Precise Movement With The Jab From Dyah Davis
Being able to move while punching is a solid skill to have when it comes to striking. This is something that a lot of newer fights struggle with, especially if they only train their punches and don’t really develop their footwork.
It’s natural to want to just jump straight into striking either the bag or some pads, but if you don’t work on your footwork, you are going to make some big mistakes. The main thing you will find you struggle with is actually getting into range to land those strikes you love to throw so much.
You can’t really practice getting into range if all you do is throw your hands at the bag all day.You will also find that if you try to move with your punches without properly training your footwork, you’re base will break often and your feet will usually end up closer together than they were before you started moving. This leaves you exposed, especially as you’re going forward into your opponent.
This is why we brought someone in to teach you the proper footwork to have when jabbing forward, so you don’t get caught with a counter punch.
In this video, Dyah Davis goes over the proper footwork to have when moving while also jabbing.
Who Is Dyah Davis?
Dyah Davis is a former pro boxer who has a record of 25-4 with 11 victories coming by way of knockout. Now that he's retired, Dyah is the owner of his own gym, Boca Boxing District in Boca Raton, Florida. He also works as the main boxing coach for American Top Team and most notably is Dustin Poirier’s boxing coach.
Upgrade Your Game With Dyah's Fluid Fundamentals!
How To Move With The Jab
The video starts off with coach Dyah talking about a common mistake that he sees when people move forward with their jab. The common mistake is that people will bring their back foot in too much when they step forward and be in a smaller stance than when they started.
You never want to have your feet too close together as it will put you off balance. If you take a shot when your feet are too close together, you are more likely to be knocked down or at least knocked backwards because you lack base. If you are in a good stance you can take the shot more because of your strong base with your back leg.
This is why when you throw your jab, make sure to maintain your stance, which for most people is just shoulder width apart. You don’t want it to constantly be changing, because when you have it a good distance, you can properly put an equal amount of weight on both sides.
When you step forward with the jab, you should only bring your back foot in enough to cover the same distance your front foot did. This will keep the distance between your feet the same as when you started.
If you maintain a good stance you will be able to move in all directions at all times. Let’s say that you come in behind your jab but want to move backwards. You can’t do that in a short stance but with good footwork and a solid base it becomes easy.
Make sure you get in some rounds focusing on this movement so that it becomes second nature and you don’t need to conversely think about maintaining a good base.
Learn More From Dyah Davis
If you like this technique breakdown and want to learn more from former pro boxer Dyah Davis then you should check out his complete video series “Fluid Boxing Fundamentals By Dyah Davis” available exclusively on Dynamic Striking!