Proper Hooks

[SherdogRsince08]

i know a boxer.
He said keep your elbow high when you throw a hook.
i know a blackbelt
he said keep it low and shoulder high to protect yourself.


who's right.

 

[SteelHammer]

probably depends how tall the opponent is. if he's taller than you you should probably keep the elbow a little higher for more protection.

 

[dat1978]

i know a boxer.
He said keep your elbow high when you throw a hook.
i know a blackbelt
he said keep it low and shoulder high to protect yourself.


who's right.

the boxer, if you keep your elbow low through the movement you will not have the proper alignment to hit with your knuckles. it would be more of a half slap half hammerfist with your bottom knuckles if you do hooks with a vertical fist. if you have been taught to keep your fist horizontal with hooks and then you keep your elbow down you would make contact with your second knuckles. either way is wrong and bad for your wrist.

 

[SAAMAG]

Ugh. Go hit something both ways. You'll find out.

 

[DannyT]

I always thought you should hook with your elbow above your fist. Elbow should be always in line with or lower than your fist. That's what I learnt from Bas anyway :icon_conf

 

[thirteen]

What type of hook, wide or tight?

 

[Nosweat]

What type of hook, wide or tight?

Exactly.

Unless it's a tight low hook, a hook with a low elbow isn't going to get max power or bypass opponent's guard.

 

[Jahan]

I was taught to keep my elbow horizontal, so if he moves in Ill elbow instead
Cant see it working against taller opponents however

 

[gotobread]

A blackbelt in what, exactly?

 

[SAAMAG]

Can't argue with Bas. He hits harder than anyone on here, and he throws his hooks with his elbow slightly below his hand. That said, these are hooks with a slightly upward vector...so the elbow is still "behind" the punch. He does this to be able to protect is sides better. Feet are flat, and the torsion in the waist is providing the power. Punch isn't as tight as the muay thai or boxing hook.

The MT hook, is one that starts with elbows down, comes up to target (where necessary) and turns horizontally as the punch moves across the body's centerline in a c-shape, with the arm coming back quickly to protect the side once more. Weight on balls of feet with front foot flat and rear heel lifted, torsion comes from the waist. Tight punch.

The standard lead boxing hook, the way I learned it, was a parallel to the ground vector with the arm coming in in a "tight c" shape. The front foot is on the ball of the foot with an inward turn and the rear foot is flat. Also should be a very tight punch.

 

[Cdn_Fight_Fan]

Yeah, when talking about punches, trust a boxer over a 'black belt'.

 

[Mitchell]

I was taught to keep your shoulder, elbow, and fist all on a plane and make a 90 degree angle with your elbow. I usually end up throwing a long slapping hook with my elbow a little lower because it has a lot more range. They are both fine in my opinion and have different uses.

 

[barnowl]

There are a lot of factors, from target to relative hight difference. the elbow abit above, inline with or a bit below the fist is not going to make that much difference as long as it is behind the fist. If it goes to an extreme angle either way you start to have problems because the Elbow stops being behind the fist mechanically.

Hooks are one like religion, everybody claims to know the one true way.

 

[SAAMAG]

I still wonder why people look for written descriptions of punches when youtube is just a click away:

Bas Rutten's Hook...



Samart is probably a great example of the MT hook's capability around :57...



Classic Boxing hook...

 

[ssullivan80]

Hooks are one like religion, everybody claims to know the one true way.

LMAO, that is as true, as it is profound......

Once your past the most basic fundamentals/technique......There is no 1 right way and only way to throw any punch, Instead there is a right time and right application to use a certain punch, and correspondingly a wrong way........ Personal preference, style, stance, height/reach, direction of movement, on the ropes, middle of ring, as a counter, to set up another shot, to pressure, etc..... all are variables that change how best to throw a certain punch, and there are far more variables then mentioned above.......

My advice for TS would be to learn both ways and more importantly understand why each coach chooses to teach it that specific way, then experiment with both during sparring...... you will figure it out quick enough!

 

[Payak]

elbow should be equal height to fist, but this will change withe height of you opponant.

 

[Code N]

i know a boxer.
He said keep your elbow high when you throw a hook.
i know a blackbelt
he said keep it low and shoulder high to protect yourself.


who's right.

Well wouldn't you tuck your chin into your shoulder as you throw the hook? So both would work right?

Maybe I don't understand the question.