Okay, so 10 misconceptions of amateur boxing. 

And the first one is the more sparring the better. Now we all know that the more punishment that we take, especially on the brain, the more problems that we're going to have in later life. So that is a health and safety issue. And of course more on the anatomy and physiology of the body and the wear and tear. But in terms of skill, then if the boxer is constantly doing open sparring all the time, they might be constantly making similar mistakes. So a good coach will then be able to slide down the scale, go into more of a condition or constraints based approach and then identify the issues and then be able to get the boxer to have to focus or concentrate on the relevant information by the constraints that have been put into place by the coach so they can really focus on how to solve those problems and not constantly making the same mistakes they do in open sparring. 

Okay, Number two, running long distances is key in amateur boxing. Okay. It's not. Whilst there is a place for good aerobic conditioning, of course, such as preseason or in recovery, boxers tend to box for three twos or three threes. So therefore if they're constantly doing long distance runs, they're not utilizing fully the energy systems that are required in amateur boxing. So there needs to be more sprint interval training, there needs to be more intervals in general, things like Fartlek training, things like speed-endurance intervals to really get those kind of adaptations within the body. So don't just go for the long runs and think about what are the demands of amateur boxing. 

Okay, number three, we've got, you've got to have big arms to be an amateur boxer. While it's great to have the guns and we do need force in the limbs especially strong around the joints and extension, rotation, etc and flexion within the the limbs, most of the force generally comes through the legs and through the waist as well. So we need to be able to have that connection from the floor to the fist or from the root to the fruit and really develop the whole punching technique from root to fruit. So we don't need to have massive guns and in some ways over development in certain areas can actually slow punching as well. So we need to make sure that we understand the kinematics of how punches work and we need to be strong in all areas but not an over focus in the arms. If you think about some of the most famous boxers, you look at someone like perhaps a Morales, they weren't cut to pieces, you know, but they understood how to punch correctly. 

Number four, sleep when you die. Okay, so it's number four, sleep when you die. Yes, we need to work hard. This is a very, very difficult sport. You need to work very, very hard. However, some people work so, so hard that actually they're not able to harness the benefits and adaptations within their body. So need to make sure that we are resting appropriately and actually being able to understand that by resting I harness a lot of these physiological changes within the body is much, much better for us. So yes, we need to overload and push at the right times. But also getting your athletes to understand when to rest is you could say equally as important and probably even more so important to really harness those, those changes. So looking at the whole periodisation of what you're doing and know when to push and pull is really important. 

Okay, halfway number five now. So we are on the more shadow boxing the better. Whilst I am a great advocate of shadow boxing because we can't open spar all the time because of the impact injuries that we're doing and the wear and tear on our body. Yes, it is great, but however, you do think about doing too much. And I know I did far too much shadow boxing when I was competing as an amateur boxing. You're not hitting someone. You don't know if your shots have been successful and landed all the time. And you don't know whether your defences, whether they be hand defences, trunk defences, foot defences, you don't know whether they were successful or not either. So the immediate feedback is not there. And when we also talk about things like timing and range control, we only know if we have good range control, we are able to change the tempo, etc, because of an opponent. So uncoupled training often can lead to problems as well. So while it is, you could say a staple part, too much of it can give you the wrong information back. So that's why we need to have a general picture and a general blending of coupled and uncoupled practice. But I would always move towards more of a coupled practice so that we do have perception and action in our training as much as possible whilst considering any potential injuries. 

Okay, let's move up to number six. There we go with the hands. There's number six. We've got. Always lead off with your jab. Okay. Bit of a nonsense really, because some people are able to land the backhand, some people lead off with the lead hook, uppercuts. Depends whether you are deciding to lead off yourself or an opponent is coming into your striking area, wherever that might be. It always depends on that. So whilst the jab is often high reward and low risk, sometimes the opponent will get used to this. And if you're always leading off with your jab, then they're going to throw overhand and tit's a lot easier for them to calculate and respond to your attacks. Actually, being able to lead off of different shots makes it very, very hard for them perceptually to tune into what you're doing. And therefore you have a tactical advantage. So while it is often safe, it's not always an advantage to lead off with your jab. 

