Shoulders / Arms Too Relaxed?

[Would-be Boxer]

Hi all,

I know staying relaxed is important in boxing, but I'm wondering whether it's possible to keep too little tension in your shoulders and hands. I find that when I keep my shoulders and hands completely relaxed, I can snap my arms out very quickly, but I run into several problems:

*I can't close my hand quickly enough - my hand makes impact before the fist is fully tight.

*Sometimes I hyperextend my shoulder or elbow, especially with my lead (left) arm.

*My hips don't finish rotating before impact. This is especially noticeable with my straight on my 1-2s. I still get a good bit of rotation, but I could get more.

The first two points led me to have a lot of finger and wrist pain for a while. I am told I have quick hands and a lot of punching power (I'm a heavy guy, ~200 lbs), so that probably didn't help.

Lately I've been keeping a bit more tension in my shoulders, arms, and hand - not a lot, but just a bit. Now I can close my hands fully before impact and hyperextend much less often. My hands aren't hurting nearly as much (but I did start deadlifting and climbing a bit, which has strengthened my hands a good deal, too). My hand speed might be just a bit slower, but I get that little bit extra hip rotation into the punch. Honestly, I think the speed change is barely noticeable. My shoulders don't seem to be getting more tired than usual.

So, here's my question: is there such a thing as being *too* relaxed? I don't want to keep injuring myself, and I don't see how to stay fully relaxed without running into the three problems I mentioned. My punches are still pretty snappy, I think.

Thanks for any thoughts!

[Redd Foxx]

How long have you been training? I ask because these are the types of things that come with practice, as your coordination builds. A new student with an analytical mind will sometimes over-think those types of things, wondering how to fix them, and not realizing that it just takes time for their coordination to synch up.

[Would-be Boxer]

I trained in Muay Thai / kickboxing for a little over a year, then switched to boxing and did that for about six months. Since my hand and wrist started hurting I ended up quitting altogether for a couple of years and am getting back to it now.

[Redd Foxx]

Do you spar? I've found that sparring has the opposite effect, and will cause you to be very tight. If you practice with an opponent and find that you're still "too" relaxed, then I'd talk to a coach about it as he'll need to evaluate what you might be doing wrong.
If you want to upload a heavy bag video, I'm sure people here will give you feedback.

[Would-be Boxer]

I never noticed the issue when I was sparring, actually. It only came up when I was hitting the heavy bag. Maybe I'll upload a video sometime. Thanks!