What are the benefits of speed bag training?
Updated: October 25, 2021
The speed bag is maybe the coolest boxing equipment. If you have ever watched a professional boxer doing speed bag training, it is fantastic how fast they can hit the ball with one hand or both. Not to mention the various tricks and the steady sound it makes.
But the speed punching bag is more than just a “toy” to play with. It is a very beneficial boxing gear to boost the hands’ speed and reaction, which is vital not just in martial arts, but other sports like baseball, volleyball, tennis, table tennis, etc. And this is only one benefit of this simple yet efficient equipment.
Let’s see, what is a speed bag good for.
Hitting the speed bag benefits
1. Improving your hand speed
Swift hands can help you in various ways. Firstly, it is more laborious for your opponent to defend your punches, but it also helps you defend yourself from his attacks.
Besides, the faster your hands, the bigger your punching power is. A quicker hand with the same weight has more impact than a slower one. Therefore, in some cases, if you need to improve your power punches, it is better to improve the punching speed than the size of your guns by putting on more muscle mass. 👊
Finally, your speed bag workout routine teaches you to hit the opponent at a constant power since you have to do the same with the ball. If you check a boxing match, you can see that the competitors do not throw only huge strikes, but mainly small or middle ones most of the time. (Throwing just massive strikes would make them tired quickly, leading to a lack of defense and offense.)
To conclude, this type of punching bag is necessary for speed training.
2. Teaches you to keep your fists up ✊
How can the speed bag improve your defense skills and focus?
The most important thing you have to learn in boxing is the basic boxing guard. It is mainly about keeping your fists high in front of your face. That position is crucial since you can shield your head and start punches from an optimal state without wasting time.
A typical mistake of beginners is that they lower their arms because of the lack of shoulder strength or merely because they “forget” it. This way, they “open” their defense and slow down their punches since time is needed to lift their arms for jabs, straights, or crosses. I know pros lower their weapons, mainly their jab ones, but that is why they are experts. When you regularly work on it, your shoulders get strong, and your mind learns to keep your fists in the proper position.
It also helps a bit to get used to keeping the proper boxing stance and standing for a long time.
3. Improving your hand-eye coordination, timing, and rhythm 👁
This equipment is a fast and small size target, so you must concentrate when you land your punches. Typical boxing speed bag sizes are just from 8×5 to 13×10 inches. Your punches will be more accurate by practicing, and your timing and reflexes will be more precise thanks to better hand-eye coordination.
This way, you can better target one particular area of the opponent, and you will be more effective against a quick, “always-moving-here-and-there” fighter. The improved reaction time helps to hit a point that you want more effectively.
In addition to preventing atrophy, it enhances the brain’s functions across all motor patterns. Plus, as you repeatedly strike the speed bag and return your hand to your face, you build muscle memory that protects your face during a fight.
4. It improves your physique, builds great endurance 🥊
It enhances your fitness in two ways.
What muscles does the speed bag work? You hit the boxing bag with your arms up in a constant motion. This way, it strengthens and tones all parts of your arms and shoulders. Hence, it might be a good solution for those girls and boys who want to improve upper body strength. It may help to get rid of arm fat besides improving arm strength.
Plus, rhythm punching is intensive boxing training with small yet fast moves, increasing your heart rate. Hence, the speed bag for cardio conditioning is an activity that improves your endurance and burns calories. (Particularly doing longer sessions, when you hit the speed ball for at least 30 minutes). It’s an exciting upper body agility training thanks to the circular motion.
5. Injury-free training
Compared to the heavy bag workout, the potential to get an injury is far less. A heavy punching bag has a hard surface. A badly-performed punch or lack of hand protection can lead to serious injuries.
Since this boxing punching bag is light, you will hardly get any injuries as it is filled with air. Maybe your fists will be red here and there, or just a little bruise if you hit it with bare hands, but that’s the worst you can get after advanced speed bag drills. No risk at all.
6. Great home boxing equipment 🏠
A speed bag platform does not cost so much, and you can install it even on a door frame. It does not require so much space since it hangs from the ceiling. The speed bag workout is “compatible” with other exercises like cardio or strength training sessions. Another advantage is that the improved coordination will help to perform better in other sports.
7. Focus & get rid of stress 😡
Besides the physical speed bag training benefits, it benefits to get rid of the daily stress. You can switch your brain off instantly because you will have no time to concentrate on anything else, just the bag.
