Engineer Your Opponent’s Mistakes | Counter Punch Mastery

Counter punching is a genuinely high IQ skill in boxing. Get it right and you can make opponents miss, punish every mistake and win fights. I’ve broken this down into 3 drills that make counter punching click for the beginner.

Most beginners think counter punching is about waiting and reacting.

Wrong.

This is why it feels impossible to time.

Counter punching is not reacting, it’s engineering the opponent’s mistake before you punish it.

That’s the blueprint – trigger, evade, counter.

3 Drills, in order, and that gives you the full sequence.

Boxing Drill 1 – The Trigger

hink about building a lethal jab, say like Larry Holmes, or Thomas Hearns.

The kind of jab that loosens the fillings in your teeth.

Now mix that jab in with feints.

Feints are the ultimate in non-punching pressure.

The jab can trigger the opponent to react, and using the feint is an even more effective trigger.

That’s the first step in our blueprint – trigger ’em into action.

If you want to go deep on feints, check this out

Boxing Drill 2 – The Evasion

So the next step is an automatic action, don’t wait for the punch from the opponent.

The likelihood is that the punch will come, but even if it doesn’t you can use the evasion phase as your platform for attack.

Execute either the inside slip or the outside slip

You are holding your feet in position, we want to be assertive here.

Another alternative is the push out and push back in – often referred to as the pendulum step.

Whichever of these 3 evasion techniques you use, be sure to prepare for phase 3 of our blueprint – the payoff.

Boxing Drill 3 – The Counter

So you have engineered your opening with that feint and the evasion, time to send your message.

Off that inside slip, try the lead hand hook.

You have generated lots of stored energy in your lead hip and thigh, and that can be transferred into your punch.

When using the outside slip, try the right hook, or one of the versions of the straight right hand

Again there is energy stored in your rear hop and thing, primed ready for loading up on that punch.

If you are going with the pendulum step, go with the old faithful one-two. Clean, straight and precise right down the pipe.

There you have it, 3 drills, one seamless skillset for counter punching mastery.

Any thoughts on variations on these drills? Let me know in the comments below.

Cheers

Fran

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