I've always told EVERY ONE of my boxers that there's no such thing as bad advice. Even the most experienced
boxers and/or coaches will learn things late in their careers.
One of the main problems as a coach when working with boxers is usually those parents/relatives who are new to the
sport and want to give boxing advice. As coaches we should not be upset or take this as an insult to the way we
coach. We should understand that the only reason they're giving this advice is because they feel it will help. A good
way of understanding this for coaches is to ask yourself, "would you ever give your son/daughter advice that you
think will hurt them physically or emotionally?". Of course not. We give advice based on what we feel is best. Advice
we feel will help our loved ones deal with certain issues.
I've tell my boxers to use all advice that's given to them. If it works, you keep it and continue using it. If it doesn't, you
discard it and take it as a learning experience on what NOT to do. Coaches need to use this same approach.
Allow parents to play their role so they can allow you to be the boxing coach. Most parents want to be involved. Many
of these parents see their child, for the first time, really intense and excited about a sport and want to be part of it. If
a coach tries to push them away or reject any advice they give it will only cause a rift between the parent and child. If
you ask your boxer to IGNORE or not listen to their parents common sense tells you this is going to cause major
problems at home. Invite the parents to be part of your team and find ways they can help without interfering with your
coaching. . Although boxing is an individual sport INSIDE THE ROPES the preparation to get there involves T E A M
W O R K!
Anyone who has been with OUR TEAM on a trip to the Ringside World Championships in Kansas knows EXACTLY
what I mean by teamwork. Many of those titles we've brought back might have been won in the ring but it's mainly
due to the hard work the team moms, dads, uncles, brothers, sisters, cousins, grandmothers, grandfathers etc.. put
in to get there.
When our boxers hands are raised at the end of a bout it's a win for O U R ENTIRE T E A M.