hi all been boxing on and off now for a lot of years , sounds like a stuipd question ,.anyway when i shadow box i really hit at full speed and power ,sometimes locking my elbow out this hurts a bit but get used to it .also my shoulders are giving me a lot of grief lately as im now 45 old.how hard should one shadow box ,and should i close my hands or keep them open ? ,shold i fully extend or not?. herd so many different idears ? anyone really no whats best.atsch.
You should not be putting full power and extension into your punches when you shadow box. That is terrible for your joints and will tire you quickly in the same way missing opponents tires you much more than landing does.
my trainer always tells me to keep my hands closed, if you extend your fingers when throwing a punch in shadowboxing it can form bad habits. personally i see no reason to open your hands anyway.
I would shadow box to full extention, if you dont it CAN promote flaring elbows over time and your never really shadow boxing the full extention and return of the shot, some of the most important parts of any punch. whenever you miss with a punch in the ring your usually fully extending and returning the shot, so why wouldnt you practice doing this when shadow boxing? Learn and practice the basics until they are natural, then practice leads and set-ups you will be using during sparring, get a slip line to work around itll help expose weaknesses in mobility.
when shadowboxing don't go to lockout, but do use a full range of motion so you work the entire muscle/tendons, turning the punch over at the end to keep the elbows in as long as possible. you can use a loose fist but still keep it a fist so you aim with your knuckles, definitely not your finger tips. if you keep your fist clenched too tight your muscles will be fighting against each other and slow you down. vary the speed, sometimes slow with absolute proper technique, medium and fast pace (occasionally speed training gets to be without gloves so your body knows how fast it can really go). and i would also add a progression once in a while (rd 1-footwork/headmovement, rd 2-add the left hand, rd 3- use the footwork to set up the left, to set up single right hands, rd 4- big combinations; nothing less than a 5piece). you can reverse that progression as a cool-down. i think shadowboxing is one of the best tools for boxing. when you punch there's nothing to hold you up (bag, opponent) so you have to work on balance. everytime you wobble it's feedback that you're not in balance, and get to correct it. "train the way you want to fight because you will fight the way you train"-if you don't do certain skills/strategies in shadow boxing against your perfect imaginary opponent, chances are you won't try it in the ring with a real opponent. shadowboxing is imagery. imagine you are there with someone in front of you where you need to use offenses, defenses and counters. try to use all five senses; smell the leather, your opponent's sweat when he gets close; taste the sweat drip from your lip into your mouth and appreciate the wetness because your mouth is so dry; see the lights; hear the crowd cheering your name (or cheering his name if that motivates you more, lol). take it all in and make it as real as possible and as perfectly as possible.
This is good advice, and is somthing to watch for if you like to do lots of bag work, a lot of heavybag work masks your perception of your balance, these problems in balance will mess up your game big time against a live opponent but will hardly be noticed by the fighter or some coaches on a heavy bag, the heavy bag can draw a lot of bad habits from a fighter including this reaching habit science has mentioned, it all ****s up mobility, shadow boxing around objects will expose these problems to be worked on where as bags will hide them. Like has being said try and make it as realistic as possible, imagine a fighter backing you up, jabbing and circling, trying to counter your leads, imagining these scenarios i find helps my mind to focus on my own movements rather than my brain being side tracked thinking up what my imaginary opponents movements will be and then thinking about what my reaction will be, i find it can be better to visualise like this as boxing science mentioned, i believe its because it allows for fast movements without over thinkingand over analysing slowing down the process of movement.
