i've been boxing for about a month now and so far i've been told to snap all my punches, whether they're a jab or a straight or a hook. what's the purpose of snapping your punches? I assume it's for quickness but doesn't it take away the power? also when i first started i went all out on the punching bag until i was told you're supposed to hit it so that it barely moves, what's the point of this too? i'm not challenging any of this as i'm sure my trainer knows what he's talkin about as he used ot be a pro, i just wanna know why i'm doing what im doing.

thanks

yeah my trainer told me to do the same, to snap my punches and to barely make the bag move
now, to me my punches are quicker, more crisp, and my endurance is higher then it was when i would just throw my arm into my punches

If you snap punches there will be nore damage since the fist will cover the area of damage for less time, thus more punch and less push.

Snapping your punches gives both power and speed.

When you have the same amount of power as me, you cant help but move the bag.

Snapping your punches gives both power and speed.

When you have the same amount of power as me, you cant help but move the bag.

Maybe speedbag, in your case.

ive never heard of snapping out hooks. how is this possible? snapping to me if for fast fighters/boxers. with me if i just snapped i wouldnt get the power punch power off of it.

Snapping your punches gives both power and speed.

When you have the same amount of power as me, you cant help but move the bag.

speaking of that. i hate when ppl on here say im moving the bag just cause its moving alot. its like im not physically able to have some power and cause they cant do it

Maybe speedbag, in your case.
Hitting a speed bag is harder than you think.

Ps, I meant heavy bag for your note. Reading comprehension: 0.

I always snap my jab, probably should be snapping my straight right more.

Hitting a speed bag is harder than you think.

Ps, I meant heavy bag for your note. Reading comprehension: 0.

Does the speed bag really benefit you?

Snapping your punches develops your speed, timing, and range estimation, and trains you to get your hands back in front of your face -- all of which you will need to have under your belt if you ever hope to throw heavy without getting your face torn off.

Speed -- the punch has to be fast to make the POP! noise.

Timing -- learning to flex and release at the moment of impact, transfers the force of the punch to the target. Think of it like snapping a wet towel; you can break the skin with a snapped wet towel, but it would take you a while to abrade the skin by rubbing it with the same wet towel. You can deliver a very hard "snapped" punch once your timing comes together.

Range Estimation -- if your estimation of distance is off by even an inch, the punch won't make that POP! and the snap will feel weak or will miss completely. When you've learned to consistently deliver the snap on a moving bag or opponent, you will unconsciously know your own range and you will feel your opponent -- or yourself -- moving into it.

EDIT: Once you can feel your range and make the punches snap on the move, you will have control over the exact fraction of a second and fraction of an inch at which the punch makes contact. This kind of kinetic focus is critical in throwing a devastating heavy punch.

Once you have speed, timing, a feel for range, and are in the habit of pulling your gloves back to your face after every punch, THEN you can start learning how to throw heavy. Throwing heavy means punching differently, but it requires all of the above skills.

Does the speed bag really benefit you?
Havent used it enough to notice a difference. However im sure it works, because the basis of it is to increase handspeed and when you break it down its pretty basic.

If you can land 3 punches on that thing in 1 second, for example in week no.1.

Week no.2 comes and you can land 5 punches in 1 second, because you have gotten faster, thus your hand speed is faster.

Im ok on it, but of all the equipment I use its the one im least proficient on. With that said I can do it well.

i snap all of my punches but the jab. In sparring i find it more effective to use fast jabs with limitied power and come in with sharp and fast straight right hands. I box like a speed boxer on the outside because im faster than anyone ive seen so far thats my size. On the inside i can use my massive and strong legs to throw fast hard combinations snapping every punch.

Does the speed bag really benefit you?

I read someplace that the speed bag should really be called a "control bag." With that in mind, yes, it benefits you. It sharpens your eye, increases your timing, and teaches you consistency, coordination, and control.

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Compare the above video with this assdagger, and you should have a whole new appreciation for the speed bag.

