I have this sparring partner (I finally found a good one out here in BFE) that is really hitting me in my weaknesses. He is very tall and lankey, and not naturally strong, but he was smart enough to work his ass off and get decently strong and practice a lot of clinch and grappeling as well as the obvious (for him) outside "kickboxing".

What I'm finding is that I have a better build for grappling and probably equal skill to him so I can mostly take him on the inside--clich/throw/ground--but he is eating me up at range, and making me really pay for getting in on him--he has LOTS of reach on me and better hands--he can elbow me when I can punch him!!!

Soooo, do I work on my hands to fix this--I'll never be able to compensate for his range (I am moderately stocky and he very tall and long with freaky long arms). I could focus on just shooting in better, but, honestly, it gets old just clinching or shooting in over and over and he gets wise to it and makes me pay more every time--which is why he is a great partner .

Suggestions?

Drills. Sparring is great, but supplement it with drills where he is not shutting you down 100%, but giving you some resistance. It is good to spar and find where you are weak, but then you must develop those areas while training. Works some clinch drills, and takedowns / defenses etc.
Cheers
Jake

Don't get fixated on the head and torso as targets. The hands and arms are also targets.

practice striking and grappling combos

"do I work on my hands to fix this"

If your partner is a good striker and that much taller with that much more reach, short of you growing taller, all the boxing in the world won't "fix" your problem.

My advice would be to find other sparring partners, kickbox with the guys your own size or those with shorter reaches, and practicing closing to the clinch with your tall friend.

Cool, all practical, useable, usefull advice--that's why I love this forum.

Thanks all of you!