It’s the 26th May and Camille is warming up for her 2nd bout. Preparation has been great and I feel that from a coaching perspective, I’ve provided decent input with regards to making weight, fitness and tactics for tonight. Pads went well and Camille is relaxed, yet focused. I have no concerns.
By Adrianne, coach | Picture by Luke Taylor, DevelopImages
The bell goes to signal Camille’s first round. Great! She stuck to the tactics and it was working a treat. The round finishes and now I have one minute to provide any essential info, whilst calming Camille’s breathing and providing her with cool air and water. ‘
You’re doing great‘ I remember saying.
‘Now show me more of the switch of attack and your head off of the line as you throw.’ Sound info I thought.
What I should have said was;
‘You’re doing great. Switch of attack is working everytime, so keep it up. She is only throwing straight headshots, so keep up slipping off to the side as you throw.’
That change in language could have made all the difference to the result of that bout.
Camille was doing great, but I didn’t sell it like that. Instead of thinking, ‘I’m doing it right, I’ll do it more‘, Camille went into the 2nd round thinking, ‘I must do x. I must do y.’ As a result, nerves kicked in, thought processes were going 100mph and the natural flowing head and foot movement stopped.
As I think I’ve said before, ‘to over think is to underperform’ and as the coach in the corner, you play such a vital role in getting your boxer to stick to a tactical plan whilst flowing. It’s so important to consider your language during that one minute and adapt it to the needs of the boxer in front of you. What you say and how you say it in that 1 minute between rounds can make all the difference to your boxer’s performance.
Follow our story on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. We #hitlikegirls and we love it.
Hit Like Girls 
Leave a comment