Okay, seven. There's five on there and there's two on there. Okay. Speedball teaches rhythm and timing. This is one that I have a lot of trouble with. I do see this all the time. So whilst working the speedball is impressive and there are lots of people who do some wonderful stuff with that and it's great coordination. When people talk about rhythm and timing, the fact that you are able to, when you're moving and hitting and striking the speedball, not even look now, it takes away the cognisant part, it takes away the thinking part away from it. It just becomes a rhythm that is innate. So if I clap my hands like clap, clap, clap, clap, you'll be able to follow that pattern very, very quickly. So actually there is no thinking, there is no problem solving going on it. Once you have that rhythm, you have that rhythm and it becomes like riding a bike. So it's rote repetition, essentially, which we all have that ability to learn rote repetition very, very quickly. But the problem with speedballs is it doesn't have any perturbations or any variations that you would get in boxing. So it can be very easy to learn. So in terms of rhythm and timing, timing is about actually being able to work out when someone's going to attack, when they're trying to faint, when they're trying to change the tempo. So it's tuning into all these kind of manipulations of space and time. And a speedball does not teach you that because it doesn't have any variation within that time or that rhythm. So once you've learned it, you have learned it and it becomes a very closed skill. And boxing is a very open skill, and you have to have the ability to perceive and to act and act and perceive and bring those things together. Speedballs just don't do that. So whilst it is a very clever technique, there's very little external factors on a speedball that make it a skill as such that's related to boxing. So I know I'm going get some stick from that one, but I'd love to hear your thoughts on or come back on that one as well. 

Okay, so we are now moving on to. What have we got here? I've got in front of me number eight, Train in open spaces. Okay, so on we're all on the gym floor a lot of the time, then we train in certain areas. Now, the only issue that I have with training in open areas is you watch boxers sparring, technical conditioned spar, boxers often move back in straight lines because they've got the whole hall to move back to. And then what happens is then you have pairs moving across each other, so it becomes a health and safety issue. But the boxer never learns to move sideways. So we always talk about moving off the train tracks. Why would you stay on the train tracks and get hit by the train when you can just move off to the side? So actually having a shape, having a boundaried area, develops the boxer's ability to understand where they are in the ring, their position, and therefore adapt accordingly. So the environment that you're in will dictate the skill that emerge in terms of your positioning. So it doesn't have to be big, it doesn't have to be small, and you can change all the time. It doesn't have to be a square, it can be rectangular, it can be triangular, it can be a circle, big, small, whatever. But if you keep changing those and the boxers are more likely to learn how to adapt to their environment. And that's what being skilful is, it's adapting to the environment that they're in. 

Okay, number nine. Sparring should only be about learning. Now it's kind of a clean way to say, isn't it? So sparring should only be about learning. And whilst I get the notion of that, there should also be an element of pressure testing, I believe in sparring. So when you have sparring and then maybe someone in the gym shout something out like throw a left hook and the coach turns around and tells them off. Yes, the coach needs to be in control of the spar in terms of safety. Absolutely. But I think what we miss sometimes is the opportunity to pressure test. And why not sometimes just get all the boxers around the ring. Some of them can shout, some of them can even, you know, depends on how you look at it. Some of them can shout a few obscenities, things that you might hear a boxing show because you want it to feel real to the environment that they're going to compete in. Some can actually judge the bout and say how much who thought they won that round, who thought red won that round, who thought blue one? So I actually put the scoring, so the scoring as you go also puts the pressure on the boxer as well. So noise, music, heat, whether it be a slightly hotter, slightly colder, louder, quiet, all of these different things, these environmental constraints really change the behaviour of the boxer as well. So it doesn't always have to be learning in a library type environment. So by adding that on, it puts pressure tests on and the boxer learns to develop because of those different environmental changes. 

Okay, and the final one, number 10. Okay, so both hands, number 10. Warm ups are all about prepping for exercise and avoiding injury. Whilst yes, of course, you don't want your boxers getting injured and you need to heat up the body, you need to get the heart pumping, you need to get the core of the muscles warm as well. So the muscles can be pliant. Yes, there is part of that But I think there's an over emphasis on that. So one thing that most warm ups traditionally probably across a lot of sports and I don't think I'll be wrong in saying that don't warm up the perceptual system so they don't switch on the abilities of the boxer to start picking up relevant information from an opponent. So whilst there can be some unopposed training at the start, I think it's also important to have opposed part of the warm up where you are pairing up whether it's tags, bars, lots of different games that we have on The Box Gathering in terms of the warm up so you're tuning into relevant information so the perceptual system of the boxer is switched on. We always say we give away the first round because we're slow starters. You hear that all the time. Well it's part of the reason. It's not because of the physical, it's because of the mental. They haven't switched on their perceptual system, they're not picking up on the relevant information yet. So we need that information to be present in the warm up. So there we are. There are 10 misconceptions in boxing social media. Jump on, give us your thoughts on any of those points that we've made or anything that we may have missed. Cheers guys.