Finally, there are so many tricks you can discover. There is always a place to boost your speed, footwork, technique, rhythm, intensity, and resistance. You will always find some new skill to perfect.
Speed bagging or hitting the heavy bag – What are they good for?
Using a speed bag helps to improve various striking techniques and fighting skills for martial art. It isn’t about power. The heavy bag training is the opposite. Boxers use it for increasing punching strength. That’s why we should include types of punching bags in a boxing routine. Learn more about the heavy bag benefits.
How to use a speed bag? What’s the correct technique?
If you are a beginner, don’t make a strong fist but open your palms a bit and hit the bag with your fingers. Keep your hands close to the bag for a minimal range of repetitive motion. This way, you can’t beat it with such big energy that makes the bag uncontrollable.
When you strike the bag, imagine you’re making small circles with your fists. Finally, don’t overcomplicate your speed bag drill. Go with the right-right-left-left rhythm and constant speed. But, you can “invent” your own combination to hit it at different angles. You need to practice a lot to improve your speed bag technique, but it’s going to be your favorite activity. Learn more.
Keep in mind that a small-sized speed bag is harder to hit, so get a bigger one at the beginning. Also, you can do shadow boxing to practice and hit it at a steady pace.
Finally, keep the fighting stance, place your weight to the sides and keep your elbows up.
Here is an example speed bag workout video for beginners to improve accuracy.
What’s the difference between the double end bag and the speed bag?
Both of them are for improving hand-eye-coordination, rhythm, reflexes, and speed. However, the double end bag has a more unpredictable movement, and with that harder to target, we need to move around it. Hence, the double end bag major benefits are: developing footwork, improved accuracy, and targeting skills better. Boxers use both.
Should I use hand protection?
I don’t think it’s necessary to wear boxing gloves. Hand wraps will do to avoid bruises on knuckles. However, if you wear gloves, that means additional weight, it assists to develop the muscles (get shredded shoulders).
As you see, the speed bag benefits are numerous. It betters both your brain and body, and it is a fun way to exercise. It should be in a boxing program. Typically, we see fighters developing their speed bag skills, but it has a place in an average person’s life.
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13 Best Speed Bags & Bag Platforms for Home Boxing Gym & Reviews 2021
Heart pumping cardio.
Excellent stress relief.
Perfect practice for hand-eye coordination and muscle mind connection.
If you have not invested in a speed bag and platform you are missing out!
The speedbag is addicting.
Just ask Alan Kahn, creator of the The Speed Bag Bible and so many others who are obsessed with this fun, challenging and dynamic piece of boxing equipment.
I want to give you a brief introduction to the speed bag, how to choose the right size, find the best speed bag, hang the bag, and use the speed bag.
So let’s start with first things first, how to choose the right size speedbag.
What is the Best Size Speed Bag for Beginners?
The rookie should start with a larger and heavier bag. 11” by 18” is a good size to start out. This size will be slower and easier.
Many beginners make the mistake of starting with a bag that is either too small, too light, or too fast. They give up on the speedbag in frustration, because they have not worked up the skill and coordination to handle this type of bag.
You must first learn to walk before you start to run.
If you are new, it may also help if you do not fully inflate the bag. This will make it slower and easier to control, plus you can always inflate it more as your skill improves.
How Incorporating Speedbag Training will Improve Your Boxing and Your Life
- Eye Hand coordination! Speed bagging improves the reflexes, and you will notice this whether you are throwing punches or catching balls with the kids. Arm and shoulder workout – conditions these important punching muscles. Great Cardio workout – speed bagging burns calories and get’s the heart pumping. The speed way is a fun, not boring, way to work in important cardiovascular exercise. Focus and concentration. 360 degree walk around = concentration. Natural and healthy stress reliever. Had a bad day at work? Don’t take it out on your family or drown your misery with a drink. Hit the speed bag for 10 or 20 minutes and get the endorphins flowing, you will feel better in no time. It is FUN, gives you an incentive to get into the gym and workout.
How to Use a Speed Bag?
If you have not used a speed bag before, the actual variety and techniques possible may surprise you.
You can start by picking up a hard copy of The Speed Bag Bible, or invest in the DVD and open up a whole new world.
The techniques in the book and DVD are thoroughly demonstrated and explained in a way that makes even complicated combos easy to assimilate.