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i can jab and straight right pretty good but i cant grasp the concept of snapping hooks and uppercuts

btw, hitting the bag and pushing the bag was difficult at first.

i thought i was strong when "hitting" the 150 lb bag when it moved alot but my trainer told me to start snapping punches and concentrate on that, and it doesnt swing as much

fraidy, that second vid is priceless

i can jab and straight right pretty good but i cant grasp the concept of snapping hooks and uppercuts

btw, hitting the bag and pushing the bag was difficult at first.

i thought i was strong when "hitting" the 150 lb bag when it moved alot but my trainer told me to start snapping punches and concentrate on that, and it doesnt swing as much

fraidy, that second vid is priceless

LOOK AT THIS WORTHLESS PEICE OF ****!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=poIxzub5nlU look this dude on the heavy bag it gots to be a joke

Hitting a speed bag is harder than you think.

Ps, I meant heavy bag for your note. Reading comprehension: 0.

Obviously its hard for you, it hangs too high.

I keep my hands wide open until the punch is about to land.. I've hurt my hands acouple of times because I haven't closed it in time but it feels like I can deliver a quicker punch. I don't really care about giving up alittle power considering I can hit most people my weight 2-3 times before they can hit me so **** 'em! It doesn't hurt that I have an annoying jab for anyone that spars me.. as my Mexican trainer in broken english said, "Hayson (Jason), um.. eh.. your yab (jab) is superb. Throw.. uhm.. mas.. mas.. more! Throw more!" Hahahahaha I love SPANISH SPEAKING PEOPLE! ALL-IN-ALL, I snap everything I possibly can!

It sharpens your eye, increases your timing, and teaches you consistency, coordination, and control.

Yep. It also teaches the body to keep the hands up and builds the stamina required for that.

yeah how do you snap hooks? also, this is a beginner question but what are the official punches?

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Check out this guy's ridiculous handspeed and power.. Each of those punches could fell a yak.

Edit: Skip ahead to the heavybag workout, the first part is speedbag.

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Check out this guy's ridiculous handspeed and power.. Each of those punches could fell a yak.

Edit: Skip ahead to the heavybag workout, the first part is speedbag.

u probably makin fun. but thats some fast handspeed there. especially for a 56 year old

I don't think he was trying to do the quickness thing he was just trying to box with it right??... are you supposed to box a speed bag?? dude said "young lions" lol

the heavy bag on was real funny lol

Well, when I worked the sppedbag(was never really a fan, but did nonetheless) I worked 2 rounds of jab and straight and 2 rounds of hooks, it was more a warm up for my muscles then anything else. I liked accuracy bag much better.

do u guys have less of a grip on the gloves when u guys snap your punches out to make it faster???

Ya,
I find I loosen the grip when I'm really trying to snap those punches off, but I try to grip harder at the moment of impact, especially for rights.

Coach Spiros is my personal hero

Your punches return to your starting position as fast as you throw them out. Apparently you are leaving your gloves out there where people can counter....

i've been boxing for about a month now and so far i've been told to snap all my punches, whether they're a jab or a straight or a hook. what's the purpose of snapping your punches? I assume it's for quickness but doesn't it take away the power? also when i first started i went all out on the punching bag until i was told you're supposed to hit it so that it barely moves, what's the point of this too? i'm not challenging any of this as i'm sure my trainer knows what he's talkin about as he used ot be a pro, i just wanna know why i'm doing what im doing.

thanks



If your trainer knows his business he will have already figured out if you are a puncher. After a month, you will have figured it out too! When you lack power you need to make yourself as fast and as agile as possible. Speed and agility are also limted by the genes, nevertheless, that does not prevent you from developing your fully potential whatever it might be.

If your trainer knows his business he will have already figured out if you are a puncher.
:bsflag:

****ing.
Bull.
****ing.
****.

Don't listen to him. After a month, you don't know your ass from your handwraps. That's normal.

It took me months to figure out I was a puncher. I am a big puncher, a flat-footed, broad-shouldered, in-your-face, shovelhooking nightmare -- my nicknames at my gym are "King Body Shot," and "Dozer." But it didn't come until after I'd learned how to snap my punches, because my coach didn't teach me heavy punching until I had the fundamentals down. And he did this for exactly the reasons I listed in my earlier post: the skills you learn from snapping punches are critical to surviving in the ring. You need to learn to snap your punches before you can throw knockout bodyblows.

It is suicidal to start off as a puncher before you learn defensive fundamentals and proper form, and any coach who would train you down the road of a "puncher" after one month ought to have his head examined. You will get KTFO.

If Potatoes had ever fought, he would know this.

When you lack power you need to make yourself as fast and as agile as possible.
:bsflag:

Strike two. You won't know whether or not you have power until you learn how to hit with power. Which you will learn, later, if your coach is smart. But we already covered that.

