How to develop punching power/heavy hands

[Airdyne23]

Proper instruction, proper training, proper diet, increase your strength and stamina, and, "work the bag, don't let it work you."

:icon_chee

In a nutshell, you will not find a better answer than this. Agree 100%.

 

[Airdyne23]

and yet some professional boxers cannot consistently KO their opponents despite having top notch everything

Because as professionals they fight other professionals, who have excellent defense and years of experience being hit by people with KO power. Even the worst pro has KO power, they just don't always have the skill to land it at the right moment.

Example- look at the first half of most big name boxers career. Notice that in the second half as they enter more title fights/bigger name fights their KO ratio declines? That's because it's one thing to KO someone less skilled and quite another to KO a fighter at the top of the food chain.

 

[Airdyne23]

stop being a weak little pussy

When I post enough to reach Blue belt status like you , perhaps then I'll inherit the apparent power you possess . I can feel the fistic fury from your keyboard burning through my screen!

 

[Kozbot]

Well yeah. Just because you know how you should do something doesn't mean you CAN do it. That, in combination with all the factors that might affect whether someone goes out...the other guy has something to do with it of course...

Of course they all know HOW to do it.

All high level professional boxers can punch nealy 100% correctly from all angles. Yet some KO their opponents viciously in everyfight and some rarely rock their opponents.

All sports are like this. All olympic sprinters know how to sprint with 100% perfect form and all put in tons of work. But there are some that are just faster because they were born with it.

 

[Kozbot]

Because as professionals they fight other professionals, who have excellent defense and years of experience being hit by people with KO power. Even the worst pro has KO power, they just don't always have the skill to land it at the right moment.

Example- look at the first half of most big name boxers career. Notice that in the second half as they enter more title fights/bigger name fights their KO ratio declines? That's because it's one thing to KO someone less skilled and quite another to KO a fighter at the top of the food chain.

I think we have different definitions of KO power. yes the worst pro has "KO power" in that he can knock out any average person. most anyone can KO the average slob.

I am talking about at the higher level like you said. Some boxers can blow away high level competition, some decision them.

When I post enough to reach Blue belt status like you , perhaps then I'll inherit the apparent power you possess . I can feel the fistic fury from your keyboard burning through my screen!

I know right. When I punch people it gets their mom and grandmothers pregnant with my sexy love children.

 

[MisterT]

Here's another little tidbit of information that I remember hearing Teddy Atlas say on one of his boxing commentaries.

Basically, he used the following example to highlight why some boxer's are refered to as "born punchers" and why it's difficult for the average joe to catch up to him in terms of punching power.

Consider the following:

Two boxers (with the same height, age, weight) join a gym.
Boxer A has excellent genetics. Boxer B does not.
Also assume that Boxer A is a "born puncher" while Boxer B is not.

In the beginning, Boxer A might punch at 1500 pounds of force.
Boxer B might punch at 900 pounds of force.

Over time, as each boxer improves technique/form and increase his hand speed, Boxer A might punch at 2000 pounds of force while Boxer B might only be able to punch at 1400 pounds of force.

Even though Boxer A and Boxer B both have the same good technique/form and hand speed, there will always be a disparity amongst their punching power.
This is because Boxer B only has good technique/speed whereas Boxer A has good technique/speed AND good genetics.

This example lends credence to both theories mentioned in my first post. Even though working on the mechanics can improve your power, sometimes it is no match for natural talent.

 

[CollarTie]

1. Try and perfect your technique to the best of your ability. Better technique=harder punches

2. Weight training helps to a degree, but don't forget your legs. They're just as important if not more than your arm muscles for generating power.

3. Jack Dempsey used to do a drill where he built a cage about 4-5 ft tall. It was low enough that he was force into a deep crouch, where he'd go a couple round with a heavy bag. Basically all you need to do is stay in a deep crouch for however many rounds you do of bag work, and keep good form. It helps build your leg muscles, and enforces the principle of putting your body behind a punch. I've heard alot of good feedback from this.

Best of luck.

 

[Matt Hilton]

For example, Kevin Rooney (Tyson's trainer) said that he'd make Mike aim for the back of his opponent's skull. Tyson would connect with a punch and attempt to "push his opponent's nose through his skull and try to make it come out the back of his head".

