Boxing pivots are in my opinion the most versatile of footwork skills. Pivots can be off the front foot or rear foot and they can be used for attack and defense. This video will give you the boxing pivot essentials. There’s also a warning regarding a pivot that you need to be careful with!
Front Foot Boxing Pivots
You can pivot of either foot on pretty much any angle. I like to work on 45 degree pivots, and we can work up to 90 degree pivots also. Any more than that seems a bit pointless to me. The key thing though in executing the pivot, as with other skills, is to ensure technical precision by avoiding the common faults.
The first fault is the urge to tilt forward as the pivot is initiated. Having your bodyweight tilting forward and over the front leg is a bad fault. Never lend your bodyweight to the opponent’s punches, that’s a handy and healthy tip. Your bodyweight should be falling onto the back leg, not onto the front leg.
Another fault is not having the front foot on the ball so that the pivot actually happens. The heel of the foot must lift to make it all work.
Rear Foot Boxing Pivots
Rear foot pivots are about controlling the centre of the ring, cutting the corners and keeping the opponent in the crosshairs. The same principles apply, make sure that the correct foot does the push to execute that pivot.
Punch Before, During and After
Learn to punch before, during and after your pivots. Obviously if you are punching before or after the pivot, then either hand is good. If you are punching during the pivot, then pivoting to your lead hand side is more flowing and smooth if you punch with your lead hand. Pivoting towards your rear foot side is not as easy.
Some Variations
You can mix the pivot up with a range of other skills. Make yourself more difficult to hit by using a duck or a slip. You can also change the angle a bit by stepping with the lead foot first. If you are going to do this lead foot step ahead of the pivot, go to your lead side. Stepping with your lead foot to the rear foot side crosses the legs – that’s not good…beginners beware…go with the angled side step instead.
I would love to get your thoughts on this below.
Cheers
Fran
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