How to improve speed of punches ?

[MarkScott]

Try holding small bar-bells while shadow boxing.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/078..._hashrec_03_03

[Spartacus Sully]

try improving the speed of your punches. Like time your self and see how long it takes you to throw 100 jabs then try throw more jabs in the same amount of time or throw 100 in less time maybe grab a 1 lb weight and try for 100 in the same time.where as if you just practice punching by itself you wont know if your improving the speed and you probally wont be. or even jab 1000 times but do 100 punches as fast as you can like a sprint every other 100. If people can run faster they can punch faster you just have to look at it like your trying to run faster with your arms

also try to be relaxed as possible but keep technique correct like relaxed coordination. that way muscles arnt fighting against other muscles

BTW its "Board Dont hit back", "Brick dont hit back" is some blood sport crap with that lilly van damme

[RightCross94]

shadowboxing with light weights (1-2 kg, depending on how big you are), then shadowboxing with no weights works well

(say in a 2 minute round do a min with weights a min with no weights)

floor to ceiling ball is excellent if you wanna improve rhythm timing and speed
and also just relaxing and not tensing up when you punch

[SpeedKillz]

try improving the speed of your punches. Like time your self and see how long it takes you to throw 100 jabs then try throw more jabs in the same amount of time or throw 100 in less time maybe grab a 1 lb weight and try for 100 in the same time.where as if you just practice punching by itself you wont know if your improving the speed and you probally wont be. or even jab 1000 times but do 100 punches as fast as you can like a sprint every other 100. If people can run faster they can punch faster you just have to look at it like your trying to run faster with your arms

also try to be relaxed as possible but keep technique correct like relaxed coordination. that way muscles arnt fighting against other muscles

BTW its "Board Dont hit back", "Brick dont hit back" is some blood sport crap with that lilly van damme

not necessarily true.

as far as the 100 jab thing you said, that is a good idea, though I see that as being more for conditioning than hand speed. no way you will be able to maintain top speed in your punches throwing 100 of any kind of punch, the best technique for hand speed is short drills with 4-8 punches with slight hand weights. pick two punches, and execute them as a combo, 4-8 times as FAST AS YOU CAN WITH GOOD FORM, for 4-6 sets. there are obviously other good ways as well, but throwing 100 jabs as fast as you can, and then tryin for better time is a good conditioning workout for your arms, not saying that it wont benefit hand speed, but its not a specific "hand speed" drill.

[Spartacus Sully]

I try to throw about 40 punches in 5 second intervals and keep that up for a minute some times ill go up to 50 for 5 seconds then drop back to 40 some times i go up to 60 haven't passed that barrier yet though i usually count in my head once for one throw with each hand so if im at 20 its 40 punches so i just watch a clock with a second hand and punch fast enough to count to 20 in 5 seconds and just repeat every 5 seconds for a minute punch fast enough to count to 25 for 50 in 5 seconds but for 30 its easier to count to 10 3 times or 20 then 10 at that speed you can be thinking 22 23 24 25 26 27 but 12345678910 is alot faster thats my actual speed gaining routine i do this like once a week maybe till i hit like 5k ive done up to 10k though and i can stay at 40 in 5 seconds for about 1400 punches

my opinion is that fast 4 - 8 hit combos of jabs will help you hit till you get to a point that you cant get past that you might be getting alittle faster but the chances for you to increase speed in that time frame and become accustomed to that speed are so small that its almost impossiable

perhaps a mixture of both would be best the 100 punches to train you to move faster and the 4-8 hit combos to help box faster

also i dont punch correctly this fast they are ****ty punches chain punching i can post a video on youtube if you want or you can go search youtube for chain punching

[Salty]

Like the others have said shadow boxing is great for technique, with improved technique and muscle memory comes greater speed of the movement.

Training hand speed is not unlike training for sprinting, it's just with your arms rather than your legs. Isometrics can very very helpful in the development, when combined with plyometric exercises such as clap pushups, it can improve your power of the punch also. I would be hesitant to shadow box with light hand weights, I know I have done it, but I found it gave me bad habits. Firstly because your arms are tense, the key to speed is being relaxed which allows the muscles to contract much quicker.

Another thing to look into is overspeed, sprinters do this by tieing two sprinters together with a bungy cord, one sprints ahead until there is tension in the cord, the second then starts sprinting with the tension making him run faster. The same can be applied to punches, simply get some elastic rope and use it to drag your punches out. Don't have too greater tension though, as it could damage your elbow joints.

There's also looking into different areas, such as drummers patterns to improve their drumming, kind of like overspeed for your brain. Try this on the heavy bag and see how fast you can punch out this pattern.

1-2-1-1-2-1-2-2 repeat, 1= jab 2= straight.

Everyone has there theories on the subject mate, some people even try and say it can't be improved, but that is rediculous. Try everything and find something that will work for you. Hope this helps.

