Power in a Jab

[FlaminGuru]

now as a southpaw, my left hand is powerful, jabs,hooks uppercuts u name it.

But my right jab is "nothing". when i would hit the pads with my coach,

and when i would land a right jab, he'd say "wtf is that? thats nothing" But

when i hit with my left hook he's like " now thats more like it" Now i know

fighters such as cotto and DLH, are natural lefties that fight right handed and

land, powerful jabs and hooks, but for me, i cant find right-handed its

uncormfortable. Anyone know what strenght based excercises i can do to

strenghten my right jab, hook anything? I hit the puncing bag a lot, close to

30-45 minutes 4 times a week, and i used to hit my heavy bag with a

15pound hammer, but its puttin holes on my bag, and scratching it, but i also

don't want to stunt my growth, hitting things heavily. So do any of you guys

know how i can strenghthen my jabs or right hand to be exact?

thanks

[THE REED]

A great technique i use.. and you should try this...

Get in your stance.... now your jab arm... or your right arm....

Take your shoulder, like the actual should part, and roll it back, almost like its in a cocked position

This way you use not only your arm but also your shoulder.. and also try leaning forward with ur jab


now when you goto jab, your arm, your shoulder, and your body.. all go forward at the same time...

thatll definitely put some extra heat on it... and explode with it... move everything at the same time in a flinching manner

[P4PKING_2008]

You ned to twist with it so it is almost like a left hook but don't fully pivot your front foot as much as you would for a hook. Kinda like a straight left but it would be a jab and gets more power. It seems to me that you are just flicking out jab. So try to turn more and you will get more power with it.

[FlaminGuru]

i understand what you guys ar saying

but my style is flicking jabs, like Hearns (sorta)

when i throw my jab i throw with speed, and when u throw with speed, its

unlikely to throw with much power, see when i hit with power, it lands slower

and i'm afraid of being countered. I just wanna add some sting in the jab.

nut strangely enough, my left is both fast and powerful, and my right is

just fast, and no powwer wat soever.

lol

[West24]

im a right handed south paw so i have a pretty strong jab, so cant really help you on that one. but it is extremely beneficial having a strong jab.

[fraidycat]

Here's how I was taught to throw the jab.

First of all, think of the punch striking the target as the MIDDLE of the punch, not the end. The punch ENDS when your hand is back in your guard.

Next, imagine snapping a wet towel. How the end of the towel cracks against something (or someone.) A jab should crack against the target the same way.

Now, keeping those two things in mind, throw your jab at a heavy bag and as you do, quickly tighten your fist and your bicep so that you begin to pull it all the way back to your guard a fraction of an inch before it hits the bag, so that A.) your glove SNAPS against the bag instead of driving into it, and B.) your fist comes back into your guard in one motion.

A drill you can do at home is to jab at your shower curtain with your bare knuckles, so that your knuckles SNAP loudly against the curtain and makes it jump, but doesn't follow through.

Once you can do this, you can move on to a lit candle; I can put out a candle without touching it, just from the force of the air in front of my knuckles when I throw my jab correctly. To do this, my arm has to be relaxed and I have to have made a very tight fist just before I snapped it back. It took me months to get this trick down, BTW.

Shadow-box with hand grippers. Crank them shut in the MIDDLE of the punch -- when your punches are extended. Every punch. Hand strength will drastically increase the impact that your opponent feels, as it draws your glove into a tighter ball and there is less "give" than with a relaxed fist in a glove. If you're hitting with your hands loose (a common mistake, as it makes your punches faster -- plus, when your hands get tired, you tend to relax them), you won't have any power.

When you get the snapped jab down to where it's instinctive (at my gym you're not taught any other punches until you can consistently throw a quick, powerful jab; noobs will spar with jab-only until they get it), you can learn to move the "snap" point around so that it drives the maximum force into the target. There is a sweet spot. You'll find it.

Finally, remember F=ma. Force equals mass times acceleration.

I hope this helps.

[ForemanCrossArm]

try and aim your whole body as a line with your jab. these guys have already said it. Liston would roll his entire body behind his shoulder on his jab. turned it into a sledgehammer. i'm sure you're stepping into the jab already, but that obviously adds power too.