Speed and agility are also limted by the genes, nevertheless, that does not prevent you from developing your fully potential whatever it might be.

:spank:

Absolute bull****. The only genetic factor that determines speed is your reflexes. Those go downhill after about age 30 IF you don't work on them. They can always be improved; that's what muscle memory is for. That's why human beings are the most adaptive animals on the planet. We remember how to do things, and if our life depends on them, we get good at them and catalog them under "survival instincts." This is why we can become very good at defensive fundamentals very quickly. Your brain likes slipping and parrying, and wants to get good at it.

Something I have found about the ever-elusive "speed" is that handspeed as we recognize it is very much a function of perception. My "speed" increased considerably when I started learning how to not telegraph my punches, and to chain my blows together so that one punch leads to the motion of the next, which leads to the motion I need to slip, which chambers the next punch, etc. You can increase your "speed" by not wasting effort. Again, this comes with drills, which cement muscle memory.

Learn to snap. Don't worry about punching big, yet. There will be a lot of pain between today and the day you start hitting heavy, so worry about having the guts and heart to stick with it long enough to learn how to punch big.

-----


EDIT: Hey, my 1,000th post. Who woulda thunk it?

do u guys have less of a grip on the gloves when u guys snap your punches out to make it faster???

I throw with my hand somewhat relaxed -- not too relaxed, so that if he blocks it or moves unexpectedly I won't bust my hand. At what feels like a quarter of an inch before contact -- I mean right at that last possible moment -- I tighten my fist and then release it right after the hit as I pull it back to "whip" the punch. You can practice this on a candle, putting out the flame with the air column in front of your knuckles without touching the wick. This is when I snap my punches, mind you.

When I'm throwing bodyshots in close, or throwing the falling-step jab, I'm aiming the center of effort a few inches behind the point of impact and trying to punch holes in him; for that, my fist is clenched hard.

A key ingredient to learning punching when starting out is being able to get your shoulder into the punch (I'm talking straight right/left here), that is, rotating your upper body. Not just hitting with the force of your tricep and arm but to get the "shoulder whirl" into the punch as Dempsey called it. Almost everyone starts out as a ****ty arm puncher and needs to learn how to do this through practice.

You'll know when you figure it out by how different your impact feels on the heavybag. You'll realize when you were "pushing" with your punches before and not snapping them when you hear the WHAP sound every time you land a good punch. It's a confidence booster and a half to finally get that sound, and to have the heavybag jump up and not just move around.

Edit: For some reason online guides teach the jab wrong..it isn't just a straightening of the arm but you should use your shoulder in this move as well. Turning the punch over (so that the thumb ends up facing the floor by the end of the punch and the other end of your fist is turned up towards the ceiling, so that it's verticle) while in the process of throwing it gives it some extra power, snap, as well as range.

Really good post, Kid. :kiss:

Thaks Fraidy. The art of throwing punches is overlooked. Everyone assumes everyone knows how to punch when this isn't true at all. People from karate and kickboxing backgrounds usually have no clue how to hit. It needs to be taught. There are people with more aptitude for punching because of bone structure, attitude, timing, strength, etc. but no one I've seen personally was a complete natural. Most of us start at the bottom.

Maybe one person who I saw come in and work the heavybags and hit with serious power on their first day and this was a girl, a 14 year old heavyset (she was probably like 160 lbs seriously on a 5'3" frame) girl with huge legs. Me and my trainer were in awe at how much of a natural hitter she was. I didn't even want to spar with her because I was insecure about getting rocked or stunned by a girl. Dunno what happened with her, I guess fighting just wasn't her thing despite her freakish talent.

It happens. We've had some monsters come into our gym and own the heavybag right off the bat, but drop out after a couple of weeks. Boxing is so much more than punching. Endurance, dedication, sacrifice, consistently pushing your pain threshhold, keeping a cool head in combat. . . I'm not telling you anything you don't already know.

Edit: I forgot about the "showing up every night to get the **** beaten out of you again," part. That's important, too. You've got to be a little bit nuts and more than a good bit masochistic.

It took me about 6 months to learn the fundamentals of punching properly, and I mean properly, when I used all three power generators. When I finally learned how to distribute my weight and where does my punch start is when I started hitting hard(for my lightweight ass). Before that, most of punches were tricep punches at best and rare flashes of what I could be in power department.
It takes a lot of time to get these fundamentals on your subconcious level and dont believe people who say that they figure out puncher in one month.
Guys like Hearns and Trinindad were not known for their powere in am's but were killer punchers in pros.

