Methodology to carry out a strategic analysis of a rival and its derived technical-tactical training program
In this writing I will try to explain how I carry out an analysis of a boxer and how, based on it, I generate the technical-tactical training plan.
It all starts when the head coach gives me the name of the opponent. At that point, I start looking for information. The first step is to search for your boxrec. Once I find his record, with the names of his rivals, I start looking for videos of his fights on Google under the "videos" tag or on YouTube.
If I find a lot of fights, I prioritize the most recent ones and fights where he faced opponents with a similar style to the fighter I'm working for.
Once I've found the videos, I download them to my computer and put them in different folders labeled by the name of the fight.
The first step I take is always to watch the entire match before I start pulling data.
Having seen the complete fight, I start to divide the video of the fight in each connected blow that I see, both from the rival to face or from his opponent, in such a way that I am left with the entire folder of this fight full of micro-videos of the hits connected.
As the third step, I split the videos into boxer A punches and boxer B punches and place them in two different folders.
Having separated each fighter's punches, I create the HITS folder inside Boxer A and Boxer B, and, within this HITS folder, I place subfolders for each type of punch I find (example: the “jab” folder). In this way, the folders of the blows observed will be generated within the Boxer A and Boxer B folders.
Soon, blows that are not given in isolation will begin to appear, which we will call COMBINATIONS, and for these videos it is necessary to create another folder that contains subfolders with the names of each combination used by each boxer (example: 1-2).
By collecting the information and categorizing the isolated blows and the combinations in the corresponding folders, isolated blows or combinations that were responses to the rival's attacks will emerge, and we will call these COUNTER-HITS, for which we will produce a special folder with the name of "counter-blows", which will have subfolders inside with the label of each response (example: Al jab responds with waist back and right straight to the face).
If we continue breaking up the fight, at some point a gesture will appear that was not fully performed, but which led to connecting a linked blow, these simulated gestures are the FINTAS( feint) and for them we must create another folder with that name, inside the which we will place subfolders with the title of the feint (example: Feint jab and spear crossed from the left to the face).
With this process we will have the HITS, COMBINATIONS, COUNTER-HITS and FEINTS folders in the folders of both fighters.
Having all the videos in their folders, what remains is to count how many videos there are in each one and place this number followed by a period and a space in their name. This will allow us to have the techniques of lower frequency ordered with greater repetitiveness.
Image 1. Organization of the BLOWS, COMBINATIONS, COUNTERBLOWS AND FINTAS folders of each boxer.
It all starts when the head coach gives me the name of the opponent. At that point, I start looking for information. The first step is to search for your boxrec. Once I find his record, with the names of his rivals, I start looking for videos of his fights on Google under the "videos" tag or on YouTube.
If I find a lot of fights, I prioritize the most recent ones and fights where he faced opponents with a similar style to the fighter I'm working for.
Once I've found the videos, I download them to my computer and put them in different folders labeled by the name of the fight.
The first step I take is always to watch the entire match before I start pulling data.
Having seen the complete fight, I start to divide the video of the fight in each connected blow that I see, both from the rival to face or from his opponent, in such a way that I am left with the entire folder of this fight full of micro-videos of the hits connected.
As the third step, I split the videos into boxer A punches and boxer B punches and place them in two different folders.
Having separated each fighter's punches, I create the HITS folder inside Boxer A and Boxer B, and, within this HITS folder, I place subfolders for each type of punch I find (example: the “jab” folder). In this way, the folders of the blows observed will be generated within the Boxer A and Boxer B folders.
Soon, blows that are not given in isolation will begin to appear, which we will call COMBINATIONS, and for these videos it is necessary to create another folder that contains subfolders with the names of each combination used by each boxer (example: 1-2).
By collecting the information and categorizing the isolated blows and the combinations in the corresponding folders, isolated blows or combinations that were responses to the rival's attacks will emerge, and we will call these COUNTER-HITS, for which we will produce a special folder with the name of "counter-blows", which will have subfolders inside with the label of each response (example: Al jab responds with waist back and right straight to the face).
If we continue breaking up the fight, at some point a gesture will appear that was not fully performed, but which led to connecting a linked blow, these simulated gestures are the FINTAS( feint) and for them we must create another folder with that name, inside the which we will place subfolders with the title of the feint (example: Feint jab and spear crossed from the left to the face).
With this process we will have the HITS, COMBINATIONS, COUNTER-HITS and FEINTS folders in the folders of both fighters.
Having all the videos in their folders, what remains is to count how many videos there are in each one and place this number followed by a period and a space in their name. This will allow us to have the techniques of lower frequency ordered with greater repetitiveness.
Image 1. Organization of the BLOWS, COMBINATIONS, COUNTERBLOWS AND FINTAS folders of each boxer.
After this, we will take the videos from each subfolder and join them with iMovie® or any other program, so that we have only one video for each technical gesture. We will use these videos to present SCOUTING to the head coach and the boxer.
The presentation must have the videos ordered as they are organized in the weekly work program shown below.
Table 1. Weekly program for the practice of DEFENSE AND COUNTERBLOWS, ATTACKS AND FEINTS in medium and short distance.
The presentation must have the videos ordered as they are organized in the weekly work program shown below.
Table 1. Weekly program for the practice of DEFENSE AND COUNTERBLOWS, ATTACKS AND FEINTS in medium and short distance.
