I have been doing Krav for a while now and am technically quite good.

Recently started sparring with head shots allowed and everything goes wrong. The main thing is my stance, I start leaning back so my head is out of range, but this means my ballance is bad, my shots are weak etc. Its not a concious move on my part and its not that I am afraid of getting hit esp with boxing gloves on and head protection.

How can I get out of this habbit

Try working on your inside defenses and concentrate on your head movement. Your head should be moving to the side not straight back. Try doing inside defenses with your back foot against a wall, so you can't move backwards. Make sure who ever is throwing at you, can reach your head. This will force you to work side to side. Also think about your angles, you would never go straight in. Try to get to the outside of your attacker, this gets you close enough to attack but keeps you away from his weapons. I think if you just worked on your blocking, inside and outside defenses with counter punches, it helps you to come in and throw instead of leaning back. Let me know if that helps.

Thanks for the advice dedicated1, will try it.

Was a bit suprised how different it is against something that hits back not just a bag (have said for a while that if I ever get attacked by a kick shield I will be fine but another person....).

The speed is something I need to get used to.Like any activity or sport it takes a while to 'get your eye in', but will definately follow your advice.

Spar more! Not being sarcastic. Best way to get used to it.

Also, try using a more forward leaning stance, I have oyur same problem and I find it helps a bit when I'm forward with my back heel slightly raised, try that.

I agree with the advice already given, but definitely agree with Matt...Practice makes perfect..:) What kinda recommendations does your instructor suggest?

To be honest It was the first time that he let a few of us in the group that he trusts go for the head (usually we are limited to the chest). I had a short chat at the end where he pointed out the leaning back thing, but no time to offer suggestions.

Well, if you don't lean back when getting punched in the chest, and you do when punched in the head then maybe it is a subscience thing. It sounds like a good training method already mentioned would be to place your back foot against a wall, and then spar, of course not super hard, but enough to help you to not lean back....

Someone said spar more, and that is my advise as well. You may also want to try some sparing drills where you don't attack but just defend. Let your partner speed up a bit and see when things begin to go wrong.

Focus on keeping your chin tucked in when you fight.

I would even videotape the sparing if possible and then
get someone with more experience to help you find out what
you are doing wrong and when.

Good Luck

Meliam

There are also some traditional horse stance drills that help this. Stand in horse stances facing each other with partner close enough so you can reach each others face with a punch. Then one punches left/right/left etc. while the other blocks. Just concentrate on keeping your head in and moving your weight slightly from side to side. ( preferrably the outside of the punching arm,, but either can be done ) Keep your feet planted and stay in range. In this squared up position it's pretty easy to feel when you start to lean back if you pay attention.