USING THE HEAVY BAG

Shadow boxing helps develop timing and form. But, the heavy bag adds the dimension of resistance, reaction, and timing to your punches.  Mastery of combinations on an inanimate object that resists your force is a neccessary, though not sufficient, step to getting ready to spar.  Besides, it is a great aerobic workout in and of itself.  Stressed out?  Do a few rounds with the heavy bag, it's good for what ails you.  Like any boxing skill, mastering the heavy bag takes time and practice.  The athlete in the image at the right has mastered the art of the heavy bag, and reaps the benefits.

Not convinced?  Think of the first time you tried the heavy bag.  One of several things happened.  First, you crapped out halfway through the first round because your conditioning was not what it should have been.  Second, you hurt your wrist.  And third, you hurt your elbow.

Sure, you run and can shadow box with the best of 'em.  The bag doesn't care, it resists your power.  It doesn't hit back, it doesn't have to.  It has inertia--the tendency of a body at rest to stay at rest.  Your training on the heavy bag is in part learing to use its inertia to your advantage.  Hit the bag in the middle and snap your punch on the bag, don't punch through it.  The bag shouldn't swing wildly to and fro.  In fact, you are wasting energy if it does.  You will know if your punch is solid because the bag will "jump" when you snap your punch. Hitting solid and hitting hard are two very different things.

Second, as the top of your fist made contact with the bag it hurt like hell.  This is an "equipment" and a "form" problem.  Handwraps, properly applied, are necessary.  Second, a good pair of bag gloves is essential.  Notice how boxers never use boxing gloves on the heavy bag?  It's the wrong glove for the bag.  Hitting the solidly packed bag accelerates the breakdown of a boxing glove.  Hitting the bag with improperly wrapped hands or no gloves accelerates the breakdown of your hand.

Proper form means hitting the bag flush with the fist for a safe and efficient workout.  The hardest thing to unlearn in boxing is a bad habit.  The easiest way to avoid this is not to get the bad habit in the first place.  Practice your combinations slowly to master the technique and then ramp up your speed.  Placement is essential.  Hit in the center of the bag.  There is a reason that old bags are taped around their midsections.  Over its life, that's where most of the punches landed.

As you started to work the bag, you moved in and out.  The bag was really swinging and you thought "this is cool, I'm showing it who is boss, like Rocky in the meat locker."  You snapped a perfect jab, but there was no bag to meet your fist.  A sharp pain shot up your arm as you hyperextended your elbow.  It went away, but if you do this enough and the pain will last and make you quit working out for a few weeks.  This is a timing problem.  If you hit the bag as it's moving away from you it will swing through a wider arc, making a misthrown punch more likely.  Circle the bag left to right and time your punches to get the most out of the workout.

The heavy bag helps you build endurance, proper form and technique.  Take it slow at first and get it right.  Remember the guys who start flailing on the bag and then lose steam after about a minute?  If they do that in the ring, they lose the match.  Done right, workouts on the heavy bag not only improve your technique, they make you feel like a boxer because you begin to learn about the power in your puches and how you coordinate and time the combinations on a target the approximate size of your opponent.  At that point, you are on your way to become a skilled amateur boxer.

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