The speed ball is an important tool in boxing. It is a name that boxing trainers use for both the traditional speed bag and the floor-to-ceiling bag. Both of these pieces of equipment can help a fighter prepare for action in the ring. Developing your punches with the help of the speed ball can help a fighter's confidence and punching accuracy.
Function
Hitting the speed bag will help you develop quickness, punching accuracy and timing. The speed bag has been used by fighters for generations. You will hit the speed bag with a downward and circular motion primarily to develop your left jab. After you hit the speed bag with your left hand, it will hit the back supporting rim, rebound to the front and then hit the back rim again before you hit it a second time. This is the 1-2-3 method that is most common today.
Significance
The floor-to-ceiling bag helps the fighter learn to react quickly in the ring. The floor-to-ceiling bag is about the size of a basketball and it hangs on an elastic band that stretches from the floor to the ceiling. When you strike the floor-to-ceiling bag it rebounds in an unpredictable manner forcing you to be very quick with your hands in order to hit it. You will also have to move your feet to keep yourself in an attacking position.
Effects
Hitting the speed ball will help a boxer with many aspects of fighting. Hand-eye coordination and punching accuracy are two of the biggest benefits. In order to build the staccato rhythm that is so familiar to fighters, trainers and fight fans, a fighter must concentrate on the center portion of the bag and hit it in a rhythmic manner. This takes concentration and quick hands. Since the speed bag and floor-to-ceiling bag both move with so much speed, you need to be accurate and sharp in your punches to hit it effectively.
Time Frame
When punching either type of speed ball, you should build up until you can hit it in a three-on, one-off rhythm. That means you will hit it for three minutes at a time--to mimic a round in boxing--and take a one-minute break. Try to hit it for four rounds in order to build endurance as well as speed and quickness.
History
The speed ball has been used by boxers since the 1920s. It is a standard fighting and training staple found in boxing gyms and can also be used at home. Sugar Ray Robinson was considered one of the sport's dominant fighters throughout the 1940s and 1950s and continued his career into the 1960s. He hit the speed ball throughout his adult life and well into his retirement. "I hit it every day," Robinson told Los Angeles magazine in 1976. "It's the one thing I can hit that won't hit me back." Fighters such Muhammad Ali, Sugar Ray Leonard, Thomas Hearns, Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather train or have trained on the speed ball throughout their professional careers.
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