What are some Good Boxing Drills?

Written by Trae in Boxing

Boxing trainer training with fighter

Boxing trainer training with fighterWelcome! Have you ever wondered what kind of drills there are for boxing? Maybe you’re familiar with the basic moves, but not as familiar with the drills you can try so you can improve your boxing skills?

Which drills will get you the most out of your training? 

There are lots of drills that you can do to get better at different skills, like your reaction time (which will help you dodge punches better so that you don’t get hit), your agility (which will make you lighter on your feet), and your stamina (which will help keep you active for longer periods of time without tiring). The CoachMag blog from the UK and Fight Camp have some highly effective drills I would recommend, like drills with cones to work on speed and agility, pyramid punches to get the blood pumping in the arms, as well as some basic cardio and muscle building exercises like push-ups, sit-ups, burpees, and planks that I have done at Title Boxing.

So, if you’re ready to add more tools to your boxing toolbox, read on and we’ll learn a lot together!

Martin Foru Drills

According to the CoachMag blog, there are 4 different kinds of boxing drills that Martin Foru, a young Dutch boxer fighting at Super Middleweight, follows as part of his training routine. The drills are intended to improve crucial boxing skills such as stamina, reflexes, and agility.

The Martin Foru drills include:

  • CORNER CONES
  • PYRAMID PUNCHES
  • CIRCULAR CONES
  • PUSH 8

Corner Cones

The Coach Mag blog says that the corner cones drill will work your reaction time, your speed, and your agility. What you want to do is set up 4 cones of different colors on the floor to form a square. If you don’t have cones, you can use anything in your disposal as substitutes, like water bottles, bags, anything that you can use for this drill.

They also recommend doing this drill with a partner. The reason why is because your partner is supposed to call out a color cone, and then you have to run to that cone and touch it and then run back to the center of the square. If you don’t have a partner, it might be more difficult for you to practice this drill. The blog recommends you and your partner do the exercise for one minute and then alternate between you and your partner doing the exercise.

The following video shows what the corner cones drill is supposed to look like: Footwork Drill for Increased Agility & Cutting Off the Ring

Pyramid Punches

If you’ve done pyramid sets while lifting weights at the gym, where you increase the weight and decrease the reps as you go, and then reverse, then this will probably sound familiar to you.

In the words of the Coach blog, this drill is intended to improve your stamina. The way to do this drill is to start out with a jab-cross combo, or a 1-2, on the bag. Then go up to a 1-2-3-4  combo, which is a jab-cross-lead hook-rear hook. Then you do 6 straight jab-cross punches, then 8, and then when you reach 10, reverse the exercise backwards until you reach the 1-2 combo at the beginning again.

So the order of the pyramid punches drill looks like this:

  1. Jab-cross (1-2)
  2. Jab-cross-lead hook-rear hook (1-2-3-4)
  3. 6 jab-cross combos (1-2)
  4. 8 jab-cross combos (1-2)
  5. 10 jab-cross combos (1-2)
  6. 10 jab-cross combos
  7. 8 jab-cross combos
  8. 6 jab-cross combos
  9. Jab-cross-lead hook-rear hook
  10. Jab-cross

The following video explains how to do a punching pyramid: How to Punch a Heavybag – Boxing Tips – The Pyramid Drill

If you don’t have a bag, I would personally recommend you do this exercise in front of a mirror, so that you can check your technique as you punch. I made a post on how you can check your form while you’re training as a boxer, you can find it here: Boxing Tips for Beginners

Circular Cones

Similar to the corner cones drill, the Coach blog recommends that you do this drill with a partner. Set up cones in a large circle, with enough space to where you can maneuver around the cones. The Coach blog says that the way to do this drill is by sidestepping around the cones in a circular motion, with your partner calling out punch combos, like 1-2 (jab-cross), 1-2-3 (jab-cross-lead hook), etc.

This drill is intended to work your speed, agility and reaction time, much like the corner cones drill I talked about earlier. After you do the moves for about a minute, alternate with your partner.

The following video shows the circular cone drill in action: Footwork cone drill in lateral motion

Push 8

The push 8 drill can be done without equipment; as well as on your own. Although you might want to consider doing this exercise with a partner, and I’ll explain why below.

According to the Coach blog, the drill is a circuit made up of 8 different exercises that are all done for 1 minute at a time, back-to-back, with no rest in between. It is intended to build your endurance with cardio as well as your strength.

The exercises in the circuit are in this order:

Fight Camp Drills

The Fight Camp blog points out 6 more drills you can do that will get you in fighting shape, as they quote. They include a video on how to do the first 2 drills, here: BOXING TRAINING FOR BEGINNERS AT HOME COMBINATIONS

The first 2 drills are targeted towards beginners who are new to boxing and are learning the ropes, like me.

First Drill

The first drill is a jab-cross-body jab, or a 1-2-1B. Remember to turn your body towards your target when you’re doing a cross. When you do the body jab, do not stand up straight and punch low. Instead, bend down, almost to a squatting position and then jab. Fight Camp recommends you do this drill for 1 minute.

Second Drill

The second drill is a cross-lead hook-cross-step back-cross, or a 2-3-2-step back-2. When you step back away from your target, you don’t want to step too far back to where your target is out of range for you to finish with a cross. Remember to turn and pivot when you do a cross, and with a hook, stop your arm to where your knuckles are in line with your nose. Fight Camp once again recommends 1 minute for this drill.

Third Drill

The third drill is a drill to be done on a heavy bag, the jab pyramid. Fight Camp made a video showing you how it is done, you can find it here: PUNCH FASTER AND STRONGER WITH THIS JAB DRILL | BUILDING A STRONGER FASTER JAB IN BOXING

You start by throwing 1 jab. Then you reset and throw 2 jabs. Reset, then 3 jabs. Reset, 4 jabs. Keep going until you reach 10 jabs, and then reverse the whole drill until you go back down to 1 jab. Your arm will be burning after doing that one!

Fourth Drill

Drills 4, 5, and 6 are all shadow boxing drills. Drill number 4 focuses on the slip and roll. In boxing, slips and rolls are defensive moves that will help you not get punched by your opponent. There is a video on how to do the moves, here: How To: Slip & Roll

Once you know how to slip and roll, you can implement them into the 4th Fight Camp drill, the slip lead-slip rear-roll lead-roll rear-step back-step forward. Fight Camp recommends you do this exercise for 3 minutes.

Fifth Drill

Drill 5 is a jab-cross-hook combo, or a 1-2-3. Remember those hips on the cross and remember to stop your hand in front of your nose with the hook. 3 minutes is the magic number again for this drill.

Sixth Drill

Finally, drill number 6 is a more complex exercise which implements offense and defense together. The move is jab-cross-hook-slip lead-slip back-roll lead-roll back. It is basically a combination of drills 4 and 5. Once again, do the exercise for 3 minutes.

Other Drills that I Have Done

In my experience at Title Boxing, we do many different kinds of drills, all varying between basic cardio exercises and punching drills. We do each exercise for about a minute, and then rest for 10 seconds, and then it’s on to the next exercise. We keep going in that pattern for the entire hour of training that we do.

The drills we do at Title Boxing include:

Final Words

Now you can practice many different kinds of drills, combinations, and exercises to help get you in even better shape! Give them all a try and share your experience with me in the comments! I will definitely share my experience with these drills as well! Let’s get ready to rumble!

Slaughter Fit Warrior

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