I guarantee this book and DVD will teach you techniques and combos you did not know. You won’t be disappointed.
How High Should a Speed Bag be Hung?
This is a common question and the answer is pretty simple, provided you have a bag and platform picked out already.
First…
There are adjustable and fixed platforms available. This advice works for either, but obviously, there is more leeway when you hang an adjustable platform.
It is simple
When you hand the platform, the height should be high enough so the fat part of the bag, or the belly, hangs at mouth level.
How Can I Make My Speed Bag Platform Quiet?
My platform is disturbing the neighbors!
Noise is a common concern for speed baggers. If you do not have the luxury to hang the bag in your garage or some other isolated location, you might be looking for a way to silence the bag.
A few things you can do to lower the volume or your setup.
- Sandbags or weights (I have eve seen bricks used) on top of the platform to dampen the board and prevent movement. Switch up the swivel. The swivel is often a big source of noise so if you hear metal on metal you might try to change the swivel or add some strategically placed duct tape to dampen noise. Some duct tape on the eye bolt shank may help.
Keep in mind, two piece or ball bearing swivels tend to make more noise.
- Mount the bag on an outer wall, or a wall that is not shared with another room or apartment. This will reduce noise transmission and bug neighbors less. Use a smaller or lighter bag. These are more challenging, of course, but they make less noise when they hit the board. Add an additional board to add more heft and reduce vibration.
You Already Know that Size Matters, but what About the Shape?
Does the shape of the speed bag affect speed, performance or make it easier to use?
There is really only one true speedbag shape, the teardrop.
Some may call it a “banana” shape, but this shape is actually just a narrower teardrop. The bag may be longer, have a longer neck, fatter or thinner belly, but the shape is a teardrop.
And yes, shape does matter.
A narrower bag is harder to hit and usually the realm of more experienced speed baggers.
Fat bellied bags are better for beginners as they provide a larger target to hit.
Length matters too
The longer the bag the farter out on the platform hits.
In fact, if your platform has a smaller diameter, the belly of a longer bag may hit the edge throwing off the rebound, so be sure the bag fits the platform.
Weight is always an issue
Lighter bags are usually faster and feel like hitting air. Some people are really turned off by bags that are too light.
On the other end of the spectrum are bags that are so heavy they are sluggish and slow, and make combos hard to impossible to perform.
So now that we know a little more about the humble speed bag, let’s take a look at 9 of the best speed bags and 4 or the most popular speed bag platforms.
TOP 9 Best Speed Bags for 2021
TITLE Boxing Platinum Atomic Speed Bag
Review: This popular speed bag by Title Boxing is named the atomic bag because of its reputation for speed.
It is made from synthetic material with superior rebound, and is available in different sizes.
Its biggest claim to fame is the speed. It is a lightning fast bag, probably not for rookies.
- Very fast. Super light weight, no vibration on the board. Smooth surface, no exposed seams or labels to get in the way, can hit bare fisted.
Takeaway
One of the best quality speed bags for the advanced boxer.
Speed bag что это
ANNOUNCEMENT
You have reached the premier online resource for speed bag information. This site is solely dedicated to understanding and using the speed bag.
The Speed Bag, also known as Speed Ball, is a well known piece of fitness equipment and usually associated with boxing. However, the unique aspects of its design, sound and use can far surpass its boxing or martial arts benefits. And what athlete doesn’t need Increased eye-hand coordination or faster reactions to a moving target?
The speed bags simple design makes it a perfect choice for the home fitness environment and the rhythmic cadence of its beat allows for a most creative workout experience.
MISSION
Our mission is to present basic, yet comprehensive training information about the speed bag, including issues of equipment, how it works, and ways to create individual workouts to target your own personal benefits. Whether you are a speed bag beginner, or an experienced practitioner, and just want to learn more and increase your skills, Speedbagcentral is dedicated to helping you reach your goals.
THIS IS NOT YOUR FATHERS SPEED BAG!
Within our pages you will see and hear the speed bag as you have never imagined. You will experience imaginative ways to join the bag with other exercise equipment, and use the hypnotic cadence of its beat to express yourself through its creative rhythms – as though you had a personal hanging drum. Be prepared… for ” Bible Style Bagging ”
Introduction
The speed bag has been around for a long time. In hands of a skilled practitioner the speed bag can be an amazing display of controlled power and speed. You can mix fists and elbows together in a non-stop attack from all directions. The awesome sound and fury of the rhythm can be hypnotic, and that is what keeps people coming back. But before you reach that level it helps to understand how the speed bag works. This website was designed to help you understand the equipment and how it works.. and we suggest you read the “Speed Bag Basics” pages in the order Listed, for each one advances the topic and skills a little further.
