Speed Bag Beginner Videos

[Markus]

Hey Everyone,

I've only been bagging for a few days now and figured the best way to learn would be to get some advice from all of you. Please feel free to critique and provide feedback of any kind.

Here are two videos that I shot tonight. I'll work on increasing the video quality to be on the level with MsD.

and another...

All the best,
Markus

[Speedbag]

Hey Markus,

Both video's look and sound ok. By that I mean your body position is alright, and hands are mostly held up. try to keep them up when the other hand is punching, not drop to the waist, for what will happen is you will start the next punching movement from the waist, which will not work on a faster bag. There is too much distance to cover and you will either hit late, or you will compensate for the distance by moving your hand faster to cover that distance, and hit the bag harder as a result, making it go faster with each punch.

I notice in these video's that your rhythmic speed of punching is pretty equal, without going "faster" or "slower" indicating less control of movement and power. You're doing fine with that for your level. If you DO find yourself wanting to go faster, try to move the fists a bit faster in a relaxed motion, not tensing ro exerting hard to hit harder. Getting all tense or stiff will eventually reduce your speed, not increase it.

You might find yourself a bit far away from the bag when you start trying to "pass through" to the other side. You don't want to be "reaching" when you do that, and moving a bit in closer will help with that.

You can start working on the four front fist punches [ Front Circle Punch, (FCP), Front Straight Punch (FSP) Front Double Punch (FDP) and Front Fist Rolling (F-Roll) ] and the Outward Elbow Strikes.

Good videos.
Hope this helps

[Zaza]

Looking good for a few days! Welcome to the forum...

[MsDeville]

Great consistency for just starting out. You look good and your timing/rhythm is nice. I would suspect that you are musically inclined? I've watched these a couple a times tonight, and listening to that rhythmic bag sound can really lull you — especially at midnight Pacific Time... for us addicts, that sound is definitely music to our ears.

Your video quality is great! Your lighting is nice and the angle of the camera was great.

So, I noticed in the first video that you were wearing a long-sleeved red shirt, and in the second, you had stripped down to the t-shirt. It's surprising how you can work up a sweat simply by knocking around a bag of air. for 30 minutes. You've only been at it for 4 days and I can see you're hooked.

When you advance to the S-hook, I imagine that you will notice decreased swivel noise... as the u-bolts tend to rattle and squeak a bit.

Great videos. Great setup. I look forward to seeing your progress.

[novaspeedbagger]

Nicely Done!

Great start Markus! You can't find better advice than Speedbag gave you. Keep up the practice and try to get a ball hook swivel soon if you truly want to start using a variety of punches to add to the fun and increase the level of the challenge. Before you know it you'll be doing down triple elbow strikes and what not! As MsDeville said your videos are well done too

[Markus]

Wow, thanks for all of the excellent feedback Speedbag, Zaza, MsD, and Nova. It is greatly appreciated. I will take all of your advice and attempt to make it happen on the bag.

For consistency I have been trying to keep a consistent pace for a set amount of time. 1 minute, 2 minutes, 3 minutes, etc... so far I have made it to 5 minutes with a steady consistent pace but not much speed. I am trying to keep myself disciplined with regards to trying speed.

One of my problems is I recently had shoulder surgery, and while I am through my rehab, I've learned that Speed Bagging is a tough workout, especially in the shoulder area. So after about 5 minutes my shoulder is screaming at me. I am sure that will improve over time though.

MsD., yeah, it certainly gets hot fast and the long sleeve had to go. This is such a nice alternative to my typical workouts and surprisingly efficient. I started hitting to music a little last night but found myself trying to hit to the beat and at this stage it didn't go so well. I look forward to hitting to the music soon though.

Thanks again for all of the feedback! I'll post some new vids tonight hopefully.

Markus

[ebozyn]

You're Doing Great For Having Just Been Bagging For A Few Days. When I First Started In January I Can Remember I Was Doing All I Could Do Just To Time The Next Strike Between Every 3 Rebounds.

