Suggest

Stance & Guard

Boxing / Popular

Set up a balanced stance and protective guard.

What coaches agree on

  • Keep your dominant hand in the rear of your stance - right hand back if you're right-handed (orthodox), left hand back if you're left-handed (southpaw) - so your power punch comes from the power position.
  • Keep your guard hands up around cheekbone-to-eyebrow height, high enough to block cleanly while still letting you see over your gloves.
Show more
  • There is no single correct boxing stance - the right one depends on your build and fighting style, so learn the basic fundamentals first and adapt from there.

Common mistakes

  • Squaring up to face the opponent head-on, which turns the whole body into a bigger target and makes it harder to counter-punch.
  • Letting the elbows flare away from the ribs or ride up high, which leaves the body open to shots even with the hands up.
  • Standing with both feet on the same line with no width between them, which wrecks balance and blocks the hips from rotating into punches.
4 Styles of Boxing Guards
Intermediate

4 Styles of Boxing Guards

Coach's take: Excellent overview — clear, accurate, and useful for choosing a guard style.

3.4
Boxing the Cross Arm Guard
Intermediate

Boxing the Cross Arm Guard

Coach's take: Thorough, honest breakdown of the cross-arm guard including its weaknesses.

3.2