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Boxing · Basic · b7

Soft touches on a pool noodle

At home 6 min 2 players One room

Ready when: Shadow punches at the air (b2) done.

Start a session

What you are learning

Touching a target softly and accurately with the jab and the cross, the fist back to the cheek after each. Control matters more than power. At home there is no padding, so the target is a soft pool noodle held to the side, never a person.

Words on this card Jab, Cross, Round, Pool noodle
Jab
A straight punch with the front hand.
Cross
A straight punch with the back hand, with a turn of the hip.
Round
A set time of boxing, followed by a rest.
Pool noodle
A long, soft foam tube, used at home as a safe target.

Set up

A pool noodle or a rolled towel; soft gloves if you have them.

Weather: any weather indoors

The base setup for boxing

Show it first for the one teaching

  1. Stand where your stretched arm just reaches the noodle.
  2. Jab: touch it softly with the front fist and bring the fist straight back to the cheek.
  3. Cross: the same with the back fist, turning the hip.
  4. Touch, do not hit: the noodle should barely move.

Your part while they practise

Hold the noodle upright to one side of your body at the child's chest height, never in front of your face; count the good touches.

Step by step

  1. Stand where the stretched arm just reaches.
  2. Touch the noodle softly with a jab, fist back to the cheek.
  3. Then a cross, fist back to the cheek.
  4. 30-second rounds with 30 seconds of rest.

How much: 6 rounds of 30 seconds with 30 seconds of rest 6 min a session 3 days a week

Say one thing Pick one line from "What you will see" for today and say only that.

The game: Move the target

You move the noodle to a new height or side every few touches; a point for each soft, accurate touch.

Who plays: the child touches and you hold the noodle.

How to play, turn by turn
Turns
  1. Start a 30-second round
  2. After every 3 touches, move the noodle to a new height or side, always away from your face
  3. Count the soft, accurate touches
Fair play
For a younger child, move the noodle every 5 touches.
Points
1 point for each soft, accurate touch with the fist back to the cheek.
Fouls
No point for that touch
  • A hard hit that makes the noodle swing
  • A miss
  • The fist does not come back to the cheek
  • Aiming at the holder
Winning
Beat your best from last time.
Stars
  1. 12 touches for 1 star
  2. 18 touches for 2 stars
  3. 24 touches for 3 stars

Easier or harder

Easier

The noodle stays still.

Harder

Step in, touch, step out.

What you will see, and what to say

  • the noodle is hit hard Touch it, do not hitAs if tapping a friend on the shoulder.
  • the fist stays out Back to the cheekOut and straight back.
  • flat feet Bounce on the toesLight on the front of the feet.

Self-check

30

Good touches in 30 seconds, written down; the number goes up over two weeks.

Stop and get a coach when

Wrist or knuckle pain.

Fitness for this

Warm up first: how to warm up, at workonfitness.com. For strength and stretching, its exercise library shows each exercise step by step, with an easier version.

This card trains soft, precise touch; force control.

awiseathlete.com/sports/boxing/boxing-b7