Handspeed, accuracy and sharpness.

[donnydarkoIRL]

I'm sure this topc has been discussed inthe past, but in anticipation of a bout what measures do you take tio improve your speed, accuracy and sharpness in combination.

I'm looking to catalogue as many answers as possible here.

[Boxerharvey]

I dont use one myself but I would have to say a floor to ceiling ball is one of the best ways to improve handspeed, accuracy and sharpness.It works all 3 of these when it is used propaly.

[Howlin Mad Missy]

well there are different types of speed, which I don't have time to go into, sorry donny, but I'm sure scrap will be along soon.

[Scrap]

If you want to be sharpe really sharpe and want to be fast really fast and want to be accurate really accurate Ill give you a cracker . Find an empty wall a really empty wall. Then get a fit ball a really big fit ball, really pumped up max. Put it on the wall and start Punching Really start punching the fit ball it will do funny things really funny things its up to you useing your feet and fists to control it, have fun and only throw proper punches its insane

[Douglas]

If you want to be sharpe really sharpe and want to be fast really fast and want to be accurate really accurate Ill give you a cracker . Find an empty wall a really empty wall. Then get a fit ball a really big fit ball, really pumped up max. Put it on the wall and start Punching Really start punching the fit ball it will do funny things really funny things its up to you useing your feet and fists to control it, have fun and only throw proper punches its insane

That sounds crazy enough to be a good idea. And you don't need any fancy machines either. Rep.

Now I just need to locate a big fit ball.

[donnydarkoIRL]

What I'm doin to improve handspeed and timeing is sparring using one punch.

Let's say I want to sharpen my jab. My opponent or sparring partner whichever you prefer, understands I'm jusdt throwing my jab and will defend accordingly, maening I have to be extra fast at the right time to catch him.

[Scrap]

It dont work like that, causes to many bad habits.

[StrictlySP]

Hi Donny,
First off, good luck ("luck" meaning when preparation meets opportunity) on your upcoming bout...

Okay, SOLO TRAINING-wise, here are some suggestions:
Speed:
*The number one factor for speed is to RELAX and use only the muscles you need for the punch. With that said...
1) Shadow box with speed and flow in mind.
2) Hit the heavy bag with the same above mentality.
3) Shadow box with first-half movements, meaning instead of fully extending any of your shots, do half motions, ie. half-jab, half-straight right, half-left hook, half-right uppercut, half-overhand right, etc; I think you get the drift. Anyway, this works INITIATION SPEED and "explosiveness."
4) Do the same as 3) except do so with second-half movements, meaning start from the end of the first-half movement and complete the second-half with an emphasis on the retraction. Do this with all the punches in your arsenal, body shots and all. NOTE: when doing this exercise with straight shots, do it on a heavy bag so you don't hyperextend your elbows on the follow-through. This exercise works your follow-through and retraction speed.

Accuracy:
1) Tape up a heavy bag with small duct tape pieces at various heights all over the bag and sharp-shoot your punches on these small targets. Start slow then build up speed...
2) Expanding on 1), you can number your duct tape targets, make a tape/CD recording of yourself calling out numbers in random order and use it to work your hand-eye coordination and speed-of-thought-to-action attributes.

Sharpness with Combinations:
1) Use the above solo exercises with an emphasis on combos.
2) Videotape yourself throwing random as fast and hard as you can with no thought to the sequence of punches. You can also do this with pre-planned combos but this takes away from finding out what your natural predilections are. Anyway, after getting about, say 20 minutes of footage, watch it and evaluate yourself. Look for any combos that stand out from the others in terms of sharpness and flow.
3) Talk to sparring partners and get feedback from them on the combos that seem to catch them/hurt them more than others.

Well, that's it for now. I gotta run and take my kids to swimming practice. If you're interested, I'll share some recommendations with partner training/sparring when I have more time...

Again, good luck...

Take Care,
Lito

[X]

What I'm doin to improve handspeed and timeing is sparring using one punch.

Let's say I want to sharpen my jab. My opponent or sparring partner whichever you prefer, understands I'm jusdt throwing my jab and will defend accordingly, maening I have to be extra fast at the right time to catch him.

I wouldn't do that too much, Donny. The art of accuracy is for the fourth or fifth punch of a combination to be accurate and sharp, not the first.

The ball ideas sound good to me ....... but the other way is to try and learn some combinations by rote. Say, jab, jab, right uppercut, left hook say ....... do this often enough and you will train your body to do it automatically when you need it to. Do it enough (ie when your arms are exhausted), and you'll be amazed how sharp it'll make this combination when you are fresh.

There is no substitute to hard work and sweat, I'm afraid ..... repetiton under pressure is what builds sharpness.

[Sharla]

Wow it's not often I see X on this board! I do agree with him and Scrap though!

I often throw single punches but I do it too much and I don't think my weight is left in the 'right place' afterwards. I tend to become almost unable to throw multiple punches and I think my combos are often slow because I don't have the fluency I should.

Not good to get into this habit as i'm finding it hard to break! Any tips on how to break it would be great actually!

[Andre]

Yeah hard work n repititon so that you know you have ticked all the boxes so that on the night you are no questions of maybes and what ifs.
Then your completly free in your mind to be freed up everywhere else and it comes out in all your moves. Your mind/body links all fire freely and you enter the zone and you fight your fight.

Reverse;
Put a few questions into the opponents mind while your in the ring (or before as some try to do) and watch his freedom to be sharp and accurate slowly diminish.

[Sharla]

I am often told I think too much. I am also a late starter when i compete which has been the bane of my competitive experience. I take too long to mentally click into that mindset where all of your automatic reactions take over. i guess that's what you mean by repetition.

Maybe I need to list a few combos to use as counters when i spar rather than just single punches, practice them on the bags and everywhere else and hopefully I'll be faster to kick into that mode when things flow well. Sound right Andre?

[Andre]

Sort of .
You know everything you learn you have to unlearn in order to free yourself up.

[Scrap]

Andre, in fairness thats pretty hard to do, its not the mind set thats the problem. Its the muscle memory and how the neurons have adapted through exercise memory. Problem is the eyes and the motorisation given through site is hard to break. There are ways round it, easy its not, you have to know what you are doing, but interesting it is.

[Shamrock]

I have weighted shadow boxing gloves. I used to wear them constantly no matter if I was shadow boxing, running, skipping or whatever. This increased both my speed and my power