what part of the knuckles do you hit? i heard one person say index and middle and another person say the last 3 knuckles. what is right? also when shadow boxing how open do you have your hands?
That kinda depends. For example, if you're throwing a long left hook, I've been told that you should hit with the outside knuckles (pinky, ring, maybe middle) so as to drive your opponent at an angle back and to your right. I assume straight punches should be landed square. My trainer says that ideally you should land punches in such a way that you won't hurt yourself even if you're not making a tight fist. It's hard to explain without a visual (and he doesn't tell us noobs to punch without making a fist), but in other words, kunckles should be in line with wrist and elbow.
I land with the last three knuckles. I never clench my fists in shadowboxing, it feels really weird if I do. I never really clench them during bagwork and sparring either, unless I get my ass kicked in which case I get tense.
Same here. The experiment he suggested convinced me (let yourself fall to a wall fists forward, the only comfortable position for your wrists is when three knuckles are against the wall).
I always *try* to land with the last 3 knuckles. I believe that doing so provides the best skeletal alignment for powerful punches. To land with the first two requires a slight bending of the wrist, which in my opinion increases the likelyhood of injury and creates a potential power "leak".
thanks alot guys. mark hatmaker said the exact same thing as dempsey in his book NHB savage strikes. thanks a lot guys. and do you guys keeep your hands in loose fists or having your hand completly open?
i always aim for the outside knuckes because my thumb would get jammed too much, still gets messed up every once in a while when punching a moving target, but i really just aim for the pinky and one next to it. they always would say they would break but they haven't yet... shadowboxing, just go on what's comfortable