Learning how to use your body weight will help you throw harder punches or even defend against harder punches. All it takes is a little technique to help you ground for when you need more balance and power.
This simple tip will increase your offensive and defensive fighting abilities.
THE SECRET – Drop the Hips
How does dropping the hips help a boxer?
Punching
Without a doubt, you need to drop your hips if you want to throw more powerful punches. Dropping the hips will ground you, giving you more balance and power. On the other hand, lifting the hips will make you lighter and decrease your balance and power. Raising your hips during a punch will make your punch less powerful and also leave you vulnerable to being pushed off balance.
Defending
Dropping your hips while defending can help you ground so that you don’t get pushed off balance. If you’ve fought a trained fighter before, you might notice that they become very heavy when blocking your punches. And that sometimes you even felt like you were being pushed back when you threw at their guard. They’re able to push you back because they were heavier than you were. You can become heavier while blocking by dropping your hips so you can push back your opponent using his own arm.
Moving
Dropping your hips while moving will make you more grounded, allowing you to move with more balance and control. Being more grounded allows you to change directions easily if needed, and always be ready to attack or defend. On the other hand, floating above the ground leaves you vulnerable to being pushed off balance and you can’t attack or defend.
How to Drop the Hips
The secret to dropping the hips:
RELEASE the hips,
not lower the hips.
Many people misunderstand what it means to “drop the hips”. They think it means lowering the hips and so they end up bending their knees too much and taking too long to throw the punch. The right way is to drop your hips slightly right as you land a punch, or drop the hips right as you block a punch, or right as you move.
The proper way to drop the hips
1. First release the hips
- Relax your hip muscles the same way that you relax your arm at the initial phase of a punch.
- The hips are being relaxed as you exhale during the movement (for a punch, block, or footwork).
2. Catch the hips
- “Catching the hips” means to tighten your hips for a split second right at the end of the release.
- You tighten your hip muscles for just a split second right at the moment of impact (the same way you tighten your fist at impact).
3. Use very little energy and very little movement
- It’s about relaxing and releasing more so than it is about tensing and tightening.
- The hip drops maybe an inch or a centimeter at most, it shouldn’t be an actual “drop” that you can see.
- The moment of tension is only for a split second.
Exercises to help you drop the hips
Drills to try:
- Jumping rope without “jumping” your hips too high.
- Slipping and rolling punches without lifting the hips.
- Shadowboxing without letting the hips get too high. (Watch how Pacquiao shadowboxes, you will see that he always appears to be pulled down to the ground. He moves quickly, but doesn’t fly off the ground).
- Do footwork drills while focusing on keeping the hips heavy.
Common mistakes
Many people think dropping the hips should mean to feel as much weight as possible in their hips. This visualization can be incorrect as they relax the hips too much that it shakes around and doesn’t connect to the core. Or that the hip becomes too loose that it’s always tilted forward, backwards, or sideways, which reduces balance and power.
You should also be careful that the “drop” is simply the release of the hips. It doesn’t mean to actually try and lower your hips to the ground or to walk around with constantly bent knees. Your knees should be slightly flexed but not bent to the point that it’s tiring to stand.
The ultimate goal of “dropping the hips”
Learning how to drop the hips is something that takes time to master. Beginners will end up using a lot of energy or a lot of movement with very little effect. Whereas a skilled fighter can drop his hips even just a centimeter and generate so much more power out of it. Advanced fighters might not seem to move at all, but I can assure you, they are creating power within their body!
Great fighters can generate maximum power
using the smallest movement.
The best punchers will be able to punch without lifting their hips, and can even throw multiple punches without lifting their hips. When done right, you will feel like dropping your hips gives you faster power because your hips are always grounded to punch. Whereas if you lift your hips during punches, you have to wait until your hips come back down in order to punch again.
Dropping the hips isn’t only going to make you a better boxer, it’s going to make you a better athlete. You will be a phenomenal mover and power generator in any sport you choose to do as long as you learn how to keep your hips grounded. Jump, run, move, and twist your body any way you want…as long as you drop your hips!
cool
Thanks, that was really helpful.
I was wondering, are there any videos of you fighting or even sparring with someone? I’d really like to see you in action.
There are some snippets in the How to Fight a Southpaw article and another in the Shoeshine Combination article. I have more videos but will need time to compile and put together a highlight reel. Someday soon, I hope. When I’m not writing articles, posting videos, or answering comments.
I think it’s time for you to put up any sort of video (sparring, your first fight competition, etc). You’re articles are great, but validating your words would also be great. . .
I did plan to go through my sparring videos one day (when I have more time) and make a highlight reel of my favorite parts. But that would be only for fun. And that would only showcase my ability as a fighter.
If you need any validation of my abilities as a trainer, you need only to try what I suggest in the guides and see if it works for you.
I think your training guides are awesome,just simple plain information that all good boxers posses subconsciously more or less depending on the individual.You just make it easier for anyone who’s interested to become aware of the many different elements surrounding The Art of Boxing.
Great video Johnny this really helps me a great deal when im sparring bigger guys. I feel a lot more confident. Please watch my predictions videos.
Charlie Brown you tube.
Does dropping the hips make your body rotate more powerfully? Kinda like the two-legged punching you talked about?
Dropping your hips makes your body more powerful in any movement that you do.
Thanks, Johnny, for this great tip and all the free advice on your site. Can’t wait to try dropping the hips on my slip line drills.
