What boxing skills to we need to master as a beginner boxer? It’s a really important question. But it’s not the only question. An equally important question as the start of the boxing journey is what skills should you avoid trying to learn. In my experience, a really big risk for boxing beginners is trying to run before you can walk.
Good boxing is really all about a good base, and a good base is all about the boxing stance. Without a good boxing stance, nothing else will work for the beginner boxer. So, priority 1 in boxing for beginners is mastering the boxing stance.
Follow the boxing stance with some simple movement; forward and backward and side to side. If you add to that the boxing pivot you can, as a beginner, move pretty freely whilst under control and in good balance.
At all levels of boxing, boxing drills are a fundamental part of the training session. As a boxing beginner, get used to mastering the skills through drills – it builds muscle memory and maximises the chances of consistency.
The next stage in your boxing for beginners journey is establishing some good punching capability. The jab and the backhand are not only the most used punches by a boxer, but the mechanics of those punches provide a solid basis for learning all of the other punches.
When you hit someone, they most often will want to hit you back – sometimes beginner boxers forget this. So, some simple boxing defences help. The block to the jab and the double arm block are a really good start for the beginner.
Another aspect of boxing defence is head movement. The duck is simple and effective (plus it enables the straight punches to be used to the body) and the layback is a great way to begin the learning about counterpunching.
To add another dimension to your boxing for beginners journey, consider learning what you can about feints in boxing. Feints in boxing help build pressure and create openings by making the opponent commit.
So what are the skills that should not be part of your boxing for beginners journey? Hooks, uppercuts and fancy footwork should all be avoided. Take the apprentice approach, tackle those skills only when you are comfortable with the 10 skills that we have already covered. Bad habits formed as a beginner can be quite difficult to fix later on.
So, there are your 10 boxing for beginners skills and the all-important skills to avoid, at least until you’ve mastered the 10.
Cheers
Fran
by 
Good stuff Fran. Teaching the catch-jab-counter jab is one of the beginner staples that I teach. Bernard Hopkins explained it well some years back in Ring Magazine, as being like a “catcher’s mitt”. (as in baseball). I teach beginners to stiffen their wrist as they catch the jab so they are, in effect, jamming the incoming jab.
Ah great minds Pug. That’s one of our first principles too, and always aim to respond with your own shot in response. I like the way of describing the wrist action…may pinch that 🙂
hi fran , sound advice , hope you enjoyed your birthday.
didnt realize you were a youngster !
😂 Youngster…that will do. Thanks Dunstan