Coach's Notebook

Note to coaches: Proof of coach's certification is required to work corners. Be sure to bring your certification cards to shows!

Train the mind as well as the body

In our sport today, we can say that we live in a golden age where time and technology has positively changed the way we train our boxers in the physical aspect of our sport. We have developed new and better techniques that help assist us to teach our boxers to properly deliver their punches, develop better defensive skills and get them in the condition they need to win their bouts.

One of the areas of our sport that we tend to neglect, is that of the psychological part of the sport, which is badly needed when dealing with young athletes. Physical ability represents 20% of a boxer's total capability and once this is accomplished, the remaining 80%, is mental. There are still coaches out there, that still use old and primitive ways of thinking, when they attempt to develop an athlete's mental training.

They feel that an athlete must go through an unnecessary rite of passage to see if the boxer has what it takes to be in this hard and competitive sport. They put their boxers through many rigorous workouts and otten unconsciously put tremendous pressure on them to win. They praise their boxer when they win but then chastise them when they lose.

Let’s prepare our boxers not only physically, but mentally as well. Psychological pressure often results in physical performance problems in our athletes.

Our emotions affect every cell in our body; therefore the mental and physical become intertwined. Our sport brings out characteristic behaviors more vivid than do ordinary experiences. It isolates and magnifies our typical reactions. As the pressure of the sport becomes greater, our personal characteristics become more apparent. Let’s work together in preserving the most precious element of our sport. The boxer. If we can change the impediments to the joy of boxing, perhaps we can do the same for the other aspects of our lives as well.

Coaches and Boxers remember:
Respect your opponent
Respect the sport
Respect the rules

2/1/10