Orthodox vs Southpaw: Should I Switch To Southpaw?

[muay231032]

Hey:)  I have been training muay thai 5-6x times a week for a couple of years and have a couple of amateur fights. I am right handed and have always fought out of orthodox stance. 

I have always felt that there is something wrong when i am standing in orhtodox stance. When i block kicks with my front leg, my balance is fine, but when i block kicks with my rear leg i get really unbalanced. Same with the right cross( rear uppercut)it just doesnt feel natural at all, even though i practiced it alot. I get really easy unbalanced when throwing boxing with my right hand, even though im not over extending when throwing it.  I also feel unbalanced in the orhtodox stance compared to when i stand in southpaw stance. Last couple of weeks i have been switching to southpaw stance, and everything just feels so more natural there. I have better balance in southpaw stance, and the boxing feels more naturral aswell with the elbows, i dont get off balanced when i throw it in southpaw compared to orhtodox. My favourite weapon are knees and cliching. When i fight in orhtodox i barely throw any punches, only knees and low kicks and clinch, because thats the only thing that feels nattural in the orhtodox stance. Would i benefit my orhtodox stance from switching to southpaw? Obviously my defence is alot better in orthodox then southpaw, but could it be worth it to switch to southpaw on a permanent base?  Also when i block kicks in southpaw i dont get off balanced.  Even though i pracitced the things alot that makes me unbalanced in orhtodox it just never seem to feel naturral, or that my balance gets better.  When i am clinching, wide feet i have really good balance so i cant figure out whats wrong with the orhtodox stance even though i am right handed. 

[Tom Riddle]

@muay231032 

Hi there, Thank you for the detailed question. Can you please let me know.

1. Which age group you are in right now?

2. Are you ambidextrous?

[muay231032]

Hello  @Tom RiddleI am 24 years old. No i am not ambidextrous, my right hand is my dominant side. Thats what makes it so frustrating. Thank you 

Edited January 1, 2020 by muay231032

[Sylvie von Duuglas-Ittu]

A lot of wrestlers stand with their strong/dominant leg forward for this same reason. Balance, better strength against takedowns. If you don't want to switch your stance, you can always "calibrate" by switching to Southpaw for a moment to do a movement and see why it's different or how it's different from when you're standing Orthodox, then make those adjustments in Orthodox. For example, I stand way more squared up in Southpaw than I do in Orthodox, so I check it in Southpaw and then go back to Orthodox and adjust so it's the same. If my kick is stronger in Southpaw, it's because my dominant leg is the standing leg, so I see where it's landing in relation to the target and then recreate that in Orthodox. I'm just entirely too "bladed" in Orthodox, should be more squared up in general, for my style. I'm not a kicker.

[Kevin von Duuglas-Ittu]

On 12/24/2019 at 8:12 PM, muay231032 said:

Would i benefit my orhtodox stance from switching to southpaw? Obviously my defence is alot better in orthodox then southpaw, but could it be worth it to switch to southpaw on a permanent base?

What often happens to fighters who enjoy the idea of switching stance is that their offense will improve, but their defense will suffer. A lot of this happens simply because you aren't used to seeing things reversed, so you don't pick up strikes as quickly. One piece of advice we've seen when fighting someone who switches back and forth in a fight is to just rush them when they move into their unnatural side, because their defense is probably suspect. But this isn't such a huge problem, you just have to work more on your defense than you might think. Focus on it. The biggest aid in this for Southpaws is learning the "forward check", which is a feigning left leg (rear leg) raise, that closes off the Southpaw's biggest weakness to Orthodox fighters. This is a really, really big tool. Karuhat teaches it to Sylvie in the Muay Thai Library session where he turns her from Orthodox to Southpaw. There is a whole vocabulary of the forward check that is really special, both defensively and offensively, for Muay Thai. Maybe check that video out.

[AndyMaBobs]

On 12/24/2019 at 1:12 PM, muay231032 said:

Hey:)  I have been training muay thai 5-6x times a week for a couple of years and have a couple of amateur fights. I am right handed and have always fought out of orthodox stance. 

I have always felt that there is something wrong when i am standing in orhtodox stance. When i block kicks with my front leg, my balance is fine, but when i block kicks with my rear leg i get really unbalanced. Same with the right cross( rear uppercut)it just doesnt feel natural at all, even though i practiced it alot. I get really easy unbalanced when throwing boxing with my right hand, even though im not over extending when throwing it.  I also feel unbalanced in the orhtodox stance compared to when i stand in southpaw stance. Last couple of weeks i have been switching to southpaw stance, and everything just feels so more natural there. I have better balance in southpaw stance, and the boxing feels more naturral aswell with the elbows, i dont get off balanced when i throw it in southpaw compared to orhtodox. My favourite weapon are knees and cliching. When i fight in orhtodox i barely throw any punches, only knees and low kicks and clinch, because thats the only thing that feels nattural in the orhtodox stance. Would i benefit my orhtodox stance from switching to southpaw? Obviously my defence is alot better in orthodox then southpaw, but could it be worth it to switch to southpaw on a permanent base?  Also when i block kicks in southpaw i dont get off balanced.  Even though i pracitced the things alot that makes me unbalanced in orhtodox it just never seem to feel naturral, or that my balance gets better.  When i am clinching, wide feet i have really good balance so i cant figure out whats wrong with the orhtodox stance even though i am right handed. 

 

Honestly, I think you're at the point now where you may as well be trying out anything you think will help you. If you've trained regularly for a few years then I don't see any reason to not attempt in southpaw.

I'm a southpaw for the most part and built my game off boxing/teeps - but if I want to get aggressive with kicks I've never been able to get that offence going out of Southpaw, so I'll switch to orthodox to make better use of my right low kick. Most of the time you find that switch hitters have certain go to weapons out of each stance, rather than being able to fight perfectly with everything out of both - which is why switch hitting is normally considered the fighters 'style' itself.

[Conor Sullivan]

You should be comfortable in both stances. Its more healthy for the body and more useful in the fight.