BENEFITS OF SPEED BAG TRAINING
Why should you use a speed bag? If you play any sport that requires you to put your hands rapidly at a point in space to hit, catch, or block a moving object, (such as a moving ball, fist or foot…), you can benefit from regular speed bag training. These actions often require quick and accurate reactions with split second timing. These actions often require quick and accurate reactions with split second timing. The speed bag will fine tune your reaction time, which translates to all sports. It will also help you learn to keep your hands up in the “ready” position. Affected sports include the “Big 4” of Basketball, Football (American), Baseball and Volleyball. Others include Handball, Softball, Lacross, all racquet sports (tennis, racquetball, ping-pong). Simply put, If you “get in the game”- speed bag training can help you play better.
* Eye-Hand & Foot coordination. Targeting the bag for single or repetitive contact, with one or both hands, and to do this continuously at the right time. You can do this standing fairly still facing the bag or moving around with basic footwork.
* Rhythm and Timing. Maintain constant and continuously flowing hand and arm movements with equal force and speed. Footwork around the bag can also be added.
* Hand Speed and Punching Power. Required to keep the bag going at a constant rate of speed. Also requires using equal punching force. As your hand speed increases, so does the power of your punching. Increasing repetitive hand speed also helps eliminate wasted motions.
* Fitness Benefits. Striking actions require the user to hold the arms and hands up for extended periods of time, building shoulder & arm strength and endurance. This in turn helps to shape, tone and define the muscles involved. Punching repetitively for a length of time, such as 3 minutes can have cardiovascular benefits, taxing the heart and lungs, and often leave you winded. With practice, you can extend this to 15 minutes or longer, helping to increase aerobic capacity.
* Rhythmic Expression. Like a “hanging drum” It allows the user a vast amount of creative capability. With a little practice, you can develop all kinds of different rhythms, allowing for a great deal of self-expression.
* Low injury potential. Speed Bag training has very low potential for serious injury.
* Home economy. Speed bag equipment can be inexpensive and adapts easily to the home environment. It can also be mixed with other home fitness activities.
* Adaptable. Speed bag equipment adapts to people of all sizes, shapes, gender and levels of ability or disability. Anyone can use it.
TECHNIQUES and COMBINATIONS
In the Fury of fist and bag movements it is often very difficult to tell the difference between “techniques” and “combinations”. The key to all of this is the number of parts used (fist and elbows) and the number of rebounds that occur.
A technique is an independent striking skill that can be made in one smooth motion. Since we have two fists and two elbows, a single technique may include up to all four parts in the motion. There are techniques that use one fist, both fists, a fist and an elbow, both fists and one elbow, or both fists and both elbows. Within a technique, the bag will only rebound once between the connecting parts
Depending on the Technique used, the fists and elbows can contact the bag I several areas. Below are shown the areas of contact
FIST Contacts areas
Elbow Contacts areas
Any time two or more rebounds occur before the bag is hit again, it is a combination. Combinations are made by hitting the bag repetitively with different techniques. Many people just punch the speed bag from the front which requires an odd number of rebounds, usually three (3). The bag bounces first away from you, with the second bounce by your forehead and the third bouce again is away from you. Then you will hit it again, just after the third rebound. This gives a very distinct sound called the triplet rhythm. (it is important to note the “odd” rebounds, 1 & 3 in this example, are away from your face.) When you do this with single fists only, you are actually doing a combination of single fist punching techniques with three rebounds in-between.
But techniques and combinations can occur from all areas around the bag. The more skill you have, the more areas you can use. The accent patterns of the bag sounds and number of rebounds required will change as your hands move around the bag. The next few pages will cover that – but here it is important to understand the difference between an individual technique, and how techniques flow together to create combinations.
Below is a sample combination of two single punching techniques from the front and back areas of the bag: The techniques are the Front Circle Punch (FCP) – to- Reverse Single Punch (RSP). This combination requires an even number of rebounds i-nbetween the punches, and creates a sound call the “Double Bounce Rhythm”
Below is a Left Side Double Punch (SDP) to Right Side Double Punch combination:
This combination is a fairly advanced, for certain fists within the technique hit the bag from different sides, (the front and the side area). This Combination also occurs within the double bounce rhythm.
