Quote Originally Posted by seagull View Post
What weight should it be ?

Ive seen ones for 100 lbs is that about right or is the shape of the bag ? The larger and wider ones ive used dont seem to move so much.

Thanks in advance.
The weight of the bag depends on what you want to work on, and what feels good to you. For your punches, a heavier bag won't swing much, a lighter punching bag is going to swing big time, and a 100 pounder is just about right.

They can come in an assortment of shapes and sizes. You can get the long skinny 6' bags like you'd see in a Muay Thai gym; however I haven't used one but I've been told that it reacts strange when hit which takes away from the realism. From my limited experience with the mexican pear-shaped bags, it just feels awkward to work with.

The rationale of using a heavier bag is that it allows you to put more leverage into a punch without it flying across the room when you land a hard power punch. It gives your training a realistic feel to it, because just think about it, most people aren't going to get blasted back a couple of feet when you hit them. On top of that, when the bag swings toward you it has enough dead-weight behind it to smother your punches and to take you off balance.

Sounds good right? Now before you put money down for a new bag you should know what you're buying. The problem with many of the heavier bags that you'll find in a lot of catalogs and even gyms is that it doesn't have that much give. With a bag like that you won't be able to put a lot power in your punches since your hands would be taking more damage.

Perhaps the blame belongs to the manufacturers, whom in an attempt to tip the scales, cram the bag to the point that it's no longer friendly to the touch.

Now if it was me and I wanted a good bag that didn't swing too much I'd take the do-it-yourself approach and get an empty 150-200 lb bag. Then I'd make sure to give it filler that is not too hard, and not too soft, just enough that it would treat my hands good. To make it easier on the rest of my joints I'd have it suspended at a height by which the bottom of the bag would be on level with my hips. The bag would still swing when hit, but be heavy enough to remove too much swing. This way you you can work more on your punching, and boxing techniques without having to stop the bag frow swinging.To work on other things I can still give it a good push to get it swinging. Hitting it while it swings away allows me to become accustomed to a person that moves away from my punches. Hitting it while it is coming towards me teaches me to shorten up my punches.

A hundred pound bag is fine too. How much it swings depends on how it's made and how it's set up. If it's suspended from a high chain/cable it will swing a lot more. This isn't a bad thing if you'd like to put more emphasis on your footwork, or hitting it while it's moving. A lighter bag will move a lot more, which is a disadvantage if you want to work on getting leverage into a punch. On the other hand a light bag can help you develop Marvin-Hagler-like skills when it comes to hitting a target that is moving away from you fast.

Other punching bags will give you a different experience and allow you to work on different things. Above all, stay honest to yourself by keeping an opponent in mind when working on any bag.