Being a right-hand dominant southpaw can have some advantages including having your dominant hand forward allowing you to have a faster and more troublesome jab. In this article, we will focus on 5 tips every right-hand dominant southpaw should use.
The Top 5 Tips For Right Hand Dominant Southpaws:
- Use the Lead Right Hook
- Perfect Your Jab
- Utilize Your Lead Uppercut
- Improve Your Left Cross
- Don’t Neglect Your Imbalances
- Use the Lead Right Hook
He wasn’t a boxer, but one of the simple and powerful principles that Bruce Lee taught that’s used to great effect by smart fighters is to use the weapon that’s closest to your opponent. Your dominant hand is naturally the more powerful one, and in this case, it’s the “closest weapon.” Your right hand is closer to your target and the hook can be devastating when it connects. So, you want to use lead right hooks a lot. Practice the lead right hook a lot when you’re training, until it becomes a fluid single move. It can be a game-changer.
To throw an effective lead right hook, you’d need to pay attention to your lead foot and right hips. As you extend your hand creating an angle of 90 degrees, you’d pivot your lead foot slightly inward, in the hook’s direction, and also twist your hip inward a bit. This combo of hand, lead foot, and hip movements lend greater power to your hook. You’re effectively engaging more parts of your body, not just your hand. When the hook connects, it can unbalance and disorient your opponent. Imagine following it up with an uppercut, before they regain their balance!
2. Perfect Your Jab
As you know, the jab is the first and most basic punch. So, it’s tempting to think so little of it. That would be a huge mistake because it’s also the most vital punch. It’s incredibly versatile, you can use it for a variety of combinations. In fact, a boxer’s ability and dexterity is reflected in how well they can jab. It’ll help you immensely as you level up as a right-handed Southpaw. So, how can you perfect your jab?
Use it a lot. Use it as a rangefinder, use it to distract your opponent, use it to annoy them, use it to fight from the outside…You can use it for so much. But, above all, use it to set up power punches such as the cross, overhand, and the uppercut. The best thing is to have a sparring partner you train with often. And make sure you’ve got a punching bag.
3. Utilize Your Lead Uppercut
The conventional uppercut is power-packed and is often used to knock out an opponent. The lead uppercut may not pack as much power, but it’s also effective. One of its advantages is that the target may not see it coming at all. It’s unlike the conventional uppercut where you unwittingly telegraph the fact that a sucker punch is on its way, something that a nimble fighter could easily evade, making you lose your balance, and leaving your defenses wide open. The lead uppercut is not as long. It’s more “from below,” rather than the side. Of course, the power is coming from your side.
You’ve gotta do it fast if you want it to be powerful. It’s not a jab. As you extend your lead hand upward to unleash the uppercut, you raise your lead foot on the same spot. This simple movement imbues the punch with more power. Try it with and without moving your lead foot, and you’d see the difference. When you move the lead foot, there’s a tightening of your arm and thigh, which makes the uppercut more directed and efficient. But there’s no need to be rigid. At times, you may not need to raise your lead foot at all. Maybe you just ducked and rolled, your weight would be on the lead foot. Raising it would feel unnatural. You can simply throw the uppercut, even as you “rest” on the lead foot.
4.Improve Your Left Cross
Crosses and uppercuts are the most powerful punches. So, you’d be giving yourself an edge if you improve both. Of the two, the cross is actually more powerful because it travels over some distance, and if it’s not countered, it has the distance to travel over which it can gather momentum and power. When it connects, it’s bound to shake the target. A cross as its name implies is a punch that’s thrown across your body. It starts from the rear. Here, the focus is on the left cross.
Your left hand and rearfoot are the factors you’ve got to play with. When throwing a left cross, you twist your waist inward (to the right side) and pivot your rear foot inward, too. Both would help lend more power to the cross. To be effective, shortly before the hand lands on the target, it’s slightly rotated. While doing this, don’t forget to keep your right side protected. And, make sure to raise your rear shoulder, to protect your left chin. As a right-handed southpaw, you’re relatively new to using your left hand.
So, to improve, you’ve got to use it more. You’ve got to deliberately employ it often so that it no longer feels like the spare hand. And be patient, it’d take some time.
5.Don’t Neglect Your Imbalances
There are probably a few boxers in the world who have mastered the orthodox and southpaw stances (switch-hitters, they’re called). They can switch from one to the other with seamless dexterity. And that’s an intimidating and effective skill. Most other boxers, on the other hand, have a stance they’re comfortable in. Guess what happens to them when they meet someone superb at employing an opposite style or someone good at both. To give yourself an edge, you know there’s probably a side or a stance that’s hardly good enough.
You want to find the time to practice each technique in both stances. Of course, I won’t advise you to do this if you’re a beginner boxer. It might confuse you. Pick a stance you’re comfortable with, get the basics down, then incorporate the second stance. You’d have an edge if you’re a “balanced” boxer. You’d hardly be surprised because you’re clued-in on how it’s done from different stances and angles.
Before we wrap things up, I’ve got more tips for you. Read on to find out more.
Keep Lead Foot Outside
Make sure that you place your lead foot outside your opponent’s. It’s a lot easier for you to move, slip, duck, and clip them from outside. In this position, you’re off the centerline, which makes it more difficult for your opponent to get you. Of course, experienced boxers know this. So, it’s a position you have to keep working on as the game progresses. You also have the advantage of speed, seeing as your rear hand is closer to your target.
Be Vigilant of the Target’s Lead Hand
This relates to the tip below, where I suggested hand-traps. But, even when you’re not able to trap the lead hand, you want to watch it all the time. In a sense, it’s the most powerful weapon at your target’s disposal and they’d be using it a lot. In fact, they’d be looking for an opportunity to use it to unleash great damage. They’d be stymied if you’re alert to their playbook. If you’re alert and nimble, you’d be safe from harm’s way most of the time.
Trap Opponent’s Lead Hand
One of the smartest things you could do is to cripple your opponent’s defense time and time again. So, now and then, trap his dominant hand, and unleash a flurry of different combinations. Say the opponent is good at defense, focus on the most exposed parts, the head, the liver, the body. A barrage of blows to the head can be hard to bear, even for tough dudes. They can’t fully defend themselves. Their rear hand is weaker, but yours isn’t. So, use this technique a lot. It’s one of Vasyl Lomachenko’s go-to techniques. It’s brilliant in its utter simplicity. He bends a bit, springs forward, plants feet, traps the opponent’s lead hand, and he unleashes a powerful left cross. He does it so swiftly. It’s hard for the opponent to predict what’s about to happen.
As we conclude, it’s a fact that southpaws have an edge over orthodox boxers. But, like most things, you’ve got to earn it by working on your conditioning and techniques. You don’t want to assume that being a right-handed southpaw means you’re gonna win. The most skillful and smarter boxer always wins. And, they know that the battle is won long before the day of the contest, it’s won in the numerous (read: countless) training sessions, where you’d hone the tips we shared above and several others that have been proven to work for “sweet scientists.”