Counting Out The Number Of Rebounds In My Head Before I Made My Next Punch: (Strike, 1, 2, 3. Strike, 1, 2, 3. Strike, 1, 2, 3)

The First Rebound Happens Faster Than The Last Two, (Because Of the Slowing Of the Bag During Three Rebounds) So i Think My Count Went More Like:

(Strike-n, 2, 3. Strike-n, 2, 3. Strike-n, 2, 3)
Somehow That Helped Me Keep Time A little Better.

But That Soon Became Second Nature. I'm Sure You'll Be At That Point Soon If You Aren't Already.

Anyway, Good Video.
Keep Up The Good Work<---- More Like Fun Than Work.
And Keep On Baggin'

[MsDeville]

Hey Markus. I just watched these videos again, and I noticed the the auto focus was trying to re-focus during the recording. You might want to experiment and turn off the auto-focus while recording next time...

[Markus]

Thanks for the feedback ebozyn.

Ralph, I'll check out the youtube comments and I appreciate the feedback and encouragement.

MsD., I am using my 720p HD webcam (they have the logitech on clearance at Staples for $29 for those who may want one) and I am still getting used to shooting with it. I'll give the auto-focus a break and see if I can get better footage. I have a Camcorder also but using the cam is much easier for now.

[Markus]

Trying to do what Speedbag suggested...

"You can start working on the four front fist punches [ Front Circle Punch, (FCP), Front Straight Punch (FSP) Front Double Punch (FDP) and Front Fist Rolling (F-Roll) ] and the Outward Elbow Strikes."

Here is my attempt at the above minus the Elbow Strikes. This is my last session of the night after about 2 hours of practice between yesterday and today. It's still shaky but I feel like I am gaining a bit more control of the bag.

Around the 2:45 mark I try to do some F-Rolling for the first time ever. That is a lot more difficult than it looks to say the least.

[novaspeedbagger]

Making Progress!

Great Job Markus! As time goes on you will notice that your straight punches will travel diagonally setting the bag up for a circle punch that changes the direction of the bag. Then you will see that the bag is set up for a natural flowing straight punch with the opposite hand to be followed up with a circle punch (same hand).

It is what you are doing in the video except you won't feel the need to hit the bag straight on. This will evolve naturally as you progress! Keep at Markus!

[Markus]

Thanks for the positive feedback Nova. I think I understand what you are saying as I feel there is this tendency to not hit the speed bag straight on. When I pick up the pace it feels more natural to do what you are saying. I just need to work on the consistency of my strikes a lot more.

I will keep at it! Thanks again for everyone's feedback and support. This forum is excellent!

[Zaza]

That's great work Markus! You totally got this...as you can see practice is the key (and listening to all the great advice you can get from Nova, Speedbag, Tim and pretty much everyone on this forum).

If you're not already (which I think you are) it is an addiction. When you wake-up in the middle of the night thinking about combinations you know you have th bug!

Keep on baggin'

[Biff]

Hey Markus, nice work. Remember, slow and steady wins the race. You received some sound advice already. Patience and practice. Before you know it, you be hitting from all sides of the bag, connecting on combinations you never thought you could do. Stick with it.

[Speedbag]

"You can start working on the four front fist punches [ Front Circle Punch, (FCP), Front Straight Punch (FSP) Front Double Punch (FDP) and Front Fist Rolling (F-Roll) ] and the Outward Elbow Strikes."

Here is my attempt at the above minus the Elbow Strikes. This is my last session of the night after about 2 hours of practice between yesterday and today. It's still shaky but I feel like I am gaining a bit more control of the bag.

Around the 2:45 mark I try to do some F-Rolling for the first time ever. That is a lot more difficult than it looks to say the least.

OK, Marchus. After watching this several times I would offer the following:

I notice you kind of rolling your hand (right especially) over hitting the back area of it on the bag. That's OK but I don't recommend it only because there is really no advantage to that hand position and almost every single technique and simple or advanced linking combination is performed with the palm facing the floor, not your face.

