Do you want to level up your boxing accuracy and reflexes? Learn how to hit the double-end bag!
Many beginners get afraid when they see the double-end bag. Unlike the heavy bag or the speed bag, this bag moves all over the place and it can hit back!
Let’s break down the basics of the double-end bag!
How To Hit The Double-End Bag
To hit the double-end bag:
- Stay Loose And Balanced
- Start With Basic Punches And Combinations
- Play Around With The Bag’s Timing
- Add Defense And Footwork
Stay Loose And Balanced
The first step to using the double-end bag is to stay loose and balanced.
Accept that this bag is unpredictable and gets out of control easily, and that you’ll have to adapt to it.
It’s not like a slow heavy bag. Depending on the tension of the cords holding the bag in place, the size of the bag, and the amount of air in the bag, every double-end bag will move differently.
How you hit the bag will determine whether you treat the bag as your opponent’s head slipping side to side or your opponent’s glove aiming for your face.
To beginners who are used to big and predictable targets, this uncertainty is scary. To more experienced boxers, this flexibility is fun!
Start With Basic Punches And Combinations
Keeping this in mind, practice basic punches and combinations in one place to get a feel for how the bag moves.
Start with your:
- Jab
- Cross
- Jab-jab
- Jab-cross
- Jab-jab-cross
- Jab-cross-hook
It’s ok to forget about perfect form: when you throw a jab, you don’t have to fully extend your arm. With your cross, you don’t have to fully rotate your hips.
Later you can punch with good form. For now, your goal is to get a feel for the bag’s movement and to keep it under control.
At first, focus on accuracy, not on power. Hit the bag in the same spot every time.
Throwing a powerful punch without accuracy will send the bag out of control, and you won’t be able to add more punches to your combinations.
Note that when you throw your uppercut, this will make the bag bob up and down. When you throw your hook, this will make the bag spin in a circle, rather than move in a straight line.
This is where the double-end bag shines. As the bag swings back like a boomerang, is it your opponent’s head coming into your range, or is it your opponent’s hook aiming at your head? It’s up to you to decide.
Play Around With The Bag’s Timing
Next, once you get your power and accuracy down, play around with the double-end bag’s timing.
Unlike the speed bag where we listened for the triplet before hitting it, here you can mix up the bag’s timing.
For example, you can try counting in two’s before hitting the bag.
With a jab, the bag will swing to the opposite side on “one” and “three” and come back to you on “two” and “four”.
If you throw a hard cross, you can hit the bag again on “two”, “four”, “six”, or “eight”. In between these counts is when you can add defense and footwork.
Add Defense And Footwork
Next, add defense and footwork when hitting the double-end bag.
Now that you have more distance from the bag and more time in between punches, you can begin to add defense and footwork.
As the bag comes towards your face, you can slip left or right and roll out of the way.
Don’t stay in place! Pull back to dodge the bag, or take lateral steps around it.
If you move laterally, a jab from this angle will make the bag change from rocking back and forth to spinning in a circle as if you threw a hook.
Once you start working different angles, then the real fun begins; the possibilities are endless!
Benefits Of Using The Double-End Bag
Some of the benefits of using the double-end bag include:
- The Double-End Bag Improves Your Accuracy And Reflexes
- The Double-End Bag Develops Your Hand-Eye Coordination
- The Double-End Bag Teaches You That It’s Ok To Miss Punches
Depending on your goals for a specific training session, you can use the double-end bag to train your offense, defense, or both at the same time.
The Double-End Bag Improves Your Accuracy And Reflexes
First, the double-end bag improves your accuracy and reflexes.
If you want to work on accuracy, imagine the double-end bag as your opponent’s head.
To improve your reflexes and beat your fear of getting hit, imagine it as your opponent’s jab.
The Double-End Bag Develops Your Hand-Eye Coordination
Next, the double-end bag develops your hand-eye coordination.
While the heavy bag is for increasing punching power, and the speed bag is for developing hand coordination, the double-end bag is somewhere in between.
More importantly, the double-end bag teaches you to predict where a target will be, rather than aiming towards where it is in the moment.
This is an important skill to have against an opponent who uses good head movement.
The Double-End Bag Teaches You That It’s Ok To Miss Punches
Lastly, the double-end bag teaches you that it’s ok to miss punches.
It’s impossible for you to land all of your punches; what matters is that you keep your balance and rhythm.
Even if you miss one jab, you can always land your next punch as long as you stay tuned to the double-end bag’s rhythm.
Conclusion
Now that you know the basics, don’t be afraid to add this equipment to your training routine!
Combine it with the other bags: the heavy bag to increase your punching power, and the speed bag to improve your timing and rhythm.
If you enjoy training on the double-end bag, you’ll also enjoy training on the reflex bag and the SparBar.
Watch the video below to see how technical wizard Dmitry Bivol uses the double-end bag.
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