Speed Bag Swivels
This page will offer indepth discussions of the various Speed Bag Swivels.
The SWIVEL is a key component of the speed bag setup and a science unto itself. It is also the subject of much interest and debate in the speed bag world, with many people having “their” favorite for one reason or the other.
There are basically three types of swivels, The Ball-Hook, The Chainlink and the U-Bar style. Each is presented below in detail:
Ball Hook Swivels
Ballhooks come in two basic designs (1) two pieced housing and (2) one piece housing. The main reason for this is because years ago, the main swivel manufacturers made both ballhook swivels and chainlink swivels. They used the same housing design that attached to the board and a bottom part for bag attachment, either ballhook or chain link, could would screw into that housing. The attachment part was the same size for both styles and you could simply screw in your bag attachment part to the housing attached to the board. that way, a boxer could unscrew the ball hook attachment and just screw in a bag attached with a chain link. As we will see below, chain links were much harder to change bags.
The two “main” pieces that you will probably deal with:
A: Swivel Base. The this part
attaches to the board.
B: the Bottom part. the top Housing attaches to the board base and the bottom hook attaches to the bag. But this actually has 5 separate parts. They are normally assembled when you purchase the swivel. If you are lucky, you will never see most of them.
All the bottom parts are shown and numbered below
1. “S” Hook
2. Eyebolt shaft
3. Ball
4. Ballhousing and threads.
5. Set Screw (inside Ball)
6. 3mm metrick allen wrench (the size of mm metric set screw and “
wrench needed may vary.)
The only reason you should see these parts is IF you are punching and the set screw comes loose and the eyebolt flies out of the ball during the workout. Then you will need the allen wrench #6 to fix it.
HOOK size and shapes have varied over the years. Several are shown below. 1. Standard “S” hook
2. Flat, wider “S” hook
3. Open end wide “S” hook
Hook Size and shape mostly affects how easy your bag fits on it, and stays on it. Today’s bags seem to have thicker and wider leather loop attachment straps and they are very difficult to get onto and “S” with a small opening. And if you can get it on, good luck getting it off. Years ago “S” hooks would have an off-set curve to all for that, but they seemed to have vanished.
Below are some helpful pictures of issues with ballhook swivels.
S = Bag Strap
T = Tape (duct tape
Shown at right are two bags on a metal ballhooks 1&2.
On the left is a standard “S” shape hook (#1 above). The yellow bag has a short, thick, wide leather loop that has to be forced through the small “S” opening and you see that the strap is too wide for the S. This will fly off very easily if mis-hit from underneath. The red bag on the right has a longer leather loop, but is the same width as the yellow bag, and is on the #2 “S” hook with a slighter wider bottom.
On the right you can see grey duct tape has been wrapped around the leather bag loop to pinch it tighter, and also wrapped around the hook opening to secure the bag on the hook. finally, at the top, a few strands of duct tape have been wrapped around the eyeshaft bolt to deaden the chanking sound and help reduce wear on the metal.
The Plastic Ballhook
This swivel comes already put together as a single unit, but has several parts of plastic and metal.
A. Base – Plastic. attaches to board
1. “S” hook – metal
2. eyebolt shank – metal with threads
3. Plastic ball with threads.
This swivel actually performs very well with one predictable exception: The Eyebolt almost always gets knocked out of the plastic ball. We have received many reports of this happening. fortunately there is a known fix for this problem. Unscrew the eyebolt shank (preferably before you strip it by knocking it out….) and apply some type of superglue that holds plastic and steel. Loctite is shown in this example, but any superglue will do.
picture of ballhook with glue and stuff
To do this, apply the glue into the hole of the plastic ball, then all over the threads on the eyeshank (#2). Then insert the eyeshank into the hole and screw it back in as far as you can.
** You MUST hold the ball inside the housing as shown in this bottom picture when you screw the eyeshank back in.
If you screw the shank in the ball outside of the housing, you will not be able to get the ball inside, for the hook will not pass through the hole. Allow it to set for at least 24 hours
This model ballhook swivel is not recommended. The soft metal housing for the ball often bends from repeated contact and widens, letting the ball fall out. Then it is useless.
