5 Common Mistakes Amateur Boxers Make That You Should Avoid!

As a beginner in boxing in an amateur gym, it can be tough to remember all of the best practices when training and in the ring, which makes mistakes unavoidable. This can dampen your motivation, however, making mistakes is the best way to learn and improve your skills.

To help you try and improve, we have put together some of the most common mistakes we see from amateur boxers and how you can avoid making them in the future:

1. Going too hard, too fast

The most common mistake is exerting too much energy early on. Although it feels good to get a lot of effective punches in early, this can tire you out in later rounds and mean you aren’t performing to the best of your ability in a way that can win the match.

Make sure when you train that you practice pacing yourself for the full 3 rounds of 3 minutes. When it gets to bouts in the ring you want to make sure you can stay the course.

2. Going all out before a big fight

It can be tempting to go hard on the training in the run up to a big fight, however this can actually have a negative impact on your performance. It can cause you to have major fatigue during the fight, meaning you aren’t on your A-game.

Over training can also increase the risk of sustaining injuries which can lead to not being able to compete or train for long periods of time. In short, make sure you don’t go too hard! With this in mind, it’s best to develop a programme with set rest days built in.

3. Focusing purely on punches

A lot of amateur boxers purely focus on upping their punching strength. It is important to remember that whilst being able to land a good punch is important, it is not the only aspect of the sport you need to focus on. Speed and technique are more important than power, once you’ve developed the first two, the third will come naturally.

When training, ensure you focus on dodging, stamina, running, coordination and footwork, to name a few. Looking to improve your training game? Take a look at some of the best low cost accessories that can help make a huge difference.

4. Drinking too much water

Whilst staying hydrated is super important when boxing and working out, make sure you don’t drink too much water. This can lead to you getting extremely bloated and even in extreme cases, lead to stomach aches and abdominal pain.

The best way to combat this is to take small sips during your training, not big gulps. Once you have finished working out, then you can drink much more water to quench your first and rehydrate.

5. Hesitating

Those who are new to amateur boxing have the habit of hesitating before throwing a punch. Hesitation means your opponent has the opportunity to take advantage of you and get a good hit.

This could be the difference between you winning and losing the bout, so try to avoid hesitation at all costs. You can do this through training and testing different scenarios to make yourself more confident and ready to act quickly in the ring. Working on defence and blocks, as well as offence, will help your overall game.

Get into boxing

Boxing is a very skillful and instinctive sport, so the more training and practice you do, the less likely you are to make mistakes.

If you’re looking to get into boxing, see our beginner’s guide which is full of tips and tricks on the basics of boxing, what the best punching techniques are and essential boxing equipment.