Ready to Box? A Self Assessment

In grade school, I went out for the basketball team. It didn't work out. Despite the desire and near-perfect attendance at practices, I just didn't have the skills. Compounding this shortcoming was a coach who, while his intentions were good, used a type of "reverse psychology" that sought to motivate players through humiliation in front of their peers. This technique included the application of praise such as "I don't know why you continue to come to practice, you are not any good" or "You will never be good enough to get any game time" and so on. Just the kind of people we want to teach sportsmanship and mold the character of 10- to 12-year-old boys. The effect was to encourage the best players to ride rather than guide the less able players. This attitude culminated in a confrontation between myself and Joe Miressi in the locker room--a three punch fight, his wild swing answered by my jab executed drop-in right cross to the chin that staggered him. Now, I loved to box but hated to fight. Shortly thereafter, I quit, and the coach told me I had a "bad attitude." Maybe. I excelled at other things. Endeavors that required persistence, teamwork, discipline and skill.

Before giving up basketball I did attempt to become a better player. I checked out a library book, Make the Team in Basketball, written by Clair Bee and published in 1961. But learning to play basketball from a book about as effective as learning to box from a book. However, a couple of weeks ago at a used book sale, I saw Coach Bee's book which had been withdrawn from the library. I was struck by his advice to "first you ought to give yourself this sort of personal analysis, which should include not only basketball skills and fundamentals, but the personal and emotional attributes to which identify the basketball star."

The inventory of personal and emotional qualities the coach on which asks the prospective player to rate himself or herself is reproduced below. Looking at them, I wondered how my boxers that I started training last November would have faired along these dimensions had the program not been cancelled due to logistical problems and a new youth club director who may think that boxing is not appropriate activity, or, more accurately, not worth the club's effort and scarce resources.

Coach Bee doesn't say that you need to score excellent on all of these to be a good player. But recognizing your strengths and striving to raise scores where necessary will make you a better boxer. Obviously, one gets experience by participating. So, the more you participate the greater your experience will be. You may ask, what has Team Play have to do with boxing. This is an individual sport. To quote a famous singing group, "I get by with a little help from my friends." So it is with boxing. Think about the drills that you do in training. You do them with others on your team. You spar with others on your team. You get by with others on your team. Do you stand on the sidelines and cheer your mates on during these sparring sessions? Do you share their excitement at a well executed round and their disappointment when performance is less than expected. There are no lone wolves in this sport.