Training for a boxing match includes hitting the speed bag, heavy bag and floor-to-ceiling bag on a regular basis to hone punching skills. These tools are used by all fighters, from amateurs to seasoned professionals. They help build speed, quickness, punching accuracy, power and confidence. If you are deficient in any of those areas, it can lead to your downfall in the ring.
Speed Bag
The speed bag is one of the key tools for developing hand-eye coordination, quickness and a left jab. The left jab is probably the most important punch in boxing. It can stun and deflate your opponent, and it can set up all your other punches. Square yourself to the speed bag and hit the bag with your left jab. After it rebounds off the support that is holding the bag, it will then hit the front part of the support and then the back support again. Then strike the bag with another left jab. Do this for at least three minutes at a time, picking up the pace of the punches but continuing to let the bag hit the board three times between punches. This is called the 1-2-3 method of speed bag training.
Heavy Bag
Boxers need to develop strength and power in their punching. You can go to any gym in your neighborhood and see large men lifting heavy weights. Weightlifting strength does not translate into punching power. A heavy bag weighs 75 to 90 pounds and hangs from a J-hook. To hit the bag hard and develop power, you have to use your entire body when punching. The punch starts in your legs, travels through your hips and core muscles and then you focus that energy in your shoulders and arms before hitting the bag with your fists. If you just use your arms and fists, the heavy bag won't move and you can strain your wrists and fingers. Hit the heavy bag for three minutes at a time, take a one-minute break and then hit the bag for three more minutes.
Floor-to-Ceiling Bag
The floor-to-ceiling bag helps a fighter build punching accuracy. The punching area of the floor-to-ceiling bag is about the size of a deflated basketball and it hangs on an elastic band that stretches from the floor to the ceiling. After the bag is struck, it reacts in an unpredictable manner. As the bag rebounds, it does not come back to the fighter in the same manner after each punch. That requires quick reactions on the part of the fighter and punching accuracy. Hit the floor-to-ceiling bag for three minutes at a time, take a one-minute break and repeat the set.
Sparring Sessions
No matter how much training you do on the speed bag, heavy bag and floor-to-ceiling bag, you will have to get in the ring and spar with a fighter of similar size and experience. You can work on your punching skills with all these tools, but you don't learn where you stand until you get in the ring and exchange punches against a live opponent. Make sure you have hit all three bags before you start your sparring session so you are at your sharpest when you face an opponent.
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