Guidance helps you avoid mistakes, uncover what you don’t know, and shorten the time to mastery.
If what you wanted was to learn more about this punch we call the hook, congratulations you are here.
Unlock your right hooks potential!
I want to extend to you all of my knowledge and more of what there is to know about the right hook. How to throw it, when to use it, and which right hook I’m talking about.
Less stress and more fun!
What Is The Right Hook?
What it isn’t, it’s not across!
It is a power punch, a horizontal punch going across your body with the elbow at a 90° angle.
The power is generated from the weight of your body being transferred through your hips.
Aim for the head or the body. Its use is limited because of the angle it comes from.
Which One I’m Talking About?
Orthodox fighters use right hooks less. It is a short punch, to begin with, and the punch starts from behind you with your backhand.
Southpaws will use this punch alot more, their lead hand will throw alot of check hooks.
Which one am I talking about? My Orthodox brothers and sisters this one for you.
How To Throw A Right Hook?
Set up in your boxing stance, obvious right. Cool!
Next, feel your weight placed evenly between your legs. Our first objective is to successfully transfer our weight through our hips by pivoting our back foot.
Pivot on the balls of your feet like you are squishing a bug. Drive your toes into the ground as you pivot.
Lock the whole right side of your body from the toes to the knees leading to the hips and core.
The right hand will release from your body at the same time, turn your elbow up to the sky until the palm is facing down.
The punch shouldn’t be curving in towards your body or extending your elbow like a straight punch. Find a happy medium between those two positions.
Never overextend on this punch swinging all the way across your body, it should stop about midline with your body.
Bring it back, again starting with the toes in the ground swivel back with the body locked and the hand returned to the face with the elbow tucked.
Recap, shit your weight to the front leg by pivoting, whip the right side across to the midline of your body and back, keep that elbow up in a 90°, and it’s up to you how you hold your thumb.
How To Use It?
After learning how to throw it, when to use it is just as important.
In a fight, there are three zones you can be in. Red, yellow, and green. Depending on what zone you are in determines the way you throw the hook.
What do these zones indicate? Our distance from our opponent.
Red zone, like a traffic light it means stopped, there is no action going on here and the reason for this is because you are too far out of range to do anything but catch your breath.
Yellow zone, yielding but the foot is ready to push on the gas in case you see an opening. Here you have your hands up ready for action. The right hook is a long-distance punch at this range.
You may extend your arm farther out to reach, but keep aim with your knuckles and not your palms.
No slap fights here.
The best option is to aim for the body, there is a better chance you hit a bigger target compare to the smaller target their head.
Green Zone, it’s go time you are in the mix! Hands pasted on the face, elbows tight, this zone is recommended for some prime-time hooks, putting water in the basement, or catching an opening upstairs.
After your done with your attack dip out or slip to a side and re-adjust your angle to avoid their counter.
When To Use It?
The best time to use it is when you are close. Inside fighting is a term used for close range and the punch used most is the hook.
But let’s say we aren’t always in close or maybe that’s not our fighting style. Can we still use it?
Yes, start with a combination to lead up to the hook. If you start with just the hook they will see it coming.
Another situation if you arent in close is, your opponent is on the attack. When they step into a jab time it and counter over the top with a right hook.
Thumb Up Or Down?
The last thing you will want to know is your thumb up or down when you punch.
Personally, I like my thumb up using a long-range shot, and thumb down when I’m looking for more snap on my punch on the inside.
Gennady Golovkin has his thumb down and Canelo Alvarez has his thumb up. Both effective and respectable fighters.
It’s up to you.
Conclusion
I’ve heard some debate that this punch doesn’t have much use. My argument against the naysayers is to learn when to use it. It’s most effective inside or coming off a combination.
Learn your distance, this is key because hooks also take up alot of energy to throw. A big part of boxing is not wasting movement, that means not throwing punches you know aren’t going to land.
To fully unlock your right hook lock the right side of your body as you throw it, the power comes from the legs shifting your body weight. An arm punch will look looping and feel like a slap instead of a solid thud.
Shadowbox this movement and get the form right before hitting a heavy bag.
