Thoughts on bag work

Tuvatuva

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I think for most people, hitting the heavy bag is probably the bulk of their training. Other than perhaps mitts/pads and hard sparring, it's the part of training where you can practice throwing with full power at an object. During camp, I would normally shadow box for 5 rounds before going 12 rounds on the heavy bags, and end it with 3 rounds on the double end bag, 3 more rounds of shadow boxing, and a couple rounds with the tennis ball. So like half of my training.

Thinking back on it now, I feel like I didn't really know how to use the heavy bag considering how much time I spent on it. I was just practicing the same power shots and combinations I already knew how to throw, and it really became more of conditioning exercise more than anything. It became really boring and not an efficient use of training time. I would also practice turning and switching angles, but I realized only later there was more to heavy bag work than just this.

I see too many people in the gym just using it just for that. They would stand in front of the bag and wail on it. If you're starting out and learning how to throw punches and kicks, it's of course what it can be used for, but as you progress, I think we should learn how to use it more as a simulation against an opponent who moves around and throws back. Since an opponent isn't going to just stand there and let you throw power shots at him. Using the bag is another skill and it's unfortunate that many gyms and coaches don't seem to teach it.

Now I train for fun, but I've been working more on working with the movement of the bag. If the bag swings away, I step forward and work on attacking. When the bag swings back at me, I defend, time counters, or turn it. If the bag is heavier, I clinch with it and work on my inside game. I try to work on sequences from the outside such as jabbing to the body a few times before feinting it and going up top with a lead hook.

I try to always remember to build in defense with my combinations, try to never reset and try to be "on" at all times of a round. Way too many people throw a combination on the bag and reset, and in a fight, that's when your opponent will counter attack.

Of course I will take a few rounds to just punch or kick and work on perfecting the mechanics of the strike. There is a time and place for using the heavy bag for power and combinations, but I think there's too much of it going on in gyms and people aren't using the bag to it's full potential.
 
Agree. Bag, imho, should always just be a stand in for a human, meaning moving around it, etc. (Unless you're working on a specific punching power drill.) I had a coach who told me you can tell a guy is using the bag wrong if he doesn't jab on the way out of a close combo.
Also my boxing coach really pushes me to make sure the bag doesn't move too much on punching drills because that shows you pushing the bag and therefore the bag is not at the end of your punch. (Kicking is another matter.)
 
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I very rarely shadow boxed. I mostly did pad work and 3 - 5 rounds on the heavy bag. But I would do 6 - 10 rounds of pad work. Then the rest was just fitness and S&C. Shadowboxing never really held much value to me. Neither did heavy bag work if I'm honest. Light and Medium sparring was where I preferred to learn and work.
 
Agree. Bag, imho, should always just be a stand in for a human, meaning moving around it, etc. (Unless you're working on a specific punching power drill.) I had a coach who told me you can tell a guy is using the bag wrong if he doesn't jab on the way out of a close combo.
Also my boxing coach really pushes me to make sure the bag doesn't move too much on punching drills because that shows you pushing the bag and therefore the bag is not at the end of your punch. (Kicking is another matter.)
This is 100% correct the people who share videos of the heavy bag swinging around to show off their "Power" have no idea what they're doing. Heavyweights doing it correctly have a little bit of swing.
 
I very rarely shadow boxed. I mostly did pad work and 3 - 5 rounds on the heavy bag. But I would do 6 - 10 rounds of pad work. Then the rest was just fitness and S&C. Shadowboxing never really held much value to me. Neither did heavy bag work if I'm honest. Light and Medium sparring was where I preferred to learn and work.
Was your shadowboxing for boxing or MT/KB stuff? I've decided I can't really shadowbox with kicks. The lack of feedback on the kick really takes me out of it. But I find boxing-only shadowboxing really helpful. (I'm extremely amateur, though.)
 
I agree. You need the tools to do the extra things on the bag like movement, turning, subtle slips etc.

It’s mostly for fine tuning technique and power for me though. Just getting my punch count in lol. I also like bag drills to work specific movements and counters. An intermediate/advanced one for me would be like a subtle slip to roll to a 2-3 or something like that.

Got any videos of you working the bag?


I wish I had access to more free standing bags. All the bags at all of my gyms have stands or are close to a wall unfortunately.
 
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I only ever had one video of myself on the bag but it was a long time ago when my coach was filming me just to try out his new camera. He used the slow motion mode and I gotta say I looked good throwing combinations. He jokingly said in the video I look world class, implying that I sucked otherwise.

Unfortunately it was a long time ago. I feel like a tool filming myself but I may give it ago next time I'm on the bag.
 
Was your shadowboxing for boxing or MT/KB stuff? I've decided I can't really shadowbox with kicks. The lack of feedback on the kick really takes me out of it. But I find boxing-only shadowboxing really helpful. (I'm extremely amateur, though.)
I rarely shadow boxed for either. When I did it for boxing I just found myself pretending to be Manny Pacquiao.
 
On another note I really don’t like kicking bags lol. If I’m doing bagwork 8/10 I’m doing boxing only lol
 
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Let's add some more pieces to the puzzle, different bags work different things.

Majority of my training was heavy bag. You can do anything you want on the bag. If you have a bag that swings and you can enough room to move freely about, you can "fight" the bag.

Here's a example of how to work the bag



This isn't going to happen with single file bag setup. Those type encourage standing in front of it because there's no room to do anything else

upload_2023-6-9_0-40-26.pngupload_2023-6-9_0-40-26.png
 
In most muay thai gyms I've been to, they seem only really have bags close to each other so all you can do is stand in front of it. Not so much room to circle the bag. But I guess that's how they also like to fight in Thailand.
 
In most muay thai gyms I've been to, they seem only really have bags close to each other so all you can do is stand in front of it. Not so much room to circle the bag. But I guess that's how they also like to fight in Thailand.

More people you can pack into a space equals mo money. Who cares if they can't work the bag properly, most don't know how to anyways. Pack them in like sardines, let them pound sand and tell them good job
 
This is 100% correct the people who share videos of the heavy bag swinging around to show off their "Power" have no idea what they're doing. Heavyweights doing it correctly have a little bit of swing.

I have a bag at my commercial gym and most people just wail on the bag and throw combos that would never land.
 
the heavy bag is a great tool
but it is easy to be deceived by it. it's easy to think you are getting good work and improving just by smacking it. I have seen it as sort of an escape for many who get frustrated with more intricate or difficult methods from their trainers.
 
the heavy bag is a great tool
but it is easy to be deceived by it. it's easy to think you are getting good work and improving just by smacking it. I have seen it as sort of an escape for many who get frustrated with more intricate or difficult methods from their trainers.
Oh man that was me. My trainer wasn't big on mitt work, but when he did do it, there was constant stopping for correction and we worked on rather simple things like finding range with the jab. In hindsight I realize that this was actually good mitt work, but at the time I wanted to feel cool throwing combos so I was getting frustrated and felt a lot more comfortable on the bag.
 
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