Focus pads, or hook and jab pads, are an essential part of a boxer’s and MMA fighter’s training regime.
They help you improve your technique, including sparring skills, precision, power and speed of the punches. Those are the highlights, focus pads can actually do much more than that.
In the right hands, these focus pads can help you with your defensive movement, compose your fighting stance, and perfect your foot work as well.
Your trainer or coach will teach you combos and different techniques with these focus pads.
Don’t worry if you don’t have a trainer or a coach just yet, you can still make use of them by putting them on a friend’s hands. Although it will not be as effective, you can still get a pretty good workout.
Focus pads are built to absorb the power coming from the hard punches. So it is obvious that you must always get the excellent quality hook and jab pads that resist wear and tear by even with frequent use. Their purpose is to take a beating, protect the wearer and offer improvement in your punching ability.
Choosing Focus Pads
- You will have the option of choosing leather or synthetic leather focus pads.
- There is a difference in price and both types of pads are durable.
- Leather pads, however, can take more punishment over time.
- They are more expensive.
- Leather pads do require more care. You can check our DIY section to learn how you can care for you leather combat gear.
- There are different sizes of pads available online.
- Smaller ones are more suitable for your precision hitting.
- Larger ones are better for punching combinations.
- You need to check what kind of absorption technology is present in pads.
- The foam or other absorption material should be compressed for better wearer protection.
- Focus pads should also have breathable material or moisture wicking fabric for the comfort of the wearer.
Using Focus Pads
These pads provide effective boxing training through which the boxer can practice all kinds of offensive and defensive techniques.
As mentioned above, they are available in multiple sizes so you can get the pair that is suitable for your boxing or MMA training routine.
When the manufacturing material for the hook and jab pads is innovative and high quality, they will be with you for a long while. The padding allows the wearer feel less shock on their hands.
You can hit without worrying about the wearer and focus on the speed and accuracy of your punches.
The main purpose of focus pads is to help you develop combinations for your sparring sessions and fights. Below we have provided some basic to complex combinations that you should definitely practice in your next training session:
- You want to start with simple jabs; Jab-Jab-Jab
- Increase power with every jab once you have done a couple of times.
- Then you can add a cross into the mix; Jab-Right Cross
- In the beginning bring the cross around slowly, then increase speeds after a few tries.
- Next combination; Jab-Jab-Cross-Cross
- You will add a hook into the combination; Jab-Cross-Left Hook
Now come the combinations that are a bit more complex. If you are a beginner you should practice the combinations above for longer before trying the ones below:
- If you are ready, begin with; Jab-Cross-Hook-Cross
- Now uppercuts can be added to the training; Jab-Cross-Left Uppercut-Cross
- Also the right uppercut; Jab-Right Uppercut-hook-cross
- The last one is; Right Cross-Left Hook-Right Cross
You can make the combinations more complex and mix them around after you have mastered the ones mentioned above. It is up to you to challenge yourself and develop combos that will be effective when you enter the ring. Adding feign to your combinations will give your opponent a nice surprise, keep that mind.
To get the best use out of the focus pads is to make sure that your partner understands your stance and challenges you to move more and to offer more rhythm with the right angles. It’s all up to the wearer of the pads. He/she would make the training feel natural so you are free to try different combinations and the punches come naturally and rhythmically to you. You’ll feel more aware and faster after every training.
