How to Master Speed Bag Training? Why Should You Do It?

If you think about boxing training, the first thing that comes to mind is speed bag training. It is a very old concept of training your punches and improving your punching power. But it is not just a training that can improve your punching power. It helps in developing a lot of other skills in you that you can use in many other martial arts besides boxing. Moreover, it develops the skills that can improve your self defense to a major extent. But why is speed bag training very necessary for you to do, and how can you do it? What is the accurate step by step approach to speed bag training? Let’s dive into this in detail.

Speed bag training is a form of workout training done for multiple purposes in which a person strikes a hanging leather bag. The bag is not too soft and also not too hard. The most important thing you develop by hitting the bag is improvement in punching power, which you can utilize in self defense.

The speed bag training provides you with multiple benefits, and they are often unique. That is why you should train with a speed bag. But what are those benefits? Let’s discuss in detail. The following are some of the benefits that you must know:

• The first benefit is the coordination between your hand and eye. This coordination is very important in life, and it helps you in many ways in your real life situations. The reason behind this is that when you are striking the leather bag, you are directing your hand toward the bag. The bag is not static. Instead, it is moving continuously. This continuous movement of the bag makes this exercise even more effective. So you have to direct your hand towards the moving bag, and this requires your eye coordination with your hand.

• If there is no coordination, then you cannot hit the moving bag. Your hand will not be able to stay in the right direction. So you see the moving bag continuously with your eyes, and at the same time, this process coordinates with your moving hand. After this, just due to this coordination, your hand strikes the moving bag. At the start, you might not find it easy, especially when the bag is traveling at high speed. But over time, you will learn it and you will become very good at it. This coordination will also be very helpful in your daily life situation. Your reflexes will improve. The time you require to make any movement after seeing something will decrease. So if you are fighting in any martial art, the response time that you need against your opponent’s movements will decrease.

• The second benefit you get from speed bag training is the speed and rhythm. The striking of the moving bag or a speed bag improves your speed of response and rhythm. We all know that for achieving any movement properly, we need to keep it in rhythm. But what is rhythm? It is the proper pattern or format of doing something.

• With the speed bag, you are hitting a moving thing consistently and in a proper format. You are maintaining a rhythm. The moment you start deviating from the rhythm, you will find all your strikes in the wrong direction. So it is very important for you to maintain a rhythm. This rhythm becomes useful for you in everything you do.

• The second thing is the speed. Doing something constantly at a fast pace or speed is not easy. With speed bag training, you learn a way to do it, and this becomes an essential part of the movements you make in any martial art.

• The third benefit you can get by doing the speed bag training is the increase in your shoulder strength and endurance. Your shoulders are very important part of every movement you make in martial arts, particularly those involving grappling. And most often, these are the parts of your body that most people don’t focus on when increasing their strength and endurance.

• Constantly hitting the ball not only utilizes your hands but also your shoulders. So you are doing it at a very fast speed and constantly, and this is enough to improve your shoulder strength. After some days of training, you will find a considerable difference.

• The fourth benefit you can get from speed bag training is cardiovascular strength. Most people think that speed bag training is only about improving punching power. But if you observe, you are using your whole body during striking. Yes, you are making use of your hands to some extent, but you are also involving your other body parts.

• And when you are doing this at speed, and that too for a long time, then your whole body is actively making slight movements. This improves your cardiovascular strength, and your heart can now perform better than before. So speed bag training, although not a very common concept, can improve your cardiovascular strength to a great extent.

• The speed bag is a very effective tool for practicing all those techniques that involve the striking of your hands. For example, in boxing, the speed bag is considered very effective to improve punching power and make your punches even more effective. But this is not only about boxing. It is helpful in many other martial arts.

• Let’s take another example, as we all know, Muay Thai is known for giving its trainers striking power. So with speed bag training, you can improve your striking power to a great extent. This will also increase the effectiveness.

• Another benefit you can get from speed bag training is the improvement in mental focus. But how? Probably the most important thing you require during the striking of the bag is mental focus. You are hitting continuously, and you need the right direction. You know you need coordination between your eyes and hands.

• But besides all of this, you need a mental focus. You should direct all your attention towards the hitting bag. This thing is so important that if, for only a moment, you divert your attention from the bag, then you cannot hit right. The continued attention is necessary. So when you do speed training for a long time, you are also learning mental focus.