Don't say I didn't warn you!
Just a quick heads up the Shovel hook is the upper hand you are looking for.
Also known as the Mexican uppercut or the destroyer
Hi, this is Alex, a professional undefeated boxer, with boxing undefeated, bringing you the most important quick tips you can use today inside the squared circle.
The fastest way to get confident when boxing is learning basics, the defense, and the offense in and outs.
Really it all starts with your feet, and you can read my articles on footwork if you want to start from the bottom up.
Today we are starting on the offense side of things with a punch. To get started you don't need any fancy equipment or a gym, let’s break down what you need at a bare minimum.
Mirrors are helpful to see yourself while you practice. They aren’t a necessity, although they do help tremendously if you have one.
A smooth ground that is level, to make sure you don’t roll an ankle or trip and get injured.
That’s really it, see simple, you can do this anywhere!
Why Do We Shovel Hook?
The shovel hook is used to creating an angle that is unfamiliar with what the opponent is used to seeing, creating more openings in their defense.
After you throw it once or twice, your opponent has to think about another angle to block.
Overall we want this punch to land on the body. Its main goal is to hit the liver, located on the right side of everyone.
Okay, but what is a shovel hook and what does it look like?
What Is The Shovel Hook?
Imagine an uppercut met the hook and they had a baby, and power and speed met and they had a baby and those two babies met and had a baby, that baby would be the shovel hook a.k.a huppercut a.k.a hookercut a.k.a whatever else you could name it.
No, but seriously it is right in between either of those punches. It’s not a full uppercut or a full hook.
The elbow is at a 45° angle and the punch travels at the same angle upward.
How To Throw A Shovel Hook?
Set up in your basic boxing stance, balanced with the knees bent.
Pivot on your back foot bringing your rear shoulder forward with it. Curl your rear shoulder halfway to your lead foot and pause once your head is over your front knee.
Both hands should be on the cheeks for protection.
Drop your left hand and rotate back punching at a 45° angle aiming at your opponent’s bottom rib. Rotate back with your rear foot, into starting position.
Keep your opposite hand up that you are not using as you rotate back, and once you complete the punch bring your punching hand back as well.
This is where that mirror can really come in handy, and no not to look at yourself and how good you may look.
You want to be able to spot your own bottom rib in the mirror and use that as guidance as to where you should punch.
Common Mistakes
Top 3 mistakes ready set go!
Pivoting your rear foot sounds easy but more often than not we forget more than half the time. You will lose your mechanics, speed, and power on the wind up.
Winding up your body with a pivot is the proper technique, winding up your arm for extra power is a lie that Popeye taught us after you eat some canned spinach.
Dropping your hands for balance is a beginner move, I understand it because I was once that beginner. Balance isn’t easy when the full body is in motion, one way you can get better at finding your balance is by practicing technique step by step broken down as I mentioned earlier.
Quick Tip
You can follow it up with its natural partner the right downward angled hook, which comes over and down in the opposite direction, downward onto the other side of the jaw.
Also, known as working the ladder from the bottom to the top
This is a good combo to keep your attack going!
Fighters To Watch
Film study helps with the learning process, you read about it, watch it, and apply it.
Bernard Hopkins vs Oscar Del La Hoya, Hopkins hits De La Hoya with a shovel hook to the liver ending the fight in the 9th round.
Amir Khan vs Marcos Maidana, Khan lands a liver shot with a tight shovel hooking the 1st round sending Maidana to the canvas. Besides the knock down the rest of the fight is really worth watching as well.
Conclusion
Run through your mechanics for the best delivery on your punch, keep that elbow at a 45° angle swinging upwards, and hit hard to that liver and watch them crumble.
These are some of the best boxing tips for beginners learning the shovel hook, you don’t have to fall into the trap of all the fancy moves and equipment to get you started or take you to the next level.
You need patience, consistency, and effective training. Build on good habits early so you don’t have to tear down the foundation and rebuild all over again.
If you want more in-depth knowledge on specific questions check out our home page for more tips. Let me know what other tips I may have missed or you'd like me to cover by leaving a comment.
I cant wait to see you in the future on the next one, keep swinging champs!