If you're a beginner learning to punch correctly or have experience but looking to refine and fix bad habits, this slow-and-pause shadow boxing drill will help you build proper muscle memory, correct mistakes and improve technical form.

Here is how this drill works and how to implement it.

Video Breakdown

Why the Slow-and-Pause Drill Works

Once you've developed habits throwing punches or moving a certain way, it is very difficult to retrain those ingrained patterns but not impossible.

The slow-and-pause drill fixes this by breaking down each strike into its fundamental components, allowing you to analyze and adjust technique in real time. This is done by moving deliberately and pausing at key moments of the movement, becoming hyper-aware of your body mechanics and focusing on fixing many issues such as:

• Dropping your hands
• Looping your punches
• Failing to rotate your body on a cross
• Incorrect pivoting on a lead hook
• Being off-balance
• Keeping your chin too high

How to Do Slow-and-Pause Shadow Boxing Drill

Unlike a slow-flow drill, which emphasizes continuous movement, the slow-and-pause drill involves deliberately pausing at the point of full extension or connection for each strike then analyzing your position.

Here's how it works:

• Slow Down Your Strikes: Perform your shadow boxing at a snail's pace, focusing on one strike at a time (e.g., jab, cross, hook, or uppercut) or on combinations.
• Pause at Full Extension: When your fist reaches the point of contact, hold that position.

Analyze:

• Body position: Are you balanced? Are you leaning too much forward or not enough?
• Hand position: Is your fist aligned properly for impact? Is your opposite hand protecting your chin?
• Feet position: Are your feet planted correctly? Are they rotated to implement your hips into the strikes?
• Head position: Is your chin tucked and protected?

Retract and Repeat: Slowly retract your strike back to your guard position, then throw the next strike or combination, pausing again at the point of connection.

Stay Aware: Focus on every detail of your movement - execution, retraction and body mechanics and look for correcting any mistakes.

Drill Structure

• Duration: Perform the drill for 5 rounds of 4 minutes each, with 1 minute of rest in-between.
• Total Time: 25 minutes (20 minutes of active drilling + 5 minutes of rest).
• Focus: Slow, deliberate movements with pauses to analyze technique.

Adapting the Drill for the Heavy Bag

You can also perform the slow-and-pause drill on a heavy bag to improve your range and distance. The goal here isn’t to hit the bag with power but to practice proper positioning and extension.

• Position Yourself Correctly: Stand at the right distance from the bag to achieve full extension on your strikes without leaning forward or being too close.
• Pause at Connection: As with shadow boxing, pause when your fist reaches the point of contact with the bag. Assess your positioning, making sure you're neither too far (causing you to overreach) nor too close (preventing full extension).
• Analyze and Adjust: Check your stance, hand placement and body alignment before retracting and moving to the next strike.

Recommended Programs for Striking Fundamentals

To maximize the benefits of the slow-and-pause drill, got to have a solid foundation in striking. Because you have to know what the correct position of each strike needs to be.

For this check out Striking Fundamentals Vol.1 and Vol.2.

• Striking Fundamentals Vol. 1: Learn the fundamental 4 punches to build a strong striking foundation.
• Striking Fundamentals Vol. 2: Master the essential 7 punches, bringing your total to 11 punches and over 20 combinations to drill.