• This focus helps in everything you do. For example, when executing any technique in any martial art, the first thing you need is mental focus and attention. Without this focus, you can do nothing. It is also helpful in your daily lives. You are able to do things more effectively.

Now you know how important it is for you to do the speed bag training and what benefits you can get from it. Now the real question is how you can do it, because if you are doing it, but not in an accurate manner, then it will not have any significant effects on you. So you should always try to learn the steps. The following is the step by step approach to doing speed bag training:

• The bag must be right in front of you with the bottom at your chin or mouth level. So that you will feel like you are punching someone in the face.

• Now you should stand like you are in a boxing stance, ready to punch your opponent in the face. Keep your feet wide with a distance between them almost equal to the shoulders.

• Now, what most people make a mistake here is that they start hitting the bag with their knuckles. This is the wrong approach. You should make the punch at the bag with the front of your fist. Moreover, don’t do it in a straight direction.

• Instead, you should hit the bag in a circular motion. Now you should wait for the bag to bounce three times to make your next punch. You should practice punching with both your hands, but in the beginning, you can do it with a single hand. You need to find a rhythm, and once you have found it, you can start doing it with both hands.

• The next step is to use your hands alternatively. You should switch your right hand hitting with your left hand and vice versa. This is not a beginner move. So at the start, you might not be able to do it, but once you have mastered it, you can do it easily. This will make your punching and striking even more effective.

• Moreover, don’t start hitting with your hands in a straight motion. Instead, keep rolling them in a circular motion.

• Once you are able to do it easily, you might start feeling like it's some boring workout because you are doing the same thing for the last few weeks or months. So you should make it more interesting. Also, you should take it to the advanced level so you can experience its benefits more effectively.

• So the one way to do it is to do it is by adding some variations and new things into it. You can try to make it more difficult for yourself, which will keep you interested. One of the examples is hitting the bag twice before switching your hands.

• Also, you can change your pattern or rhythm of speed bag training, increase the speed, or keep it mixed. 

Don’t focus only on the strength with which you are hitting the bag. Focus on rhythm, not power. Moreover, take it easy and don’t push yourself too hard or over the limits.

You must make sure to avoid the mistakes that people often make during the workout. Some of the most common mistakes are given as follows:

You should rightly adjust the level of the speed bag. As discussed before, it must be right at the level of your chin. If the level is wrong, all the training will go wrong, and it will not have any benefit.

Certainly, it is the most common mistake that people often make. They think that hitting the bag too hard and with so much power will contribute to an increase in their strength. But you should remember that speed bag training is all about the correct rhythm and not about the power you generate for hitting the bag.

Another mistake people make is that they often get frustrated by not generating the correct rhythm and are not able to follow all the steps. But things take time, and they should know that they will eventually do it correctly.

People keep a large distance between themselves and the bag. Stay closer to the bag so that you can feel your punches are flowing.

The speed bag training is not a new concept. Instead, it is very old concept and certainly one of the main training workouts in boxing. But the myth is that it is effective and useful only for the boxers. This is certainly a false statement and has nothing to do with reality. The speed bag offers multiple benefits that are often unique and are not commonly achieved. Yes, it is true that the training can be called the backbone of boxing. But this does not mean that it has nothing to do with other martial arts. So no matter which martial art you are practicing, you should try to implement it in your daily workout routine.

Speed bag training is a form of workout training done for multiple purposes in which a person strikes a hanging leather bag. The bag is not too soft and also not too hard. The most important thing you develop by hitting the bag is improvement in punching power, which you can utilize in self defense.

The following are some of the benefits that you must know:

• Hand and Eye Coordination

• Speed and Rhythm

• Shoulder Strength

• Cardiovascular Strength

• Technique Practice

• Mental Focus

The following is the step by step approach to doing speed bag training:

• Setting Up The Stance and Position Correctly

• Start Striking

• Use Hands Alternatively

• Make it More Fun and Interesting

• Don’t Overburden Yourself

Some of the most common mistakes are given as follows:

• Level of The Bag Relative To You

• Hitting the Bag With Too Much Power

• Frustration

• Not Getting Closer Enough