6 Things You Must Do To Hold Boxing Pads Correctly

What better way than to improve your boxing skills than with a trainer and boxing pads. Using boxing pads is a lot of fun for both the boxer and the pad holder, and it is more interactive than practicing on a punching bag. However, you do want to make sure that you are doing it safely and correctly when you are training with boxing pads.

You need to make sure that you are holding the pads properly and using the proper techniques. This will ensure that both yourself and the boxer can have an effective practice and that neither of you will get injured.

Here are 6 important tips for how to properly use your boxing pads when training.

1. Have the Boxing Pads at the Appropriate Height

The correct position for holding your boxing pads is generally in line with the boxer’s face. This is the right height for the boxer to be able to practice as if they were boxing another fighter. If the boxing pads are held too high, then boxers will be reaching to connect with the pads, and conversely, if the pads are too low, the punches will have to swing downwards, which is not what the boxer wants to practice, especially if they are going for straight punches. You must tailor the position of the boxing pads to the right height for the boxer and in line with their line of sight.

2. Hold the Boxing Pads at an Appropriate Distance

Also important to the position of the boxing pads is the distance that you hold the pads. Too far away from your body, you can injure yourself or the boxer when the punches land too close to the boxer’s body. When holding the boxing pads, you want to relax your arms, have bent elbows, and hold the pads close to your body.

The punch pad is supposed to simulate where the boxer would try and land a punch on their opponent, so closer to the body is best. Although this may seem a little scary, this is actually safer for yourself and the boxer and a great way to build trust with your training partner.

Additionally, the pads should be held at an appropriate distance from each other. Holding the pads too far apart will make the boxer twist too far to land a forward punch. This is an ineffective way to train for hard and fast punches.

3. Hold the Boxing Pads at an Angle

The boxing pads should be held slightly inward to give a good landing surface for the punches. Because of the shape of the boxing glove and the movement of the punch, it will naturally land at a slight angle when throwing straight punches.

If you are practicing hooks, you will want to angle the boxing pads even more towards the middle so that the sideways swing will also land flush to the pad. Similarly, when you practice uppercuts, the boxing pads should be facing downwards and at a slight inward angle.

It is important to remember that when holding a punching pad while sparring, you are receiving a punch from the boxer’s opposite hand, and so the angle of the pad is important for landing a good punch.

4. Coordinate Movement to the punching Combination

When you are holding boxing pads, you need to move them to different positions depending on what punch comes next in a combination. You need to move your pads quickly so that the boxer can throw the next punch in the combination.

You don’t want to be slow; otherwise, the boxer and you will lose momentum and ruin the boxing combination. And if the boxing pad isn’t in the right spot and the right time, you may have a punch hit your body, which could definitely hurt without the padding.

5. Counterpunch Quickly

When you are training with boxing pads, you also want to simulate a boxing match by throwing punches towards the boxer as well. You want them to be aware and react to punches that are coming at them as well as the punches they are throwing out.

Your punches need to be quick so the boxer can react with a duck or slip like they would need to in a real fight. You want to keep the boxer on their toes and don’t want them to be waiting for a hesitant counterpunch which is just not realistic.

6. Push Back Into the Punch

As the person holding the boxing pads, it is important to push against the punch being thrown. You are not holding the boxing pads; still, they are constantly moving towards each punch as it hits.

When you slap the pads towards each punch, you give the boxer some resistance to work off of, so their punch can bounce back up, and the combination can easily flow quickly. If a boxer hits a stationary pad or a pad that is moving away as they hit it, they could get injured, or you could injure yourself too.

These are some key things to remember when you are using boxing pads. Boxing pads are ideal for training because both the boxer and the pad holder have an important role in moving through a boxing combination. You want to make sure that you are doing it effectively when you are holding the boxing pads so that both partners are safe and get a good training session.