[SpeedKillz]

I try to throw about 40 punches in 5 second intervals and keep that up for a minute some times ill go up to 50 for 5 seconds then drop back to 40 some times i go up to 60 haven't passed that barrier yet though i usually count in my head once for one throw with each hand so if im at 20 its 40 punches so i just watch a clock with a second hand and punch fast enough to count to 20 in 5 seconds and just repeat every 5 seconds for a minute punch fast enough to count to 25 for 50 in 5 seconds but for 30 its easier to count to 10 3 times or 20 then 10 at that speed you can be thinking 22 23 24 25 26 27 but 12345678910 is alot faster thats my actual speed gaining routine i do this like once a week maybe till i hit like 5k ive done up to 10k though and i can stay at 40 in 5 seconds for about 1400 punches

my opinion is that fast 4 - 8 hit combos of jabs will help you hit till you get to a point that you cant get past that you might be getting alittle faster but the chances for you to increase speed in that time frame and become accustomed to that speed are so small that its almost impossiable

perhaps a mixture of both would be best the 100 punches to train you to move faster and the 4-8 hit combos to help box faster

also i dont punch correctly this fast they are ****ty punches chain punching i can post a video on youtube if you want or you can go search youtube for chain punching

I hear what you're saying, but what I been taught is to improve hand speed, you do short bursts as fast as possible with the best possible form. Its not like that is the ONLY thing getting done for handspeed. Your whole workout touches on hand speed in some way, and hand speed drills sharpen your speed and snap on the punches you practice. You said yourself the punches you throw are not correct. Well there you go bro, not punching correctly will not only NOT help handspeed, it also develops bad habits and bad muscle memory.

Look at it this way, a 100m sprinter will get faster by doing all kinds of exercises, but his main goal is to keep practing 100m sprints. He will do 50m and 100m mostly to train for this. Short bursts, a couple sets of each. Same thing with basketball players. Lets say I wanna lear to dunk. Im gonna practice jumping as high and explosively as possible, for short bursts, because if I jus keep jumping non stop as many times as I can, I wont be getting up as high, therefore diminishing my efforts. Same thing with handspeed drills. They are specific drills to improve hand speed, along with shadowboxing, sparring, mitts, speedbag, etc. Your idea of chain punching (if done correctly of course) is something I use as well, but it is a conditioning workout more than a handspeed workout...

[Spartacus Sully]

do your exercise it sounds like a lot better of an exercise but if you reach a point where you dont think your going any faster try my exercise with the other ones maybe a minute here or there trying for 30 or 40 propper punches in 5 seconds see if you get any faster on your 4-8 combos

i think mine creates more of a foundation and yours brings out the edge both are really necessiary to make a good boxer

maybe do 10 jabs then a 4 hit combo then another 10 jabs then a 6 hit combo then 10 jabs and a 4 hit combo then 10 jabs then a 8 hit combo then 10 jabs and a 4 then 10 jabs and a 6 and ect up to 100 jabs and 10 diffrent combos maybe a 2 second rest after the jabs so you can give the combo your all

Or 10 jabs 4 hit combo 10 jabs same combo ect up to 100 jabs and have 4 diffrent combos so do a so 4 sets of 100 each with a diffrent 4 - 8 hit combo

get it maybe not...

[SpeedKillz]

do your exercise it sounds like a lot better of an exercise but if you reach a point where you dont think your going any faster try my exercise with the other ones maybe a minute here or there trying for 30 or 40 propper punches in 5 seconds see if you get any faster on your 4-8 combos

i think mine creates more of a foundation and yours brings out the edge both are really necessiary to make a good boxer

maybe do 10 jabs then a 4 hit combo then another 10 jabs then a 6 hit combo then 10 jabs and a 4 hit combo then 10 jabs then a 8 hit combo then 10 jabs and a 4 then 10 jabs and a 6 and ect up to 100 jabs and 10 diffrent combos maybe a 2 second rest after the jabs so you can give the combo your all

Or 10 jabs 4 hit combo 10 jabs same combo ect up to 100 jabs and have 4 diffrent combos so do a so 4 sets of 100 each with a diffrent 4 - 8 hit combo

get it maybe not...

30 - 40 punches in 5 seconds?!?! I dont think so buddy. Not proper boxing punches anyway.

In another post you mentioned something about winchun fighting, and then some chain punching or whatever. I think you're trying to combine the teachings of the two into one. that aint happenin my man. I checked out on youtube like you said some chain punching, and doing that **** in the boxing ring will get you LAID OUT. I think you should get to a gym and learn the differences and you'll be surprised as to how different a boxers punch is to any other punch. So for winchun, your handspeed techniques would be alright, because it jus looks like a violent shake of the elbows while extending your arm, dont know if Id call that a punch necessarily, but apparently it works. But that technique incorporated into boxing, its not gonna fly.

[P4PKING_2008 :)]

what?......

so you're saying a beginner walks into a gym to train, and 1 year later his hand speed wont be any faster?

Yes his form and power will increase. Not hand speed. Once he knows how to punch compared to wild shots he will not increase speed no matter what.