This is a review for Grant’s traditional flat punch mitts.
I’ve been using these for about a month now after picking up a bargain pair on Ebay.
Traditional flat punch mitts are not very common any more, but a few manufacturers still make them and there are a handful of old school trainers out there who still prefer them. Up until his death the great trainer Emanuel Steward still used flat punch mitts with Klitschko.
There are a few small advantages to using flat mitts, mostly being that they offer a larger target to work with compared to curved mitts. Hitting the sweet spot on curved mitts is great, but many beginners struggle to do so consistently, and so working with them on curved mitts can take a long time to master. In the meantime, every missed shot can be quite painful for the holder and frustrating for the student. Flat mitts allow a student to feel some sort of progress even on their first day.
Flat mitts also handle the occasional knee or elbow strike better than curved mitts, making them useful as a kind of “semi” Thai-Pad for light hitters, kids and fitness work with rehabbing injuries. Not every session in my gym is working with pros after all.
So here’s what I like about these mitts. They are nice and light, especially for their size, which makes them comfortable to hold for long periods of time. They are reasonably thin which makes them easy to maneuver and rotate, which is good for all types of striking and means I can use them for things like offering a static target, offering a mobile target or simulating sparring and still slip in overhooks/underhooks or a Thai plum while wearing them.
They are a very nice looking set of mitts, the red/black colour combo looks pretty nice and the leather itself is very nice quality and smells great. The mitts break in very quickly as well.
The hand compartment is nice and comfortable and the fingers holes are large so they dry quickly after use. The wrist support is excellent because of the leather buckle which has 11 diffferent adjustment holes for a great fit.
There are a few things which I think really detract from the overall score on these mitts. Firstly, the padding is very thin. It’s not much more than an inch thick. To be fair, flat mitts never have much padding otherwise they become too heavy and then you can’t move them. But these are not mitts I’d feel comfortable using with heavy hitters.
Secondly, they are traditional mitts. I think 90% of people who like curved punch mitts will not like traditional mitts. You need to hold them completely differently. Anyone who has ever seen Roger Mayweather hold for Floyd will notice the almost slapping nature of the mitt work, a bit like playing pat-a-cake. Whilst this is mostly to do with the speed and timing of Mayweather rhythm mitt-work it’s also the best way to hold traditional punch mitts.
If you try and really dig in with the flat mitts and give some solid feedback to the puncher your shoulders, elbows and wrists will tire very quickly. Curved mitts you feel like you are almost matching punches like an opposite mirror with the student, flat mitts feel more like you are trying to give your student a high five on every punch, nice light little taps.
I wouldn’t recommend these to someone who wants one pair of mitts to cover everything, I think there’s a reason curved mitts have become the first choice for most people in most cases.
Still, these are very nice mitts that some old school types may prefer.
Clamp Style Summary:
Pros
+ Lightweight and easy to maneuver
+ Adjustable buckle gives good wrist support
+ Large target great for beginners who struggle to hit “sweet spot” on curved mitts
+ Breaks in very quickly
+ Nice leather construction, very nice looking mitts. Typical beautiful Hecho En Mexico Grant quality for the most part.
Cons
- Some loose stitching and frayed edges
- Padding is not incredibly thick for big hitters
- Traditional design is not as forgiving as modern Panther or Air Mitts
- Grant logo is a cheap transfer sticker and begins to peel immediately
