heavy bag practice questions

[saxon]

Hi, new to the forum. I am 40 and have been a fan of boxing for as long as I can remember. Never a participant but I have always followed it.

I was a huge Mike Tyson fan as this was my youth back in his popularity.

I have always lifted weights and did cardio but recently purchased and started hitting a heavy bag and speed bag as a fitness outlet...plus running to help my endurance which really is the ticket. I could not hit the bag for 2 minutes when I started......I can now do six 3minute rounds with a little bit of form and style.

I really enjoy the bag sessions. Without benefit of a trainer, I think I do pretty well as I am not so young anymore.

I love watching all the fighters on youtube....as well as all of the title fights on showtime/hbo...and get tips that way.


To my question.......when hitting the bag during a practice session there seems to be two different things I have read that are contradictive........one is when practicing your bag routine, you should strive to make your impact right at the end of the punch....bag movement should be minimal.

As I look at professional fighters on you tube especially old footage of Mike Tyson hitting the heavy bag, it looks as though he is hitting through the bag and his arms are always at an angle at the elbow at impact...his whole body is in the punch like he never really straightens out his arms during a shot......the bag swings wildly.......back and forth...far from barely moving.

Which school of thought for practice is correct?

Thanks in advance.

[glidesmack]

good question. Your observations are accurate. There are a lot of different ways to hit a bag. One thing real amateurs do sometimes is throw punches that don't have any pop but swing the bag. I'm probably going to try to do that today though, haven't done it in awhile maybe I'll learn something.

[BmoreBrawler]

I think you need to find a happy medium. You don't want the bag to swing too much but you want to meet enough resistance so that you are building up power. otherwise you're just shadowboxing basically.

[Journeyman]

i would highly, highly suggest you either visit a boxing gym or get a trainer or experienced fighter to teach you the basics... i know your not training to compete, but the fundamentals are so so important in this sport. it will not only teach you the proper mechanics but give you a more complete workout as you will start to find the right muscles you probably never located before in other sports.

and as far as the bag swinging, i say try not to get the bag to move much unless your really coming forward with your weight and sitting down on the punches.

[potatoes]

Hi, new to the forum. I am 40 and have been a fan of boxing for as long as I can remember. Never a participant but I have always followed it.

I was a huge Mike Tyson fan as this was my youth back in his popularity.

I have always lifted weights and did cardio but recently purchased and started hitting a heavy bag and speed bag as a fitness outlet...plus running to help my endurance which really is the ticket. I could not hit the bag for 2 minutes when I started......I can now do six 3minute rounds with a little bit of form and style.

I really enjoy the bag sessions. Without benefit of a trainer, I think I do pretty well as I am not so young anymore.

I love watching all the fighters on youtube....as well as all of the title fights on showtime/hbo...and get tips that way.


To my question.......when hitting the bag during a practice session there seems to be two different things I have read that are contradictive........one is when practicing your bag routine, you should strive to make your impact right at the end of the punch....bag movement should be minimal.

As I look at professional fighters on you tube especially old footage of Mike Tyson hitting the heavy bag, it looks as though he is hitting through the bag and his arms are always at an angle at the elbow at impact...his whole body is in the punch like he never really straightens out his arms during a shot......the bag swings wildly.......back and forth...far from barely moving.

Which school of thought for practice is correct?

Thanks in advance.

I assume there are no competent boxing trainers available? Ok, if you are going to train yourself try this:

http://www.rossboxing.com/

[Equilibrium]

I think the thing about the heavybag not moving is that you don't want to "push" your punches, which would make the heavy bag move a lot but these punches would be practically useless.

What you need to do is throw your punches with snap, the power of the punch comes from the force of impact, that is what counts. Throw hard punches, but don't push them.

I never heard that the bag "shouldnt be moving". Cause the bag will move even if you throw your shots the right way.

[saxon]

thank you very much guys...........I really appreciate your input.

Dave.

[Neill Ryan]

You need to practice both!

The punch that stops just behind the surface of the bag is great for speed and can be used to great effect to "flick out" your jab.

If you really want to hit someone hard then you should go right through them. If you miss then you may be off balance and open

Good Luck

Neill
http://www.learnhowtobox.com
http://www.boxingfootwork.com