How to improve my footwork ?

I do it ok when i try it at home but when im at the gym i always seem to fail =/ i cross my legs, use wrong leg or fail to spin on my ball feet all the time. Is there any good repetitive exercises that i can do every day at home ? i want to be able to move correctly naturally with out thinking about it and concentrate on other stuff.


thanks in advice

 

Moving round a heavy bag does wonders. Just repetition, repetition, repetition.

 

cool, i cant wait for my bag to arrive ! so there no specific route or reps ? just random practice ? or i should try and come up with something my self ?

sorry i am new to this xD

 

For me it helps a lot to just practice whenever possible. Footwork is something you can practice at any time during the day, anywhere. All you need is room to move around, and a few minutes to do so. I think it helps build the habit.

I'm unsure on why the bad habits are coming back only in the gym, perhaps you need to relax a bit more? Could also just be that you're being forced to move quicker or in different ways to when you practice. Drilling regularly will help you get more comfortable with it, you'll eventually have alarm bells ringing in your head whenever your legs cross or stance becomes too narrow/wide etc

 

Just work the box drill for footwork regularly and try some shadow boxing with only footwork as part of your warm-up.

 

look up the basic theory of footwork if you haven't already studied it. Its very basic, really.

What i did in the very beginning was place a pot in my practice area, and circled around it. i used to imagine stepping inside, outside and blocking and striking along with the footwork. Basically shadow boxing around a pot =P
Helped me quite a bit initially. stopped tripping on my own feet or putting them in a bad position. Important thing is to start slow.

The pot isn't a dynamic object though. you'll want to move on to the bag before long. and the bag's very good because it moves quite a bit, though it is predictable.

Lastly you'll want to drill footwork with a sparring partner. in our school its part of a conditioning exercise. one student punches the other while the other takes a few punches and then blocks/counter a couple. all while circling each other, changing direction and dodging without ever leaving striking distance.

 

thanks for your replays all =)

thats quite a good idea ! since my punch bag will be attached to the wall. I did study how to do it and have a pretty good idea, also been shown at the gym every lesson ( i only did 3 lessons btw im a beginner ) just need to practice so it comes naturally and yeah it does looks quite simple, just want to master this ASAP, coz most of my punches / kicks not working properly due to wrong footwork, and i also waste valuable kicking time coz i think about my foot work to much xD

 

Ok, seriously consider this, but joining a dance class may be one of the best ways to improve footwork. I had to do it in high school since an art course was MANDATORY so said our government, but I certainly don't regret taking it. Your flexibility will explode, and dancing it basically just footwork. It won't directly be martial, but it would condition your legs to be more flexable, dynamic, and coordinated, and if you take this elements into your MA class it'll greatly benefit you.

Something less ponce would be to focus on conditioning your legs by building and stretching the muscles. I'm a huge endorser of dynamic flexability for MA application. During shadow boxing (which should be daily in my books) move around a lot, try and make it so that you practice your footwork as much as your actual attacking techniques. Also throw in every now and then some exagerated steps (going really low, or taking a large step), they won't help with sparring but they'll make you more comfortable in your stances/footwork.

 

thanks dude !

funny that my friend said he took 1 month dancing lessons before he even started boxing ! is there any particular dance classes i need to attend ? or they all same ?

 

For me it was a high school elective, so we did a bit of everything (Jazz, ballet, waltz, ltraditional Caribbean dances, etc.). If you're still in high school and they offer such a course, that's the cheapest way to go about it.

But jazz dance may be the best for MA application. It's a bit like ballet but way more dynamic. Saddly I'm no expert on all the styles of dancing, and certainly don't want to be known or remembered as MAP's dance expert

 

Part of it may be the environment itself. State based learning may be causing you problems here. The skills you're encoding are new so environmental effects will play more heavily. My advice to you is before or after class drill footwork. Drill slowly and carefully to start until you get more comfortable.

If you're having issues at the gym but not home, practice more at the gym.

 

thx to all replys

that looks solid ! gonna give it a go ty

 

Do you do much rope work? Every boxing and Muay Thai gym I've ever trained at warms up by jumping rope. I know it's nto a specific footwork excercise but it does wonders for your rythm timing and balance.