Hey Johnny,
I don’t know if you saw the Mayweather fight this past weekend, or if you saw Rigondeax vs Donaire, but i was wondering about your thoughts on how Mayweather and Rigondeaux are so deadly leading with their back hand. I always see Mayweather tap around with the jab then just shoot a bunch of lead right straights that are as quick as jabs. Rigondeaux kind of neglects the jab almost entirely and shoots lead left straights since he’s a southpaw. I just wanted to know your input on how to develop the skills to throw lead shots like that. I know I have to practice it more in sparring but I just wanted your input on what makes their lead shots so deadly and why they can do it so much better over everyone else’s lead shots.
They have absolute speed and precision. I would say Rigondeaux’s lead straight is more impressive than Mayweather’s. Mayweather squares his body up beforehand (sometimes even leaning slightly forward) and throws it with much less commitment. It’s more a tricky tactical shot that he sets up to earn shots. Rigondeaux loads full power into his lead straight and he does it from a more sideways stance which is very very tricky because you have to be so much faster. Takes a lot of core strength and speed. And knowing how to pivoting your body in a perfect center. I can see his left cutting perfectly around his spine whereas the average boxer is swinging their upper body like a big lumbering block.
Wow, makes so much sense!
I have been training recreationally for a number of years and would like to train other people one day. The technique you show here is something I finally understood for myself only recently, a lot of people refer to it as ‘sitting down on your punches.’ Personally I find I drop my guarding hand when i do this, but that is my bad habit. It generates so much power because it exentuates full body torque also. I have practised dropping my hips like this when slipping too, the same kind of slip you demonstrated on your ‘setting up the bodyshot’ article. I notice Lamont Peterson doing this alot during evasion.
If this site was your full time job, I would love to hear your fight predictions and fight analysis on televised bouts!
Thank you for all the amazing tips and articles man, keep up the good work!
Thanks, Paul. There’s so much I could say when I watch fights. I might consider doing a small fight analysis series on Youtube some day. I won’t do full on explanations; I’ll only point out the small subtle things that I pick out.
Hi Johnny I had my First fight Yesterday and won BY TKO, Been training for six months and since February I have been doing 5 days a week or 6 some times. Can you tell me what you think of my fight.
I’m in the Black and white shorts
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nW-_hjpXx9M
Good job! You’re a beast. Nice balance, btw.
I’ve been boxing recreationally for years and come to your site off and on for tips and techniques. I have been hearing this advice on dropping the hips or punching with both feet and I never got it until I watched this video. I tried it just shadowboxing and I can feel how much of a difference it makes. I can’t wait to try it at my next real workout.
Thanks for doing such an awesome job. Keep up the great work. It is SO helpful. 🙂
Congratulations, Jen! I know how it feels to finally “get it”. Keep boxing!
Being a former boxer ( over 200 fight in a ring as amateur ) . Now spending most of my training time doing powerlifting, I can just say that you explanation about gravity control and how to drop the hips at the right moment, are very well explained.
Not only in boxing, but in most sports like hockey, football, rugby or powerlifting, the hips play a major role. For all of you boxers who don’t really believe in all that hips science, just take a look at all those Mike Tyson video on You Tube (before he went to jail). All is fights where all centered around is hips. he played with is hips to avoid punch and used is hips again to counter attack. Is mighty punch where all fueled by those same hips and low center gravity position.
Hum… That is something i should work on. I don’t usually lose balance when taking hits (i’m a heavy guy :)), but i sometimes do when attacking or attempting to move fast. It’s also a very good tip on how to make fast moves, something i do struggle with. I’m impatient to try this next time i’m at the gym.
Hey Johnny,
Quick question, kind of off topic. May 2nd [if this fight does happen] who do you have walking out as the winner?
Pacman or Mayweather?
How would you relax your hips?
Haha…that is one of the easiest and yet hardest questions to answer. In short…stretch the vertical spine and hip line, letting your hips hang from your upper torso without any activation of the surrounding muscles such as the glutes. The pelvic muscles inside the hip will probably need some activation in order for the muscles outside the hip to be able to relax. But if all this sounds too complicated…just think of it as stretching your torso and hips vertically without using muscle.
Thank you sir.
Hey Johnny,
I have a question about the mechanics of the right cross I was hoping you could help me with.
It is commonly said to push off the back foot; using the quad muscles to straighten the right knee, (orthodox stance) rotating the hip forward.
In this video , when the punch is at extension your right knee is MORE bent than at the start of the punch. To me this suggests the quad muscle has not been used to straighten the back leg and push the punch.
My thinking is that when using this style of punching, the rotational power is not generated by the quads extending the leg and thrusting the right hip forward, and is actually caused by rotating muscles in the hips. Is this right? Because surely if the knee is more bent when the punch lands, the quad has not been used to push and extend the knee?
Do a jump in the air and then land with your legs more straight. Are the quads working? Yes. Do it again but land with your knees more bent. Do the quads still work? Yes. As long as you have weight projecting downwards (the hip drop), your quads will work. You only need a small tiny drop…not a big one. Regardless of how straight or bent the back knee is…your quad will still work. Now it also has to do with how twisted you are. The more twisted you are, the more the knee will bend to let your body twist into position…but still the quads will be working (assuming you’re not leaning way over too forwards).
I didnt knew u can get better guard that way. Nice article
thanks for that, it’s pure gold. I knew that already and I konw it’s value. I’m very surprised to find a real boxing angel like you giving it out for free, it’s good for the sport and for humanity. much love.