When trying to put some speed in my punches I find myself snapping at the elbow joint, and always heard that should never happen when punching. Can someone offer some insight on this? Is it just practice?
Well to start this one off. Are you over extending? You don't want to seperate the joints because it can end you fighting ambitions pretty quickly. See Tennis elbow if you want to know why. Or Do you mean you're launching a punch from your elbow???? I'm confused
And I'm confused as to why you're confused. Throwing a jab or a right mainly, when I try to dish them out as fast as I can I find I have a tendency to just punch quick and letting my elbow snap. Just punching as you should, I've heard you should throw from the shoulder and that your elbow joint should not snap.
Oh I think I get you now. I'm just a tripper. Thats just from not enough muscle memory. You're rushing an action thats not ingrained into your second nature yet and it goes all spastic and ****. It's easy to stop that, you'll just have to do more shadow boxing drills in front of the mirror. Focusing on perfect the form and technique and dont rush it. Gradually build up the speed if you see it's working, continue through the burn and keep it consistant and uniform. 1-2-1-2-1-2-1-2-1-2-1-2-1-2-1-2 X 3 minutes. Throw in a couple rounds 1-1 and 2-2's. It's mundane as **** to do but It'll catch on quickly if you dedicate a bit of time to it. The beautiful punches will flow and progress into a boxers punch. Remember the drill isn't to pretend you're punching at anything. There is no imaginary opponant in from of you, so limit the tricky movements and head movement. It's meant to be you improving your punch movements by drilling it into you.
Ok thanks, could you give me a rundown of throwing from the shoulder, some key points to keep in mind? I find it so slow compared to a bit of elbow snapping. huh?
Bet you are not turning the punches and putting to much shock on the tricep tendons, there are a few techniques to overcome this.
Overextending is a huge no no. Also, turn your punches over. I'm suspecting you might be flicking your punches out.
As many have pointed out, I suspect you're flicking your punches from your elbow causing you to hyper-extend it. Check the following links for examples on punching technique. The first one covers proper technique for jabs and the other is a thread on instructional videos on youtube. Here's an example of turning over when throwing the jab: [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C-ugcABJna4[/ame] Also check out this thread on instructional videos: http://www.eastsideboxing.com/forum/showthread.php?t=107787
