SKILLZ & DRILLZ-KILLSHOTS-SETTING UP YOUR OPPONENTS FOR THE KNOCKOUT
Kill shot or is it Killshot?
A kill shot used to mean a kill with a gun/bullet or bow/arrow against an enemy or a prey. The hunters of the old west
and the soldiers/lawmen throughout history used the term when shooting their adversaries with a fatal shot.
In the sports world today, the word “killshot” is used in many different sports. In baseball, it is used for
the ninth inning home run that wins the game.
In soccer, it is the kick that wins the game in the final seconds.
In American football, a killshot is a tackle or “hit” that is so devastating that it knocks an opponent’s
helmet off his head or a tackle which makes a loud crunching sound. So much so that the player is slow to get up.
In golf, its the putt that ends the tournament.
In our profession, boxing, kickboxing or mixed martial arts, a killshot take the forms of the punch that lays you opponent
flat on the mat. The kick that sends him flying up against the rope and to the mat. The choke hold from the riding position.
This is how the killshot takes form in our sports.
The killshot takes months of conditioning and training to perfect, but the prelude to the killshot is what I will discuss
this week.
The key to the killshot is reading your opponent and finding a slip in his guard or technique that will help you to apply
it. You may watch films on your opponent. You may have discovered glaring weaknesses in his defense and by fight time, they
may have corrected those weaknesses, but don’t fret. If the weaknesses were there once, it will be a matter of time
the weaknesses will come back momentarily in the fight. You will have to seek them along with your trainers. Bad habits are
not cured overnight.
If you do not have film on your opponent you can train to find weakness in opponents. Trainers will have to make the fighters
aware of errors that an opponent can make. They have to visualize and list all possible mistakes. Lets take boxing for example,
lets have our fighter train to look for his opponents mistakes while sparring. Here are some possible mistakes he may see:
The opponent’s feet are too close together.
The guard is too low.
He leads with his head.
The guard is too high.
Heavy breathing-panting.
Wild looping/haymaker punches.
No lateral movement-Moves only forward or backwards only.
Charges forward out of control.
Slow counterpunching.
Talks while fighting ( A good hook can break his jaw).
These are just ten examples, but as you train for your fights or if you are training yourself. Look at fighters in the
gym or competitions, think about how you can set up a killshot for their mistakes. Write them down, study them and practice
countering them.
Now lets look at the other side of the coin.
Suppose the fighter does not seem to make mistakes. We will have to trust our training to drop a killshot on him. You can
sit there in your easy chair and find the counters that can stop opponents on the error list above, but with a Roy Jones,
Jr./Felix Trinidad type of fighter, it will not be easy, but they make mistakes too.
Once you give him different looks and techniques, then your team will be able to find a hole in his defense. If he is a
great fighter, the hole may be one that is momentary, your team will have to help find the best strategy to set up a killshot.
Again to apply killshots you must:
Think of all possible mistakes/weaknesses that an opponent may have and set up techniques that will finish him. List them
and write them down including countermeasures.
As you train with sparring partners, train yourself to spot mistakes for setting up your killshots.
For the superior opponent, you have to give him different looks, angles and techniques in order for you and your team to
figure out the best way to drop him with a killshot.
Just remember the points I have made covers all the fighting arts, boxing is just one example. You will find that organizing
the way you finish your opponents will cause you and your team to have a long and successful career.
AS ALWAYS GOOD LUCK!