In the previous table, we can see how the defensive techniques are linked to the counteroffensives, to provoke a correct adjustment to the most common attacks of the rival. With this we seek that his greatest strengths become possible weaknesses and a consequent risk for him. If we achieve that, our opponent will not fight comfortably, because by throwing his historically most successful punches, they are leading him to receive more punishment for the coupled counterpunching that our advisee practiced. This should give our protege a sporting advantage because his opponent won't fight as comfortably or with as much confidence, which can lead him to make more frequent mistakes, which in turn our boxer could take advantage of.
Also, in table 1 you can see the practice of the attacks that commonly enter the guard of our future rival, as well as the feints in which he tends to fall more frequently. The fact of practicing these isolated attacks, combinations, and feints, and automating them in the work of mitts, governor, boxing school, and even in sparring itself, will give you greater possibilities of using these resources in combat, thus increasing the possibility of success.
Having prepared the weekly training program, it is presented in a PowerPoint followed by the videos of the suggested techniques in the weekly order in which they appear and with their corresponding title: Defense 1, Counterattack 1, etc.
Film 1. PowerPoint presentation with videos showing the defensive and counteroffensive techniques coupled to rehearse in the camp.
Also, in table 1 you can see the practice of the attacks that commonly enter the guard of our future rival, as well as the feints in which he tends to fall more frequently. The fact of practicing these isolated attacks, combinations, and feints, and automating them in the work of mitts, governor, boxing school, and even in sparring itself, will give you greater possibilities of using these resources in combat, thus increasing the possibility of success.
Having prepared the weekly training program, it is presented in a PowerPoint followed by the videos of the suggested techniques in the weekly order in which they appear and with their corresponding title: Defense 1, Counterattack 1, etc.
Film 1. PowerPoint presentation with videos showing the defensive and counteroffensive techniques coupled to rehearse in the camp.
Once all the techniques that must be rehearsed in the week are presented, the trainer will apply the plan and send the analyst the videos of these practices carried out in the mitts, the governor, the boxing school and the punching bag, to be able to review the angles in the application of the blows, in the dodge of the attack, in the location of the guard and the placement of the legs. Thus, it will be possible to compare the final adjustment necessary so that the techniques practiced have the greatest possible transfer in combat.
But we must clarify that the most reliable evaluation for his transfer to combat will be what happens in sparring. Therefore, the boxers selected for this practice must have a style similar to the rival we will face and try to throw the same type of blows as our future opponent in the same situations that he does. For this reason, the sparring partner must study the movements of the rival that we will face, equal to or with greater tenacity than our boxer, to emulate his movements in the best possible way.
The analyst must have the recordings of all the sparring practices, in order to be able to follow up on the process, analyzing each match and checking the number of times he applied the isolated and combined attacks that he rehearsed during the week, as well as the feints, the defenses and counterattacks.
With the videos of the sparring matches, the analyst will be able to observe the transfer indicators of the techniques tested to actual combat practice and will be able to realize the level of progress achieved up to that moment, making adjustments to the weekly technical training, as needed. to put greater emphasis on some defensive technique that has not been seen so well used in sparring or give maintenance to some offensive technique that is improved by weekly practice.
All this work can be simplified and done more quickly, if we have tools developed specifically for this purpose, such as the DeepStrike® competition analyzer, which offers us the statistics of the blows thrown and connected in each round, as well as the fragmentation of the videos that show this predilection. With this, we will only have to group the blows in the folders and prepare the PowerPoint presentation for the boxer's work team.
Image 2. Statistics provided by DeepStrike®.
But we must clarify that the most reliable evaluation for his transfer to combat will be what happens in sparring. Therefore, the boxers selected for this practice must have a style similar to the rival we will face and try to throw the same type of blows as our future opponent in the same situations that he does. For this reason, the sparring partner must study the movements of the rival that we will face, equal to or with greater tenacity than our boxer, to emulate his movements in the best possible way.
The analyst must have the recordings of all the sparring practices, in order to be able to follow up on the process, analyzing each match and checking the number of times he applied the isolated and combined attacks that he rehearsed during the week, as well as the feints, the defenses and counterattacks.
With the videos of the sparring matches, the analyst will be able to observe the transfer indicators of the techniques tested to actual combat practice and will be able to realize the level of progress achieved up to that moment, making adjustments to the weekly technical training, as needed. to put greater emphasis on some defensive technique that has not been seen so well used in sparring or give maintenance to some offensive technique that is improved by weekly practice.
All this work can be simplified and done more quickly, if we have tools developed specifically for this purpose, such as the DeepStrike® competition analyzer, which offers us the statistics of the blows thrown and connected in each round, as well as the fragmentation of the videos that show this predilection. With this, we will only have to group the blows in the folders and prepare the PowerPoint presentation for the boxer's work team.
Image 2. Statistics provided by DeepStrike®.
Broadly speaking, this is the process that is carried out to work as an analyst in a professional boxing team, with a view to facing a specific opponent.
On the other hand, we must say that in many cases there is no knowledge of the rival that is going to face. For this type of situation, the analysis is similar, but it will focus on the errors and successes of our pupil, trying to work on reducing his errors and the weekly development of his technical successes.
On the other hand, we must say that in many cases there is no knowledge of the rival that is going to face. For this type of situation, the analysis is similar, but it will focus on the errors and successes of our pupil, trying to work on reducing his errors and the weekly development of his technical successes.