Is heavybag training making your punches weaker?

Do you get the feeling that you’re not hitting the punching bag as hard as you should be?

Are you flailing away like a deranged chimpanzee without making the bag move very much at all?

If so, you’re not alone. Lots of people use the heavybag inefficiently. They may get a good, sweaty workout, but they’re not building any of the skills that’ll work for them in the boxing ring or on the street.

It’s the guys with solid technique on the punching bag – the ones who make it “jump” when they hit it – who feel like the Incredible Hulk every time they leave the gym. Their punches crack like thunderclaps and all the spectators turn to watch them go through their heavybag rounds.

If nobody is turning to watch you work the heavy bag, chances are you have bad habits that are robbing you of speed and power.

It all starts with footwork. Unless you can move with the bag and effortlessly keep yourself in proper punching range, your shots will be as weak as water.

But footwork isn’t the only part of the equation. Proper weight transfer is essential too. Are you sure you’re not a “one legged fighter”? Lots of weak punchers are…

Finally, you’ll never feel like you have a couple of sledgehammers attached to your fists unless you pivot properly when you punch. The pivot gets everything aligned so the most body weight possible lands right on the end of your punch.

Do you want opponents to just shrug off your combinations and bombard you with their most powerful stuff? Of course you don’t. That’s why you have to work on your technique first, before you try to kill the heavy bag.

But I’m not telling you anything you don’t already know, right? It’s obvious even to non-boxers that if technique is flawed, results will be disappointing.
However, there’s a point to all this. Read on…

Since you read this far, odds are you feel like there is a definite problem with your technique. But if you’re working out at home, with hardly anybody around to teach or critique you, you may not even know that you have problem with your punching form. And if you work out in a boxing gym, but you still think you haven’t learned correct form, the same problem rears its ugly head.

You need good, clear instruction on the fundamentals of form and technique. Whatever your personal situation, you’re obviously not getting it.

But the good news is you can have it. It’s as close as your computer or your TV set.
These days, with the advent of video coaching, world class trainers like Freddie Roach, Kenny Weldon, Jeff Fenech, and Christopher Getz are as close as your DVD player. You don’t need to pay some inarticulate trainer in a dirty boxing gym for halfhearted advice that won’t really help you. Instead, you can get clear, well-presented information straight from the best of the best.

And best of all, you can get it whenever you want, just by hitting the “play” button.

Boxing training DVDs don’t take the place of good workouts and personal coaching; nevertheless they’re indispensible because they fill in all the blanks for you.

You’ll never again have an excuse for not knowing a move down to the smallest detail.

Knowledge doesn’t necessarily equal power, but it certainly equals potential. Add in some hard work and ambition and you’ll have all you need to feel like a new man!