snapping punches

[potatoes]

i've been boxing for about a month now and so far i've been told to snap all my punches, whether they're a jab or a straight or a hook. what's the purpose of snapping your punches? I assume it's for quickness but doesn't it take away the power? also when i first started i went all out on the punching bag until i was told you're supposed to hit it so that it barely moves, what's the point of this too? i'm not challenging any of this as i'm sure my trainer knows what he's talkin about as he used ot be a pro, i just wanna know why i'm doing what im doing.

thanks

If your trainer knows his business he will have already figured out if you are a puncher. After a month, you will have figured it out too! When you lack power you need to make yourself as fast and as agile as possible. Speed and agility are also limted by the genes, nevertheless, that does not prevent you from developing your fully potential whatever it might be.

[fraidycat]

If your trainer knows his business he will have already figured out if you are a puncher.

****ing.
Bull.
****ing.
****.

Don't listen to him. After a month, you don't know your ass from your handwraps. That's normal.

It took me months to figure out I was a puncher. I am a big puncher, a flat-footed, broad-shouldered, in-your-face, shovelhooking nightmare -- my nicknames at my gym are "King Body Shot," and "Dozer." But it didn't come until after I'd learned how to snap my punches, because my coach didn't teach me heavy punching until I had the fundamentals down. And he did this for exactly the reasons I listed in my earlier post: the skills you learn from snapping punches are critical to surviving in the ring. You need to learn to snap your punches before you can throw knockout bodyblows.

It is suicidal to start off as a puncher before you learn defensive fundamentals and proper form, and any coach who would train you down the road of a "puncher" after one month ought to have his head examined. You will get KTFO.

If Potatoes had ever fought, he would know this.

When you lack power you need to make yourself as fast and as agile as possible.

Strike two. You won't know whether or not you have power until you learn how to hit with power. Which you will learn, later, if your coach is smart. But we already covered that.

Speed and agility are also limted by the genes, nevertheless, that does not prevent you from developing your fully potential whatever it might be.

Absolute bull****. The only genetic factor that determines speed is your reflexes. Those go downhill after about age 30 IF you don't work on them. They can always be improved; that's what muscle memory is for. That's why human beings are the most adaptive animals on the planet. We remember how to do things, and if our life depends on them, we get good at them and catalog them under "survival instincts." This is why we can become very good at defensive fundamentals very quickly. Your brain likes slipping and parrying, and wants to get good at it.

Something I have found about the ever-elusive "speed" is that handspeed as we recognize it is very much a function of perception. My "speed" increased considerably when I started learning how to not telegraph my punches, and to chain my blows together so that one punch leads to the motion of the next, which leads to the motion I need to slip, which chambers the next punch, etc. You can increase your "speed" by not wasting effort. Again, this comes with drills, which cement muscle memory.

Learn to snap. Don't worry about punching big, yet. There will be a lot of pain between today and the day you start hitting heavy, so worry about having the guts and heart to stick with it long enough to learn how to punch big.

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EDIT: Hey, my 1,000th post. Who woulda thunk it?

[fraidycat]

do u guys have less of a grip on the gloves when u guys snap your punches out to make it faster???

I throw with my hand somewhat relaxed -- not too relaxed, so that if he blocks it or moves unexpectedly I won't bust my hand. At what feels like a quarter of an inch before contact -- I mean right at that last possible moment -- I tighten my fist and then release it right after the hit as I pull it back to "whip" the punch. You can practice this on a candle, putting out the flame with the air column in front of your knuckles without touching the wick. This is when I snap my punches, mind you.

When I'm throwing bodyshots in close, or throwing the falling-step jab, I'm aiming the center of effort a few inches behind the point of impact and trying to punch holes in him; for that, my fist is clenched hard.

[Kid Achilles]

A key ingredient to learning punching when starting out is being able to get your shoulder into the punch (I'm talking straight right/left here), that is, rotating your upper body. Not just hitting with the force of your tricep and arm but to get the "shoulder whirl" into the punch as Dempsey called it. Almost everyone starts out as a ****ty arm puncher and needs to learn how to do this through practice.

You'll know when you figure it out by how different your impact feels on the heavybag. You'll realize when you were "pushing" with your punches before and not snapping them when you hear the WHAP sound every time you land a good punch. It's a confidence booster and a half to finally get that sound, and to have the heavybag jump up and not just move around.

Edit: For some reason online guides teach the jab wrong..it isn't just a straightening of the arm but you should use your shoulder in this move as well. Turning the punch over (so that the thumb ends up facing the floor by the end of the punch and the other end of your fist is turned up towards the ceiling, so that it's verticle) while in the process of throwing it gives it some extra power, snap, as well as range.

[fraidycat]

Really good post, Kid.

[Kid Achilles]

Thaks Fraidy. The art of throwing punches is overlooked. Everyone assumes everyone knows how to punch when this isn't true at all. People from karate and kickboxing backgrounds usually have no clue how to hit. It needs to be taught. There are people with more aptitude for punching because of bone structure, attitude, timing, strength, etc. but no one I've seen personally was a complete natural. Most of us start at the bottom.

Maybe one person who I saw come in and work the heavybags and hit with serious power on their first day and this was a girl, a 14 year old heavyset (she was probably like 160 lbs seriously on a 5'3" frame) girl with huge legs. Me and my trainer were in awe at how much of a natural hitter she was. I didn't even want to spar with her because I was insecure about getting rocked or stunned by a girl. Dunno what happened with her, I guess fighting just wasn't her thing despite her freakish talent.

[fraidycat]

It happens. We've had some monsters come into our gym and own the heavybag right off the bat, but drop out after a couple of weeks. Boxing is so much more than punching. Endurance, dedication, sacrifice, consistently pushing your pain threshhold, keeping a cool head in combat. . . I'm not telling you anything you don't already know.

Edit: I forgot about the "showing up every night to get the **** beaten out of you again," part. That's important, too. You've got to be a little bit nuts and more than a good bit masochistic.

[BrooklynBomber]

It took me about 6 months to learn the fundamentals of punching properly, and I mean properly, when I used all three power generators. When I finally learned how to distribute my weight and where does my punch start is when I started hitting hard(for my lightweight ass). Before that, most of punches were tricep punches at best and rare flashes of what I could be in power department.
It takes a lot of time to get these fundamentals on your subconcious level and dont believe people who say that they figure out puncher in one month.
Guys like Hearns and Trinindad were not known for their powere in am's but were killer punchers in pros.

[BrooklynBomber]

When I boxed, for me the art and technique of punching was the most important, I knew I was not gonna turn pro, but my goal was to be able to finish pretty much any fight with one punch or flurry, I had the talent for it and still do. Its hard to be a 130 pound skinny ***ish kid. People pick on you and you need to defend yourself. I always knew that I wont be able to outstrength any one due to my size. so for me the timing, speed of delivery and place of delivery were the most important. I learned various ways of throwing the same punches, soviet techniques, american techniques even learned on how they throw punches in karate.

[Kid Achilles]

Sam Langford went from being a guy who wasn't known for his punch to a 5'7" middleweight knocking out top 220 lb heavies.

Sam is another guy who deserves to occupy the space where Greb is below. Maybe in a week or so ill put him up there.