What About Speed Bags?

A guy once called up my club, asking about our boxing classes. He had never done it before but was a fan of the sport and really wanted to learn. The conversation, paraphrased, went kind of like this:

Him: Do you guys have a speed bag?

Me: No, we use 100-pound heavy bags in our classes. Mitts and pads sometimes. And we do have a double-end bag, which I like a lot better than speed bags.

Him: Well I want to go to a real place.

Me: What do you mean, "a real place?"

Him: You know, some place that has a speed bag.

Me: Hmm. What makes you think a place needs a speed bag to be real?

Him: Because that's how I see boxers training. They're always using speed bags.

Me: You ever see them actually throw punches in the ring? Do they box like they are hitting a speed bag?

Now of course I was being snarky here, which I probably shouldn't have been on the phone to somebody, but his reasoning just kind of caught me off-guard. The more I thought about it though, the more I understood where he was coming from. Just about every movie about boxing will show the boxer using a speed bag. It looks cool in those montages and for the purpose of movies, it is relatively easy to teach someone, an actor, how to do it without looking like they have imperfect technique (as opposed to the heavy bag, where their flaws will really stand out). Plus it makes a cool sound and you can very easily show someone hitting one, failing at it, and then suddenly perfecting it over time to suggest progress in your training. But you'll see great boxers doing it too. Pretty much all of them use it in their training. So should you?

As is the case with any type of training, boxing or otherwise, you must understand the goal. What are you using this tool for and how is going to help you achieve or better achieve that goal? And if you only have a limited amount of time for training (or even if you don't), are there other tools that are more effective in this regard?

If you are not aware, the speed bag is a small, very light, teardrop-shaped ball which are hung from some kind of backstop that it can deflect off of quickly when struck. The striking is done differently. Instead of the punching with the knuckle, the boxer hits the bag with the bottom side of their hand, the meaty part in between the pinky and wrist. This is not a strike done in boxing, in fact it would be illegal to do so and at least on that level, the use of a speed bag does not directly mimic anything you would do while boxing.

But that doesn't mean that it won't help you with your boxing, as will other non-boxing activities like skipping rope, core exercises, medicine ball work, jogging/sprinting, bodyweight, etc. There are certainly pros to using a speed bag, mainly that it helps train rhythm and timing, something which is key. There are other benefits too, like building shoulder and arm endurance as well as coordination (though it is often noted that it builds hand-eye coordination specifically, I do not actually agree with that at all - your eyes aren't doing anything).

So, the speed bag does train some skills that will help you with boxing. Does that mean you should use one if you want to get better at boxing? Not necessarily. Because there are other ways to train these things as well as improve your basic boxing skills. Going back to what I said earlier, you have to decide what the best tool is for you and your goals.

To better find the answer, let me just ask you one important question first: How much time do you have for exercise/boxing? If you box professionally and it is your main job, I am hoping you have about 6 hours, 5-6 days a week for physical training. Otherwise, most of us generally carve out about an hour per day - or every other day - for our workouts.

Let's say you fall into the latter category. My next question is, how do you want to spend that hour? Whether you are training boxing or just about anything else, I am guessing that you want to maximize the time spent. Get as much bang for your buck as you can, right? If you're training in boxing, that means you want to spend the hour getting as good at boxing as possible and part of that also includes getting in the best shape as possible.

Generally, with respect to training tools, is the speed bag the best, most efficient, most effective way to improve your boxing in a short period of time? My answer is no. Doesn't meant the speed bag is useless- not at all! If you have several hours a day, every day, to train, it is a great way to work on your skills and take a break from boxing. But if you only have an hour, this will not give you as much bang for your buck. You're going to get that from actually boxing: throwing jabs, crosses, hooks, etc., head movement, defense, footwork, counter-attacks, feints - all the things you would do in a fight. Whether you are hitting a heavy bag, mitts, or sparring (provided you truly know how to box and have no bad habits), these things will benefit your boxing skills more than anything else. You will learn rhythm and timing and improve things like shoulder endurance and coordination more than you would on a speed bag. There are supplemental exercises you can do as well, and the speed bag could certainly be one of them (in addition to core work, jumping rope, bodyweight exercises and more) but if you're time is limited and you want to maximize your boxing training AND your fitness, boxing is the best way to go. What if you did 45 minutes on a heavy bag and say, 10 minutes on a speed bag? I would honestly still say you are going to get more from that 10 minutes of boxing on the heavy bag than you would a speed bag, provided you properly directed by a good coach live and in person. Both in terms of fitness and skill.

In that phone conversation I had, I mentioned we use a double-end bag. Those, or even one of those reflex bags, are also a lot better than a speed bag, in my opinion. They require more timing than a heavy bag, as well as more precision. Plus they help you with defense and not overcommitting on punches, as they come right back at you AND you are still boxing, throwing regular strikes.

I know some old timers will still swear by the speed bag but like everything else, the answer depends very much on context. About you personally - your goals, your time, your interests - but not what you see on the movies and TV.