2:10 - 2:38 break down.
In this segment my eyes and ears tell me you are doing a couple of things that are very typical for a beginner. First, your fist sometimes reaches out a bit in the swing and catches the bag a bit early in the rebound, causing it to slip off the bag. This may not cause a noticeable chunking swivel sound, but it causes a weak rebound because the punch power was reduced. The bag slows a bit in a "weak rebound" and you must adapt to that change of speed, usually by hitting harder with the next fist.
Second, You are also hitting a bit "late" in a swing occasionally, hitting below the belly of the bag, driving bag a bit upward into the swivel causing the chunk or mis hit sound. When this happens, the bag is actually angled up toward the swivel a bit, and has no other way to react. This also changes the bag speed, (slows it down a bit)

During this segment, I notice your left arm motion, how it "half moons" up and down from shoulder, moving hand in more up/down motion than punching "into the bag". This caused the left hand to miss the bag at 2:26, I notice your hand was a bit too early, moving downward and slid off the front of the bag in a downward direction. Basically you missed the bag. This is a very common beginner issue, particularly after a long segment of basic rhythm punching, and every few swings your arm arc gets bigger and bigger.

Notice at 2:37 your hand slipped off the bottom of bag enough to kill it completely. We call this a true breakdown, for you have to stop the bag, reset and start over. We are all familiar with it, so don't worry!

Both of these problems can create the other over and over. The fix is to set your start position correctly, (all good rhythmic punching starts from the proper base), relax and focus on the correct motion of circling "into the belly of the bag" and back to the start position. The fix is to try to eliminate any extra upper arm motion (shoulder to elbow). Hold those up firmly and try to emphasize the circling motion from the elbow. Even those of us who have been punching awhile will get a bit lazy, drop this basic position and screw up. Giant swings from the shoulder and letting the hands rest at the waist are recipes for speed bag disaster. When you get a bit more experienced you can cheat this position and swing motion, but it is best for learning.

2:40: A few attempts at a Front Double Punch (FDP): Most people try to begin the Front Double Punch as two separate punches done very quickly, and that is what your are doing also. But it is much easier to do this as ONE motion that moves both fists in to the bag, with the secret being the spacing in between them. (Hope that video helps)
If you try to do the FDP as two punches the second will always be late because you won't start the second fist until the first hits, and then the bag will be way too far into the rebound before you start your second fist and hit the bag. You will hit the bag underneath (late in rebound) and most likely kill it.

Try this. learn the setup position for the Front Double Punch (FDP), both first close together in front of your face, with one a bit in front of the other. hit the bag with that lead fist two or three times to get it moving and establish the speed (lightly!) and then move both fists together into the bag. Do not rush the second fist for it will blast under the bag. the lead fist will hit, and the bag will automatically rebound into the second. You will not have to place it or aim it to the bag, but you must not rush this movement or you will miss the bag.

3:26 - 3:41 pretty good continuous fist roll, tempered with a few "weak" miss hits in roll but you kept it going.
Key to Front Fist Rolling (F-Roll) is to keep fists close together and close to your face. Reaching OUT to the bag is not a good way to do this. Roll them over each other close to your face and move in, or lean into the bag. This will close the distance the bag has to travel to the board and you will notice the bag angle away from you as your fists make contact. The bag should NOT be straight up and down when you contact it. This will lead to a late hit. Leaning in "capture the bag" in your V-pocket and helps make the roll faster. Don't worry about your face in this move, for your hands are UP protecting it. But if you drop your hands, the bag will remind you about that last statement. when you stop the fist roll, lean back a bit first.

Good video and keep practicing! This does take some time and some learn faster than others. It is not a race..... If you get a chance, please try to raise the camera up about a foot for your next video (too about shoulder height). It is hard to see the exact level of the bag when the camera is looking upwards, and it makes the bag look a bit too high for you. That may also be causing some swing problems but it is hard to tell with an upward camera angle.