The heavy bag is the first thing you’ll ever hit. Bag drills allow you  to learn and continue to strengthen and sharpen punches. The bag is the first thing you will ever dodge, block or keep up with. All punches, blocks and counters are worked out and fine tuned here.

Wrapping your hands

Wrapping your hand is essential to protect the many small bones that make up your paws. It ‘s also a boxing ritual – a quiet time to center yourself, cleanse the mind of outside thoughts and concentrate on the workout to come.

1. Start the wrap with three to four turns on the wrist.
2. Wrap around the knuckles with finger spread  to prevent squeezing when you make a fist ( four or five turns)
3. Come back the thumb and make  a snug wrap around it.
4. Take the wrap up and around the opposite side of  the hand and begin making and X  over the hand
5. As you reach the end of the wrap, bring the remainder around the wrist and tie it off

Avoid wrapping  so tightly – it will hurt when you start hitting the bag

Although the action revolves around punching, always include defensive moves and footwork with your heavy bah drills. Add blocks, parries,slips and sucks before and after punches.

When you are not throwing, perform the long and short rhythms. Control the bag by stepping and pivoting around it as it swings about.

Hit the bag sharply and dead center as it swings into your punch.

Use straight punches when it swings toward you and hooks and the bag move laterally

Work with the movement of the bag and think of it as an opponent.

Single punches

Start by throwing the following ten punches

1. Jab(1)
2. jab body (1B)
3. Straight right (2)
4. Straight right body (2B)
5. Left hook (3)
6. Left hook (3B)
7. Right hook (4)
8. Right hook body(4B)
9. Left upper cut (5)
10. Right upper cut (6)

Jab first

Snap off a jab or two at head-high target in the middle of the bag. These jabs should crack solidly as they land and make the bag swing slightly and directly away from your without spinning.

Five Drills

Beginning with single punches, run each punch and each combination of punches through these specific exercises.

1. Technique drill: work slowly and over emphasis on each punch
2. Lightweight drill: Emphasize speed of movement like a lightweight boxer.
3. Heavyweight drills: Emphasize power like a heavyweight boxer
4. Style drill: practice The punches and movements that define inside fighting, outside fighting, counter punching and in an out fighting. In outside fighting make use of long rhythm, the jab and plenty of footwork;  in inside fighting use short rhythm, lot of defence ( bocks and ducks) pivoting, some side-to-side stepping and short powerful punches.  In counter punching work out your opponent’s punch. Imagine the punches being thrown, perform a suitable move and throw a proper counter.
5. Bent-leg drill: throw punches with knees fully flexed. This is a lower body conditioner that develops power.

If  the bag spins, you’re off the target. If it is really swinging you’re pushing your punches.  Remember, you jab should SNAP – accelerate. WHAP and recover.  You almost pull the punch as there is no follow-through as in a golf swing. The sound and feel of the punch on the bag will tell you if you’re hitting properly.

Start by practising your jab from a solid stance. Throughout the punch you should feel balanced and in control.

Try double and triple jabs, bringing your glove all the way back to guard after each punch. Feel that deltoid burn. Work on quickness and accuracy with and without power. Keep your right arm in tight and twist your hips a bit with the punching action to deliver stiffer jabs .

Jabbing with footwork and rhythm

After jabbing from   a static position for a while, try incorporating movement. Step in your jab going forward and side-to-side. Shoot the jab as the left foot lands. Try to blend your punches with  the steps with the rhythm with the action of the bag

Straight right

Strike the bag  head high using the techniques described previously. Punch straight from the chin off a pivoting right foot – swinging hips and back into the effort. Like all punches, think, accelerate, WHOMP and recover. Your right should rock the bag . Always pull the punch upon impact in order to get that SNAP thing going and prevent the bag from swaying wildly after each right-hand delivery.

Left hook

To throw the hook, you need  to get in close to practice. It’s easier to hit the bag with the palm turned in  with your weight transferring from left to right. Remember to crush the peanut with a pivoting left foot as you swing hook, torso and hips  as a single unit in a powerful horizontal movement. Accelerate, SNAP and recover to the balanced boxer’s stance. Remember not to  wind up for a left hook. It’s a compact punch thrown within the  body frame powered by a twisting torso.

Try to practice jabs, rights and left hooks to the  body, lower yourself by flexing your knees.

Uppercuts

Get in close to land either left or right uppercuts. Bend at the knees and explode up. Drive these punches from the hip without winding up.

The above major ten punches yields countless combinations.

Start by the double jab, jab/straight right and jab,/straight right/ left hook

Remember to fully recover after each blow. When throwing the jab make sure you don’t let up or cheat on  the jab so you can throw  a booming right hand. Keep the jab snappy.

Align your right shoulder to the horizontal centre of the bag so you can attack the bag from both sides.

When throwing the hook work on weight transfer from right to left.

Always remember to bring your hands back your chin after every punch.

When moving around the bag make sure you keep your steps short, your distance balanced and your rythm fluid.

Stay relaxed and let the punches flow and try different punching bags. The  double end bag is very good for honing your slipping, counter punching, blocking  and parrying skills. The slip bag is  designed for slips and sucks. Move your head just enough to avoid being hit.