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Pivots and Angles

Changing where you are standing without changing where you are.

Pivots and Angles

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9 minLección 2 de 5

En esta lección

  • Pivot cleanly in both directions on the lead foot
  • Use a pivot to leave the line you just punched on
  • Recognise the angle a pivot creates and punch from it

Clave del entrenador — Pivot on the lead foot, and let the rear foot swing like a gate.

What an angle actually is

An angle is any position where you can hit them and they cannot hit you back without turning first. You do not create it by moving further away or closer — you create it by changing the line between you.

The pivot is the cheapest way to do this. It costs one step, takes a fraction of a second, and leaves you facing them while they are facing where you used to be.

DemostraciónTop-down view of a pivot showing the boxer swinging forty-five degrees around the lead foot while the opponent continues to face the original position
FigThe lead foot is the hinge; the rear foot swings around it

The mechanics

  1. Weight shifts onto the ball of the lead foot. Not all of it — enough to turn on.
  2. The rear foot swings in an arc, like a gate on a hinge.
  3. The upper body turns with the feet. Your guard should arrive at the new angle at the same time your feet do.
  4. Finish in a complete stance. A pivot that ends with your feet square has cost you more than it gained.

Pivoting toward your lead side is easier and more natural. Pivoting toward your rear side is harder and more valuable, because it is the direction most people do not expect.

Pivoting off a punch

The pivot is at its best immediately after you punch, because a punch fixes the other person's attention on the line you threw it down. Two standard versions:

  • Jab, pivot left. The jab occupies them, the pivot takes you off the line their cross would travel down.
  • Hook, pivot. The lead hook already turns your body — the pivot is a continuation of a rotation you have already started, which is why it costs almost nothing.

A pivot that happens before you punch is just movement. A pivot that happens because you punched is an angle.

DemostraciónA jab followed immediately by a pivot, leaving the boxer at forty-five degrees to the opponent's centre line
FigPunch first, then pivot — the punch is what buys the time

Drill it

Thirty pivots each direction, no punches, checking the stance at the end of every one. Then two rounds of jab-pivot: throw, pivot, reset, repeat, alternating pivot direction. Then two rounds where a partner holds a pad and simply turns to face you every time you pivot — your job is to pivot again before they finish turning.

Step and DragLateral Movement