Boxing Speed Bag Drills

The speed bag is a bag, often used for training by boxers and other athletes, suspended from an adjustable platform. The bag rebounds off the platform when struck, allowing you to build a steady rhythm while repeatedly punching. For a boxer, a speed bag helps improve hand-eye coordination, punching rhythm, speed, accuracy and shoulder stamina. Speed bag drills can boost abilities you might be lacking in certain facets of boxing.

Basics

Alan Kahn, author of "The Speed Bag Bible," notes that a boxer must build his way up when using a speed bag. It can be a challenge at first to hit the bag evenly for a substantial amount of time. The natural inclination for the puncher is to hit the bag hard --- which causes it to rebound faster and requires you to throw your next punch faster.

As a first workout, hit the bag with a straight right hand. Allow the bag to bounce an odd number of times on the platform. Hit the bag again with a straight right hand as it passes through its starting position and allow it to bounce the same number of times. Next, strike the bag with two consecutive straight left-hand punches, allowing it to bounce between punches. Continue this pattern to build your hand-eye coordination.

Speed

To increase your punching speed and rhythm, reduce the number of times you allow the ball to rebound on the platform. The Speed Bag Central website also advises using a smaller bag and shorter punching strokes when performing a speed-focused workout.

Choose a single type of punch you want to work on, such as a right cross, set a timer for 30 seconds to one minute, then count the number of that type of punch you can land while performing a chosen punching routine as fast as possible. Repeat the workout and attempt to sustain the number of punches you land in the time period. As you progress in training, try to land more punches in the same interval.

Endurance

Punching the speed bag for extended periods of time builds your cardiovascular capabilities, as well as your arm and shoulder endurance. Use a larger bag during endurance workouts, because it requires more force to rebound off of the platform.

Begin an endurance workout with 30 seconds to a minute of light punching, then build your way into a medium-paced punching speed, punching as fast as you can while maintaining control of the bag. After punching for one or two minutes at this pace, punch as fast as you can for a short period of time before backing off to medium pace. Repeat the transition between medium and fast pace several times during a three- or four-minute workout.

Advanced Routines

Kahn recommends, once you become accustomed to the speed bag, adding other fitness equipment simultaneously with your punching routine, so the "benefits of both can be greatly expanded." Placing a stationary bicycle or a stair-stepping machine underneath the speed bag allows you to perform both exercises simultaneously. This will build your cardiovascular system, and improve your strength and coordination.

The machine you add should always face the bag; doing the exercises while punching to the side can be a safety hazard.