What makes a great trainer?

Hell, I train amateur boxers. I've been trained before. I have watched other trainers train boxers.

What separates the great trainers from all of these other people who do the same but aren't as good?

Every trainer, even low end amateur trainers know how to teach the basic jab (I'd like to believe they all know); however, the right technique is virtually the same no matter where you go. There are different kinds of jabs; the power jab, the speed jab, etc...

I teach from the ground up because without the proper footwork, nothing else matters.

My analogy/philosophy in regards to training has always been: Most everyone knows the alphabet; from a three year old humming the ABC melody to Albert Einstein. The difference is, Einstein knows how to do a lot more with the letters than a three year old. In other words, the tools are available to both, but one knows how to use them a lot better than the other.

Basic boxing tutelage includes teaching footwork, balance (which is a byproduct of the proper footwork), using angles, developing hand speed, head movement and of course the different array of punches.

Outside of the named fighters the great trainers have had, what really separates them? Is it the overall tutelage or is there enough emphasis put on being a great motivator, which, by the way, cannot be understated.

Take a guy like Cus D'Amato. He never boxed a day in his life, yet he developed three world champions.

Regimens may mean something and everyone thinks theirs is the best.

Floyd Mayweather Sr. claims to be the greatest trainer ever. We know it's not true but other than his lack of named fighters outside of his son, who's to say someone else is much better than he is?

 

I think Eddie Futch is the best trainer ever, based on the great variety of styles he worked with and the results he got out of so many different fighters

just a very bright man who understood how to make a gameplan and cared very much about his fighters' well-being

a guy like Angelo Dundee, I would classify him as a great CORNERMAN as opposed to a great trainer, he was also one of the best cutmen

 

Being really, really smart & being a really good communicator, most likely. Like the greatest trainer in history, Floyd Mayweather Sr.

 

Agreed. Dundee, as a trainer specifically, is a fiercely-overrated image.

 

agree

Dundee was superb at working a corner, taking care of his fighter's stress level and could stop a cut like nobody's business, definitely a great guy to have during a fight... but he was no strategist

Futch was not only a calming, secure influence in the corner but he was also a master of making gameplans

certainly, being a great cornerman is important and a unique skill, and you could be a great planner and yet useless in terms of taking care of a fighter during a fight

Futch excelled at both, a rare thing

the worst trainer I have ever seen on the big stage is Yoel Judah... he offers no comfort to his fighter, is a jittery, jumpy, shouting presence and his only gameplan is "yoyoyoyoyo, you gots ta hit him like dis, yo" while he throws punches at the air... It's like having Busta Rhymes as your trainer

 

:giggle:

 

Dedication, a great knowledge of the sport/understanding of training techniques, communication.

 

:mj:

 

thats funny because busta supposedly got into an altercation with yoel's son

 

I think the biggest single factor in how "great" a trainer is, is how GREAT the fighters are that he is training.

 

basically trainers are rated on guys they took from the start, to a great career. guys they "made" not ready made guys they took over and succeeded with.

 

I like Yoel and also Jack Mosely

jack - Shane, you gotta throw punches, don't let your back tighten up

Lol

 

I remember Father Jack's words of wisdom for the final round of Forrest-Mosley I...

"Shane, ummmmm..." :giggle:

 

A lot of that was going on in Joppys corner during the Trinidad fight.

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Damn that fight is nearly 10 years ago. :scared::scared:

 

I think really excellent trainers probably drill the fundamentals obsessively. Footwork, balance, range, bringing the hands back high. All the boring stuff. If you do the boring stuff right every time, more consistently than your opponent, you'll invariably win. It's like Pareto's principle, 80% of your results coming from 20% of your activity and so on. 'Ram the fundamentals through the other guys teeth' as BJ Penn said.

Everything on top of that is probably just being very, very observant. There are things going on in a boxing ring that most people just don't have the eyes to see. Patterns in the way people set their feet, transfer their weight, pattern their attacks, the certain key distinctions that some guys styles rely on like jenga blocks. An intuitive ability to pick those things up probably separates both the great fighters and the great trainers from just the excellent ones.

 

Comfort

 

They say in any sport, the best coaches are those guys without any talent who had to really study and work to become ok. The creme de la creme never really have to think about what they're doing too much it comes naturally. Mediocrity striving to competence is where all the thought is & that's where the key distinctions are consciously made......unconscious imcompetence, conscious imcompetence, conscious competence, unconscious competence, the 4 stages of learning. If you're Floyd Mayweather or Roberto Duran you just arrive at stage 4 out the womb or at least get taught so young you don't remember the process, but a guy like Freddie Roach has to work hard and think hard just to get to stage 3.

 

Well put

 

Don't think Im gonna forget that 'panties in a twist' jibe just like that, Slice.

 

:: ::

 

Yep.

 

I think it's being really great that makes them great, personally.

 

A great fighter makes the trainer look better than he really is

 

So trainers aren't important?

 

Well if an established great fighter switches trainers tomorrow how much better do you think that trainer will make him ? And for example Roach wouldn't be considered this amazing trainer if he didn't have Manny.

 

I don't think Manny would be considered an amazing fighter without Roach's input, since you bring up that example.

 

Roach was highly regarded long before he ever trained Manny

he was trainer of the year by THE RING 10 or 11 years ago, if memory serves

 

I guess somewhere in this thread I got my answer.

In a nutshell, I was pretty much asking what do the great trainers do in preparation that gets the "Result"?

Game planning is one of the most underrated aspects of preparation; however, in the amatuers, especially in the early stages, there is not any film to go by in order to gameplan. Then again, at that most bare, rudimentary part of a fighter's career, staying with the extreme basics, toughness and overall athleticism should get them by.