IF you have one of these, keep reading.
In a short time you will probably need another swivel.
(VERY CHEAP BALLHOOK soft housing)
Many of the new bags today have larger bag attachment loops that are wider and thicker than in the past, making them very difficult (if not impossible) to get on a swivel, especially a ball hook with a small opening in the “S” attachment. This is because the thinner attachment loops were a main point of wear and ripped. The only way to get some of these larger, thick bag loops on a swivel is often to use pliers an crimp the loop end together to get it to fit, and if you do that ….good luck on getting it off.
Speedbagcentral is aware of of several individuals working on very high quality Ball-Hook swivel designs and prototypes we have seen and used are very encouraging. We are especially happy about this because the Ballhook swivel is the purest form of swivel and offers the purest rebound. Nothing in it is basic design or construction can interfere with the rebound action of bag. The bag goes exactly where you send it, with slight diversion in angle due to the swivel itself. Nothing is more frustrating than to have the swivel design or mechanics send the bag slightly off course!! We are hopeful that these will soon be available to the speed bag public, at least on a limited special order basis, in the near future!
CHAIN LINK SWIVELS
A long time standard in boxing, The chain link swivel is a favorite of many gyms and healthclubs. They are fast, quiet, and often difficult to deal with, for the locking pin that holds it together can be a pain without the right set of pliers.
Like that Ballhook, there are several different sizes of chain link swivels. Below is an older standard size link swivel.
Chainlink Swivel Parts
1: Base: attaches to Board
2: Swivel Housing (ball bearings inside not shown)
3. Bag attachment link
4. Open link end
5: link locking clip
6: Retaining Ring Pliers or snap ring pliers (recommended)
Link Bag Attachment.
Below you see how to attach the bag to the chain link. Notice the Red Bag loop is almost wider than the link. You have to squeeze this loop to fit #4 retaining link and attach #5 locking clip.
The picture below demonstrates how the locking clip can be spread with the retaining ring pliers. This device is not mandatory but it will probably save your fingers from being cut, jammed or stuck with a knife or screw driver.
It will also save the clip from being bent or ruined. IF the locking clip is bent, broken or lost, you CAN use duct tape to wrap around the links. See the section on this below.
This picture shows all the chain link parts put together.
notice the locking clip (#5) is facing downards. You will also notice that this Everlast 4200 9×6 bag strap is narrow and fits on the link nicely. That was an older model bag. More modern bags of the the last 5-6 years may not fit on these narrow links.
If the retaining lock clip used on the side of the Chain link gets bent or broken you can still use the swivel by using a thin strip of athletic tape or duct tape to wrap around the two bag attachment links and hold them tightly place – As shown in the picture below. Be sure the tape is thin enough so it does NOT come down over the bags leather attachment loop or stick to the metal housing above the link.
This should not interfere with the movements of the Bag or Swivel because it’s just holding the links together.
The same problem of thick or wide bag attachment loops can also effect a chain link style swivel, particularly the older model swivels with smaller link attachment as shown above. We have seen bag loops that have extended to about 1/8 inch past the link end, requiring extensive crimping with pliers to squeeze it the loop into the space and get the other side link on. This does not happen very often but be aware that some bags and chain link swivels will require this adjustment.
U-BAR SWIVELS
Swivels with a “U-bar” bag attachment have actually been around a long time, but fell out of favor for a number of years. However various types of U-bar swivels are clearly seen in speed bag photos of the 1940s and 1950s. They come in several styles and variations – mostly with the size and shape of the “U” bag attachment as well as the design of the locking pin. They are very easy to manipulate and use.
The Speed Swivel Parts
1: Base housing and ball bearings
2: Locking pin
3: Bag attachment U-Bolt
The fit together very easily. They are normally fast and efficient depending on the construction, which can vary widely by supplier.
This picture shows all the parts put together. Some swivel models have a cotter pin on the locking pin (#2), and some have a longer, more narrow U-Bolt
U-Bar parts
Some styles of U-Bar swivels come in two sections, like chain links and ball hooks, where the lower house portion unscrews from the base. Also, notice the cotter pin that secures the “U” on the shaft. Be sure to have a pair of pliers to pull it out.
2 piece U-bar housing
Problems with the U-Bolt design.
