How to Fix a Boxing Jab – Simple Drills for a Common Fault

Practice How to Jab – Simple Drills

Even when working with very experienced boxers, you’d be surprised how often I find that a single type of fault creeps in.  If you’ve watched the video and read the article on the boxing jab, you’ll know that one of the faults is the elbow ‘flaring’ or raising to the left (in an orthodox boxer) as the shot starts it’s journey.  This is a real problem for 2 main reasons:

• The power of the shot is reduced (a jab needs to land with real ‘pop’ to earn the respect of the opponent.)
• There is a real chance that the opponent will spot the jab as you throw it.  This will allow your opponent to block your jab and respond with their own shot, usually landing because you have already committed.

So, we really want to avoid this problem of the elbow flaring as the jab is being thrown.  In order to do this, there are 2 simple drills that we can use to avoid (or fix) this problem.

Drill 1:

1. As an orthodox boxer, get in your stance with a wall to your left.  The back-leftside of the heel of your front foot (left) should be placed against the wall, remembering that the foot is at a 45 degree angle to the imaginary line on the floor.
2. As you throw the jab, you must at all costs prevent your elbow from hitting the wall.  If the elbow does not hit the wall as you throw the jab, then this indicates that the rotation of your body is correct and is allowing the arm to be thrust out in a perfectly straight line.

Drill 2:

1. This drill is in a similar vein to drill 1, but ‘implies’ a wall by using a piece of tape and full length mirror.
2. Place a piece of tape vertically on a mirror.  The tape should be long enough to cover your torso and go slightly over your head.
3. This tape acts as our central axis, around which we rotate when performing any skill, including throwing shots.
4. Throw your jab and use the tape as an absolute benchmark.  You can ensure that a) you are rotating appropriately and b) that your left elbow remains parallel to the tape-line throughout the execution of the shot.

And there you have it, 2 simple methods of eradicating the curse of the flaring elbow when using the boxing jab.  Use these drills and your success rate of landing your jab will increase.

Cheers

Fran

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