Doing this enables you to "snap" your opponent's head back and thus increase your chance of knocking him out.

I feel like your opponents head snaps back more when you hit them with the end of your punch. When you try to punch "through" the opponent, I feel like most people end up pushing the punch a little bit.

 

[Gorack]

Jeff Joslin posted a link to his E-book "Developing the KO Punch" a while back but I can't find the thread.

If you go to his site you can get a pdf of it by putting in your name and e-mail address. (in the upper right corner of his home page.)

MMA Technique, MMA Training, and Mixed Martial Arts Blog of Jeff "The Inferno" Joslin

It's a pretty good article imo that I was able to take away a couple of good ideas from and implement them into my game. My jab particularly has gotten a lot stiffer/harder (according to my training partners.)

You'll get future e-mails from Jeff but I'm sure you can unsubscirbe at any time if you aren't interested in his other stuff. I like checking out his articles and such myself.

 

[Connoisseur]

Because as professionals they fight other professionals, who have excellent defense and years of experience being hit by people with KO power. Even the worst pro has KO power, they just don't always have the skill to land it at the right moment.

Example- look at the first half of most big name boxers career. Notice that in the second half as they enter more title fights/bigger name fights their KO ratio declines? That's because it's one thing to KO someone less skilled and quite another to KO a fighter at the top of the food chain.

Tell that to Yuri Foreman.

I feel like your opponents head snaps back more when you hit them with the end of your punch. When you try to punch "through" the opponent, I feel like most people end up pushing the punch a little bit.

Exactly. As I said before, the whole "punch through your opponent" thing is more for getting guys to commit to/ achieve full extension with their punches, but it can be dangerous because sometimes guys will just try to get closer so that they can "punch through" the other guy.

What that piece of advice does work well for is teaching leg kicks, because you should be looking to kick through the other guy's leg. But especially with straight punches, you want to keep the guy at the end of your range for maximum power/ impact.

 

[Matt Hilton]

Exactly. As I said before, the whole "punch through your opponent" thing is more for getting guys to commit to/ achieve full extension with their punches, but it can be dangerous because sometimes guys will just try to get closer so that they can "punch through" the other guy.

What that piece of advice does work well for is teaching leg kicks, because you should be looking to kick through the other guy's leg. But especially with straight punches, you want to keep the guy at the end of your range for maximum power/ impact.

Agreed. I've seen people eat uppercuts and knees all day because they take an extra half step to try to punch through someone.

 

[Airdyne23]

Tell that to Yuri Foreman.

No need really. Why don't you tell the 8 opponents he knocked out that he DOESN'T have KO power?

 

[Airdyne23]

I think we have different definitions of KO power. yes the worst pro has "KO power" in that he can knock out any average person. most anyone can KO the average slob.

I am talking about at the higher level like you said. Some boxers can blow away high level competition, some decision them..

Well the TS only asked if you can develop KO power, he said nothing about what he intended to use it for. Perhaps he only needs it to beat slobs? We don't know.

What is your definition of KO power? Mine is simply the ability to KO another human being. Not a skilled fighter, or a world champ, or even to do it consistently. Those are much higher qualities than simply having KO power. And take much longer to develop, if they are possible at all for some people.

Simply undertaking striking training at a high level is enough to develop KO power. The skill you develop in being able to use it will determine who you CAN KO. But the fact remains that the raw power exists in the first place.

I think you are making a similar point, just from different perspectives.

 

[Connoisseur]

No need really. Why don't you tell the 8 opponents he knocked out that he DOESN'T have KO power?

I would, but noone knows who the fuck they are, considering that they're no named tomato cans. Also, he hasn't "knocked out" 8 opponents, he only has 2 straight KO wins.

Jimmy LeBlanc (12-17)
Will Evans (8-9)

If you know anything about boxing, then you know that Yuri Foreman does not hit hard for an elite boxer. He's a volume guy, and the 6 TKO victories on his record are against bums; he has no stoppages over top competition.

 

[Kaiten Geri]

I don't think there should be a dispute about people with low power and very proper technique... This is something one experiences in training quite frequently.

 

[SpineBreaker]

Tell that to Yuri Foreman.

