My speed bag beginnings were humble! I started hitting the speed bag on a regular basis in October 2006, and could barely pull off the basic triplet beat. Through hard work, dedication, experimenting, study, and patience, I have been able to come a long way. Over that time, I have learned several things about progressing with speed bag training.

1) It takes consistent practice. Hitting the bag just once a week is not going to get you much progression at all. I think you need to hit at least 3 times a week to learn the rhythms of the bag and pick up the timing.

2) You do NOT have to train for a long time. I have seen dramatic improvement over the course of my time under the platform by spending just 15 to 20 minutes at a time working on my more advanced skills.

3) All the advanced techniques are based of the basic techniques. Hitting quicker and adding strikes usually just branches off a more basic strike but you reduce the number of rebounds off the board.

4) Keep your arms up! At first, keeping your upper arms up, in the correct position, will burn you out! But you can condition yourself to this very quickly by forcing yourself to keep your arms up longer and longer each time, building endurance.

5) Learn from the best! Most of the people I have met that are hitting at gyms with speed bags know very few techniques and many of them have poor form. For me, I immediately purchase Alan Kahn’s Speed Bag Bible DVD. He is the best, and the originator of the established language describing the techniques. Also, Zach Ruffo puts up many short tutorial videos on youtube. Aside from Alan Kahn, Zach is the best on youtube I have seen.

Alan Kahn’s SIite

Zach’s YouTube Page

As always, I am open to questions on training. If you have a question on hitting the speed bag, feel free to send me an email and ask.

Also, stay tuned, because I am soon going to launch a new site dedicated to speed bag training!

-Jedd-

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