to do when the opponent leans back. I've never seen someone push-kicked to the ground so many times in a fight before... Then again, to keep headhunting works with lesser opponents (Anderson vs Weidman :icon_twis)...
 
I think everyone's first response is going to be body punches... I don't agree necessarily. If you bring your hands down to punch to the body, you've already stated he's WAITING to counter with a head punch. You're just leaning into it and removing your guard.

When you jab, make sure your front foot hits the ground at the same time your punch snaps. Then you're ready to evade his counter punch, and perhaps counter with your own (although he'll likely just start leaning back right after). You can try to time a hook over his counter right at the same time he throws it.
Keep your front foot in front of you, don't lead with your head because you're expecting to get countered.
I think mixing up how many jabs you throw, and throwing a short combination that ends with a jab will keep him guessing. Throw a jab, throw three jabs, throw a jab, throw a jab, throw a one-two, throw a double jab, throw a one-two-one... etc. If you can get him to shell up... move in and start laying on punishment.
Be smart and use your position in the ring to dictate his movement. If you control the center... he's that much closer to the ropes.
Watch me spar a counter fighter; around 40 seconds when I get control of the center, I keep it. I'll walk right in front of him and hold position. After that I got him to shell up or get on the ropes multiple times. I'm the white guy.
 
^What he said about controlling the center will help a lot with making the opponent lean while he's in range to be hit by you, or prevent him from leaning at all if you get him all the way against the ropes.

Also, one more thing that I just remembered. Axe kicks. If you can throw one, try to do it right as he starts leaning back. You won't even have to really aim it; it'll smash whatever it hits.
 
Once he leans back, shoot in, he's already halfway there. If that's not an option, then take a step forward and cover some distance explosively. For example he leans back from your jab. Chances are, you'll miss the second one too since he's expecting it from that distance. Close in as you throw the two.
 
I am curious to hear what sport OP participates in.
 
From my experience it's usually people who are inexperienced in martial arts that do that, because they don't know how to move their head and avoid punches and they know that that's the easiest way for them to make you run after their head and they just swing while leaning back, they really piss me off!!!!!!
 
If he leans back to avoid punches then all you need to do is feint him. Feint, and step in when he reacts by leaning away from the feint. If you catch him on the chin leaning back he'll be a hell of a lot easier to drop.

When leaning back from punches, it's important to only lean back so far (never past your own feet) and to come back forward with the next evasive movement. If you fade a punch, either be ready to come forward and counter or come forward and slip/roll to keep yourself from getting away from your own base.

Edit: Damn you "a guy," you beat me to the first part.
 
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