Exactly. As I said before, the whole "punch through your opponent" thing is more for getting guys to commit to/ achieve full extension with their punches, but it can be dangerous because sometimes guys will just try to get closer so that they can "punch through" the other guy.

What that piece of advice does work well for is teaching leg kicks, because you should be looking to kick through the other guy's leg. But especially with straight punches, you want to keep the guy at the end of your range for maximum power/ impact.

No!

Just think about it. How would making contact at the very end of your punch hurt more than make contact about half way through, and then finishing it? Keeping in mind that your fist won't slow down when it makes contact, seems like common sense that hitting at the end of your punch isn't as powerful.

 

[Connoisseur]

No!

Just think about it. How would making contact at the very end of your punch hurt more than make contact about half way through, and then finishing it? Keeping in mind that your fist won't slow down when it makes contact, seems like common sense that hitting at the end of your punch isn't as powerful.

You have no idea what you're talking about. I train, and so does the amateur fighter that was in agreement with me.

Did you even read what I said?

From a physics perspective, (for straight punches) you want your punch to land right before your arm reaches full extension. This is where the punch has the most velocity, and with good snap it should impart as much impact/ force as possible.

Meaning that it's not at the very end of your punch, but right before. Meaning that you still have a few inches to travel. It's called kinetic linking, the energy from all the momentum in your body travels towards your fist, and is transferred at the end of your punch; if you're too close, then you'll end up pushing your target instead of snapping into it as you're supposed to.

The way you can tell if you're doing it correctly is when you're working a heavy bag, if it's moving all over the place then you're pushing it too much, and don't have enough snap.

 

[ssullivan80]

No need really. Why don't you tell the 8 opponents he knocked out that he DOESN'T have KO power?

Yuri hasnt KO'd a single guy since 2006, Jimmy LeBlanc...... He only has 2 actual KO's in almost 30 pro fights, the other 6 were TKO's....... Of course he is capable of KO'ing a guy, but he is far from a natural KO puncher....... Pauli Malignaggi has more KO's than Yuri, seriously:icon_chee

 

[ssullivan80]

I feel like your opponents head snaps back more when you hit them with the end of your punch. When you try to punch "through" the opponent, I feel like most people end up pushing the punch a little bit.

The head snapping back has little to do with where in the motion you hit the other guy really, it has everything to do with getting the hips/core through the shot before the hand makes contact, then it is about the follow through once you do hit him. Pushing a punch is usually because your getting the shoulder out in front of the hip.... in short, the core/lower body that generates the power is behind where the fist makes contact.

For example, 90% of the actual power in a punch does not come from the arm, it is merely a bi-product of what the rest of the body does..... If you watch great KO punchers, you will actually see that they land the overwhelming majority of their punches with their arm at 1/2 or less extension, once the shot hits they just turn it over and through, rotating the glove. The biggest power in a punch has very little to do with the bend in the arm, it is more about where in the core/hip/shoulder rotation you make contact........ Get the hips through your opponent and it makes no difference how far the arm is or is not extended.

A good example, Mike Tysons left hook Vs. Roy Jones left hook, both would put your ass out. Difference is Mike threw that hook right in front of his face (bout a glove length off his forehead) and would bounce his opponents heads off his shoulders. Roy often would throw it long, wide and loopy, sometimes hopping backwards or lunging in without his feet even set, but it still would knock guys out cold...... what they had in common (go watch tape, you will see), they got their hips through the shot before the glove made contact...... same comparison could be made with right hands, George Foremans (short and compact) and Tommy Hearns (long and reaching)..... but both put guys the fuuuuuck out!

 

[SpineBreaker]

You have no idea what you're talking about. I train, and so does the amateur fighter that was in agreement with me.

Did you even read what I said?



Meaning that it's not at the very end of your punch, but right before. Meaning that you still have a few inches to travel. It's called kinetic linking, the energy from all the momentum in your body travels towards your fist, and is transferred at the end of your punch; if you're too close, then you'll end up pushing your target instead of snapping into it as you're supposed to.

The way you can tell if you're doing it correctly is when you're working a heavy bag, if it's moving all over the place then you're pushing it too much, and don't have enough snap.

I didn't see that anywhere...

I train too though. Don't think I'm just some fatty Internet dork trying to feel smart. It's harder to understand what people are saying over the Internet though...