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How to Wrap Your Hands in 10 Easy Steps
How To Wrap Hands for Boxing
A good hand wrap should accomplish two things. First, it should protect a fighter’s hands and give him a sense of security in knowing that he can punch with full force and not hurt his fists. Second, if it is executed properly, a quality hand wrap job should also secure a fighter’s fists in a way that will allow him to punch with full force and not feel it in the bones and joints of his hand. The amount of confidence that a fighter has in his ability to punch, injury-free, is critical. This all starts with a good, basic wrap. (More of a "watch and learn" person? Scroll down to check out the video tutorial.)
- Begin by unrolling your hand wrap to reveal the thumb loop on the end.
- Place it around the base of your thumb and pull the wrap across the back of your hand. You begin by going across the back of your hand so that when you make a fist it "clinches-up" the beginning of the wrap just enough to make it more secure when you make a fist.
- Wrap around your knuckles three times. Be sure to wrap up high enough, roughly just under the first knuckle so that when you make a fist, the punching surface is padded, not just your knuckles.
- Cross over the back of your hand and wrap around your wrist three times.
- Come up and across your palm and loop the wrap halfway around your thumb.
- Go back across your palm again, over that back of your hand and loop the wrap halfway around your thumb from the other direction. This has secured the thumb from both directions.
- Wrap back around your wrist and using your thumb as the "anchor" begin wrapping between each finger, starting between your pinky and ring finger.Keep your thumb fully extended so that the wrap is coming up from the base of your thumb. You're wrapping between each knuckle to help maintain the proper and natural separation that exists between each knuckle. If you mis-hit from the side, this will help maintain the proper cushion and space between the knuckles. It helps prevent them from smashing together if you don't strike the surface of a bag or your opponent directly.
- Once all three spaces between your knuckles and fingers have been wrapped, use your thumb as the anchor one last time and come back up around the outside of your knuckles and wrap them together, again three times. This also helps maintain the proper distance between your knuckles by not allowing them to separate upon impact. The wrap between the knuckles, maintains natural spacing. Following that up with wrap around the knuckles, holds them in their proper place.
- After that, cross over the back of your hand and wrap at least three more times around your wrist.
- If you have a lot more wrap, you can cross back and forth over the back of your hand, making an X pattern. If you can't complete three or more final wraps around your wrist, your wraps might be too small and you should consider getting wraps that allow you full protection. On the other hand, if you have a lot more extraneous wrap, you might consider getting shorter wraps. Too much hand wrap will prevent you from making a good, tight fist. Otherwise, if your ending point is somewhere close, make a fist. Be sure that your wrap is snug-enough to stay in place, but not so tight that it cuts off circulation.
There are many ways and styles of wrapping hands. This approach plays into and protects the anatomical structure of the human hand. It’s designed to protect the 29+ small bones you use to make a fist and hit things with. Hand protection is one of the foundations of your craft. Your hands are your livelihood. Take care of them, so you can take care of business. Want even more hand-wrapping tips and tricks? View the video below! How to Wrap Hands To check out the hand wraps available from TITLE Boxing, click here.