Hand speed is always a key tool that boxers are looking to sharpen. This is because quick hand speed is one of the most important skills that a boxer can have. At the end of the day, boxing is all about hitting and not getting hit.
The best way to ensure that you master this art is to always be the first to the punch. There are so many ways, techniques, and workouts out there that are the apparent ‘secrets to fast hands’. However, one way that a lot of boxers seem to swear by is hand weights.
In this article, we will take a closer look at just how effective hand weights are for improving hand speed. We will look at why hand speed is so important, how hand weights can improve hand speed, and also take a look at the benefits of using hand weights in your boxing training.
Why Is Hand Speed So Important In Boxing?
There are several different reasons as to why hand speed is such an important skill to have in boxing. It's a tool that so many boxers seek but very few master. When thinking of lighting fast hand speed we think of iconic fighters such as Manny Pacquiao, Muhammad Ali, Sugar Ray Leonard, Mike Tyson, Amir Khan, Floyd Mayweather, and so many more world-class fighters.
One of the main reasons why all of these fighters amassed so much success across their illustrious careers is because of their electric hand speed. Their fast hands allowed them to more often than not beat their opponent to the punch. Causing them to inflict far more damage on their counterparts than they received.
More reasons as to why hand speed is so important in boxing are;
Allows you to be unpredictable - one of the most dangerous things in boxing is unpredictability. You want to always make sure that your opponent struggles to read your shots. After all, the shots that knock out opponents are the ones that you cannot see.
The faster you punch, the harder you punch - Speed equals power, which is why fast hands typically equate to hard punches. When speed is combined with perfect technique, power is inevitable. Speed helps to give your punches more kinetic energy which then helps to create devastating power.
Improved defence - In boxing, one of the best forms of defence is to attack. Hand speed allows you to attack your opponent far more effectively and therefore makes it harder for them to fire back. This can therefore help to massively improve your defence and overall boxing ability.
Increased Accuracy - The faster you can throw punches, the harder it is for your opponent to be able to get out of the way. This therefore means that your punches become far more accurate and can thus cause far more damage in the ring.
How Are Hand Weights Used In Boxing Training
The main way in which hand weights are used within boxing training is through shadow boxing. Shadowboxing is such a simple form of training but comes with a huge number of amazing benefits. It allows you to hone in on timing, technique, balance, and so much more that can improve your overall boxing ability.
Adding hand weight to your shadow boxing is a very simple yet effective way of supercharging your training. It adds an extra element to the already beneficial training method. This helps you to gain all the benefits from standard shadow boxing as well as so many more.
Benefits Of Using Hand Weights For Improving Hand Speed
There are so many amazing performance benefits that come with adding hand weights to your shadow boxing regime. These benefits include:
Increase Hand Speed - When holding egg weights or other forms of hand weights while shadow boxing, you are adding extra resistance to your training. This extra resistance and weight will slow you down initially but as you do it more and more your muscles will start to become stronger. Then when you throw punches without the weights, the difference in speed will be obvious.
Increase Muscular Endurance - As you shadowbox holding weights, you are giving each muscle in your back, arms, and shoulders a very effective workout. Muscular endurance is hugely important within a fight as the longer you can last, the more chance you have of winning. Shadowboxing using these weights will quickly help to drastically increase the muscular endurance of the most important upper body muscles you need.
Cardiovascular Conditioning - In addition to improving muscular endurance, shadowboxing with hand weights is also very effective at improving cardiovascular endurance. This is hugely important for fight night because you can have all the skills you want, if you do not have the cardio to last you the fight, it will be a hard night.
Increased Intensity - Shadow boxing is typically a very low-intensity form of training. The addition of hand weights during rounds is a very simple way of upping the intensity and therefore benefits that a fighter can get out of the training method.
High-Quality Weighted Equipment From Geezers Boxing
Here at Geezers Boxing, we stock a huge range of high-quality boxing training equipment
from the sport's biggest brands. We have a vast collection of weighted equipment including hand weights and egg weights to help improve your hand speed.