Every swivel style has its own design flaws, and this swivel is no exception. Pictures A & B show the bag sliding along the bar. This will happen occasionally as the swivel spins and you makes contact with the bar aligned toward you. That means you hit the bag while the cotter pin if facing you, not the open “U”. Sometimes when contact is made in this alignment, the bag will slide along the bar, as seen in picture A & B. Another problem we find is that sometimes the bag tends to “float up” off the bar, as seen in picture C
All three of these situations can alter the bag rebound, change your rhythm and contribute to a mis-hit and possible breakdown in your punching.
The fix for the above problems is the same fix for most other swivel problems. Duct Tape.
A few thin strands of regular Duct tape (# 4) is wrapped around the bag loop to squeeze the loop together and hold it to the bar. You can also run a few figure eight strands of tape around the ends of the bag loop and bar, actually taping it directly to the bar, but you must be sure the bag is centered on the bar. If it is not centered, It will have a warped rebound pattern.
As mentioned before, Not all U-bolts are created equal. Some have a short, wide U bag attachment and some have a longer narrow attachment. As shown at right. Notice how the longer U makes for a longer swivel, and this will drop the bag lower under the board, lengthening the rebound arc of the bag, making it a bit slower. A shorter rebound arc usually results in faster bag action.
It is also important to realize that the width of the bag attachment loop and the U bar of the swivel may interfer with each other.
Notice below the comparison of the Bag attachment loop to several U bars. Notice in the inset, the Blue line over bag strap indicating its width. That same line (copy & pasted) is placed in pink over the narrow U-bar to show that this bag strap is too wide to fit inside the U-bar easily. This can happen with various bags that have wide attachment loops.
Below you see the end result of the bag attachment loop and narrow U bar. Of course you can try to cram the bag loop down into the bottom of the narrow slot but it will not interact correctly and will adversely effect the action of the bag.
The bag shown in this sample is a common model of Cleto Reyes. They are excellent speed bags of very high quality, with great rebound action.
This problem occurs with ALL brands of speed bags when using a narrow “U”. Again, many modern bags seem to have thicker, wider bag attachment loops than in days gone by.
The purpose of this is to show you a possible problem with of the narrow
U-bar swivel. Speedbagcentral does not recommend the narrow U-bolt model swivel because of this potential problem. In the modern era of online sales and mail ordering of speed bags. You run the risk of this happening.
CUSTOM MADE SWIVELS
There has always been that individual with the desire and technical design and fabrication talent to make their own speed bag equipment and that is certainly true for Speed Bag Swivels. Over the past few years Speedbagcentral has encountered various speed bag enthusiasts the have undertaken the challenge to design and build their own version of a speed bag swivel, most often the Ball Hook due to its purity of rebound. For the more comprehensive “Bible Style Bagging”, hitting non-stop from all around the speed bag it has always been the number one choice.
Basically it is comprise of a housing to hold the ball, a round ball with some type of attachment to hold the bag. Most all of the home made versions we have used were of high quality and functioned spectacularly well. Early models, (no longer available) were made almost entirely of metals. Todays versions utilize a variety of high tech methods and materials.
The only drawback to Custom made swivels is there long standing availability. To date No custom maker has yet found a reliable way to move their high quality design to mass production. With each swivel made by hand, their long availability has never been assured and most models have only been available for a short time, like 2 to 3 years, until the individual maker could no longer continue production for whatever reasons.
All of the current models listed below are designed and made by people who are themselves highly skilled speed baggers. The staff at Speedbagcentral personally knows the creators and have used their swivels. Each product is highly recommended, being fast and offering a deadly accurate rebound. They are also very high quality, able to withstand the most rigorous of workouts. We suggest that IF you prefer a ball hook swivel, and you chose a custom model … Purchase as many as you can while they are available.
( And NO, we don’t get commissions from sale links off this site.)
The Thrasher House
and while you’re there, check out his cool videos of Punch Drumming!
Also available via Thrasherhouse on Instagram.
1/25/2021 As of right now the ARC is not available we have no idea when it will be in production again.
The ARC Swivel
The ARC has been called “A Swivel within a Swivel” for it’s design of having a ball-bearing housing within the main housing.
Current models of the ARC Swivel
The unique factor of this swivel is the triangular attachment system for the speed bag. which to our testing fits all thickness of bag loops, and the fact that the non-steel parts are 3D Printed.
Triangular Bag Attachment
1/25/2021 As of right now the ARC is not available.