When I boxed, for me the art and technique of punching was the most important, I knew I was not gonna turn pro, but my goal was to be able to finish pretty much any fight with one punch or flurry, I had the talent for it and still do. Its hard to be a 130 pound skinny jewish kid. People pick on you and you need to defend yourself. I always knew that I wont be able to outstrength any one due to my size. so for me the timing, speed of delivery and place of delivery were the most important. I learned various ways of throwing the same punches, soviet techniques, american techniques even learned on how they throw punches in karate.

Sam Langford went from being a guy who wasn't known for his punch to a 5'7" middleweight knocking out top 220 lb heavies.

Sam is another guy who deserves to occupy the space where Greb is below. Maybe in a week or so ill put him up there.

Thaks Fraidy. The art of throwing punches is overlooked. Everyone assumes everyone knows how to punch when this isn't true at all. People from karate and kickboxing backgrounds usually have no clue how to hit. It needs to be taught. There are people with more aptitude for punching because of bone structure, attitude, timing, strength, etc. but no one I've seen personally was a complete natural. Most of us start at the bottom.

Maybe one person who I saw come in and work the heavybags and hit with serious power on their first day and this was a girl, a 14 year old heavyset (she was probably like 160 lbs seriously on a 5'3" frame) girl with huge legs. Me and my trainer were in awe at how much of a natural hitter she was. I didn't even want to spar with her because I was insecure about getting rocked or stunned by a girl. Dunno what happened with her, I guess fighting just wasn't her thing despite her freakish talent.




This is a recurring story that you see in every boxing club in the world. The gym is full of kids who have been training for years yet don't have any firepower. Then somebody walks in off the street and with no training hits harder than everybody in the gym! I have never heard of a female puncher, but it is rather sexist to believe that women couldn't be natural punchers. Cus D'Amato told a story about where he gave a public lecture about boxing, afterwards a woman walked up to him punched him in the ribs. Apparently she didn't like his lecture and broke two of his ribs!

wtf, my speedbag is all types of ass. I bought an everlast platform for my crib and it came with a vinyl bag. **** is worthless.

Ima buy a different swivel and a smaller leather bag next month.

The key is driving from the legs to hips and then to the upper body. Also helps to have lose hands, if u have a tight upper body u lose power. Once u can learn to time your punches so your just closes when it lands u can put a hurtin on somebody. Also remember to drive throught quickly and then get them hands back. I think pool helped me oddly enought its like english on a cue ball your loose up until the very last second than u snap into the cue ball and quickly pull the stick back.

Thaks Fraidy. The art of throwing punches is overlooked. Everyone assumes everyone knows how to punch when this isn't true at all. People from karate and kickboxing backgrounds usually have no clue how to hit. It needs to be taught. There are people with more aptitude for punching because of bone structure, attitude, timing, strength, etc. but no one I've seen personally was a complete natural. Most of us start at the bottom.

Maybe one person who I saw come in and work the heavybags and hit with serious power on their first day and this was a girl, a 14 year old heavyset (she was probably like 160 lbs seriously on a 5'3" frame) girl with huge legs. Me and my trainer were in awe at how much of a natural hitter she was. I didn't even want to spar with her because I was insecure about getting rocked or stunned by a girl. Dunno what happened with her, I guess fighting just wasn't her thing despite her freakish talent.

yeah i throw my punches with technique and if i dont hear a certain sound of the bag im not doing it right. ppl at my gym wonder why i have power,its mostly technique. and when i actually show some ppl at my gym how to properly punch there power changes in seconds.its all in the hips and how to follow threw and stuff like that. most ppl at my gym dont do that.but the 1s i show actually show difference.

yeah i throw my punches with technique and if i dont hear a certain sound of the bag im not doing it right.

yeah same here

You can't learn to snap punches on a forum. You just gotta stay in the gym and practice. You'll get used to it

You can't learn it but you can sure as hell get pointed in the right direction. One point I'd like to make is that while some coaches are great at teaching tactics and defensive manauevers, many (perhaps even most) are bad at teaching proper body mechanics when it comes to throwing punches. There's nothing wrong with picking something up from a forum and then taking it to the gym and practicing it.