Quote Originally Posted by Youngblood View Post
Serious question. This is one of several recent threads I've seen on speed bags and I've never jumped in because really I didn't have much to add. But the question...

If you have to remove something from your routine, a piece of equipment or exercise due to maximizing your time at the gym for efficiency...what would it be? In my case it was the speed bag. I'm not saying it was the right choice, but it seemed it to me. Once the novelty of learning it wore off, I didn't feel it did that much.
There is no right or wrong answer, just people's opinions. In my opinion, the speedbag is a very good tool for timing punches.

If you feel that you can do better without it, then don't use the speedbag. When you train it's not about how long you train, it's how INTENSE you train.

Are you really benefiting yourself when you're hitting the speed bag with the outlook of "I don't like to use the speedbag"? If that's your outlook, don't use the speedbag, because you're just wasting your time.

The speedbag is a rhythm thing, and a timing thing. And accuracy too. It takes good timing and accuracy to hit the speed bag on its way back when you use real punches. Mix it in with a left hook and now you have one hell of a timing exercise. Think of the speedbag as someone's head bobbing back and forth. Move around the speedbag, don't just stand in one spot. Get different angles and really HIT IT! You will miss a lot at first but you will start to get more accurate. But make sure you are using correct form and that you are not sacrificing speed for power. When you can get the balance right, then you are progressing.

And I always use a straight (jab or cross) to get the speedball back into position after a hook. I only use the bicycle motion to get a feel of how the bag bounces back and forth first. Once I get it, I start expanding into more involving tasks like throwing real combinations as I mentioned above.