The cross (the '2') is the straight punch with your rear hand, usually thrown behind the jab as the 1-2. It is your power straight because it starts at the floor: the rear foot pivots, your weight moves onto the lead leg, your hips and shoulders turn, and the arm extends last. The app reads your rear-foot pivot, hip and trunk turn, shoulder drive, extension and return to guard, not punch force or an opponent.
Push and pivot the rear foot
Start from your stance with the rear heel already slightly raised and aim at your opponent's chin. Most of the time the jab goes first to set up the cross.
eyes on the target, nothing moves yet.
Push off the ball of your rear foot and pivot it so the rear toes turn to point at the target, like squashing a bug. Your lead foot stays flat and acts as the anchor.
the rear heel turning out as the toes turn in.
Shift and rotate
Shift your weight forward onto the lead leg, about 60% on the lead side. Your lead hip is the axis you turn around. Keep the lead knee slightly bent: a locked front leg puts your weight in the heel and can vault you off balance.
loading into the front leg, not falling past it.
Turn your hips and body toward the lead side: the lead shoulder pulls back as the rear shoulder comes forward. Legs and hips go first and the arm follows. USA Boxing's cue is three points for power: shoulder, hip and toe.
the turn starting at the floor and the arm riding on it.
Extend, land, retract
Extend the rear arm straight to the target, knuckles up and palm down, and land with the knuckles. Follow through about wrist-deep. In a lab study of elite amateurs the elbow was straight or nearly straight at contact (about 120 to 155 degrees), so reach the target, don't reach past your balance.
a straight line from shoulder to target.
Keep the lead hand up while the rear hand works: lead glove at the cheekbone, lead elbow pulled tight to the ribs. Keep your chin down, look down the line of the punch, and keep your nose behind your toes.
the lead glove glued to your face.
Bring the rear hand back along the same path, as fast as it went out, and return to your stance and guard.
out and back on one line.
Feel it
The punch should feel like it comes from the ground: the rear foot turns, your weight settles onto a slightly bent front leg, the hips and shoulders turn, and the arm finishes the job. Heaving the shoulder or trunk at the end is not the goal; in one study, junior boxers relied more on the shoulder and trunk than elite boxers and hit with less force. You should stay balanced with your nose behind your front toes, the lead glove stays at your cheek, and the rear hand comes home as fast as it went out. The app reads your foot pivot, rotation, extension and return to guard, not punch force or an opponent.
Fix-its
- Your cross is all arm (no body rotation) Start with the rear-foot pivot and the hip turn and let the arm extend last. Think shoulder, hip, toe: pull the lead shoulder back, point the rear toe at the target, and the hip carries the weight.
- Your rear foot stays flat Stay on the ball of the rear foot in your stance, then pivot on it until the toes point at the target. A flat rear foot makes it very hard to turn the body.
- Your lead hand drops or the lead elbow flies out Keep the lead glove on your cheekbone and the lead elbow tight to your ribs the whole time the rear hand is out. Keep the chin down, not lifted.
- You over-reach and lean past your front foot Keep your nose behind your toes and the front knee slightly bent. If the target is too far, step in or throw it at closer range instead of leaning.
- You leave the hand out or bring it back low Retract along the same path as fast as you threw it, straight back to guard. A slow, dropping return leaves your face open.
Drill
- Standing crosses in a mirror, slowly: pivot the rear foot, shift onto the lead leg, turn, extend, return. Check shoulder, hip and toe on every rep.
- Add footwork in the AIBA order: cross with a step forward, then with a step back and side steps, resetting your stance after each one.
- 1-2 combinations: jab then cross, first standing, then moving. Practise the cross at short, medium and long range, driving from the body and extending the arm only as far as the range needs.
- Bag work: one minute of rear-hand straights, then one minute of 1-2s (USA Boxing uses this as a fitness test). Keep the form; stop when the return to guard gets slow.
- Partner 1-2 drill with gloves and headguard: partners take turns throwing controlled 1-2s while the other blocks. The aim is form, not contact. Film yourself from the front or a 45-degree angle to check the pivot, turn, lead hand and return.
Safety: wrap your hands and wear gloves for bag and partner work. Stop and get it checked if you feel pain in your hand, wrist, elbow or shoulder, or if you are tensing up to force power.
How it's used
Long range: AIBA groups the rear straight with the jab as long-distance punches, to the head or the body. Behind the jab: USA Boxing teaches the jab to set up the straight right, and the straight right to set up the lead hook (1-2-3). A note on names: USA Boxing's manual calls this punch the straight right and keeps the name 'right cross' for a version that comes across the target, an advanced variation. In most gyms, 'the cross' and 'the 2' mean the straight rear-hand punch taught here.
Sources
- AIBA Coaches Commission — AIBA Coaches Manual, 2.5.3 Basic Boxing Punches: rear arm straight punch to the head, common mistakes (2010)
- USA Boxing Grassroots Task Force — Training Manual v.01: Straight Right (2) checklist, drills, heavy bag test (2014)
- Boxing Canada / Coaching Association of Canada — NCCP Club Coach Reference Material: stance errors, combinations with the straight power punch (2016)
- Cheraghi, Agha Alinejad, Arshi & Shirzad — Kinematics of Straight Right Punch in Boxing, Annals of Applied Sport Science 2(2) (2014)
- Dinu & Louis — Biomechanical Analysis of the Cross, Hook, and Uppercut in Junior vs. Elite Boxers, Frontiers in Sports and Active Living (2020)
Last checked 2026-10-26.