Bad practice?

[swfl]

Is it bad practice to tape a ubolt type of swivel so it can not turn? I am able to maintain much greater speed for much longer than with my new ball type swivel. Both setups are next to each other and I am going back and forth between them. Or...should I just work with the ball swivel and work on fundamentals? I understand the limitations however the momentum is fun.

[fedora]

I would say that is dependent on why you are hitting the bag to begin with. If you are just training for endurance only, then I'd say, why not. But if you are wanting to learn bag control so you can do more than just fast forward punching, then you are probably holding yourself back. It takes a lot of time under the board to get some of the more complex moves down. You can still get a heck of a work out on a ball and hook by going fast and doing the basic triplet combination and you'll be learning control along with it.

fedora

[Speedbag]

Is it bad practice to tape a ubolt type of swivel so it can not turn? I am able to maintain much greater speed for much longer than with my new ball type swivel. Both setups are next to each other and I am going back and forth between them. Or...should I just work with the ball swivel and work on fundamentals? I understand the limitations however the momentum is fun.

I would agree with Fedora, that the answer may depend on why you are hitting the bag, however it is often fun to experiment with equipment. If you want to focus on "speed" and you can go faster with the taped U-bolt, then I don't see any reason not to do it. It would be interesting to see how many punches per minute you could do on that versus a ballhook by using the "speed demon" and that might be an interesting test to make at the next gathering with some of our fastest punchers present.

On the other hand, If you want to learn the more complicated combinations that constantly have punches coming from different sides, you might find the taped U-bolt problematic.... or maybe not. I find it works for that pretty well with my own taped modifications but this does not lock the swivel and limit it to one direction of movement (as your modification states). Mine just locks the bag to the center of the U-bolt which I find makes if more effective for my style of punching.

IMO, I hate to be bored under the board. As long as you are having fun with your training, I would say go for it.