Safety is gainful, while an injury is painful. Boxing is a kind of sport where you push your limits to know your potential. You exercise and lead and disciplined life for the sake of the game you love. You try to keep your mind calm as you walk into the ring. You give your all without any second thoughts win or lose the game. You get up again and walk towards the ring. Boxing can give you a rush of adrenaline, but the excitement that follows should not be the reason behind a lack of precaution. You may end up never playing again if you don’t take adequate measures while fighting. Viewers see their favorite boxer fighting like a tiger, but they don’t know what’s underneath those gloves while they pack punches on opponent’s faces. What we fail to see are the hand wraps that cover the hands of the boxer. Some boxers don’t care about this and never learn how to wrap hands for boxing. They regret later when they injure themselves.
Why Do You Need A Hand Wrap?
Precaution is better than cure. We often hear this, but do we put this into use? Hand wraps are used as a precautionary measure to protect the hands of the boxer while punching. The fighter uses it even while he/she is punching a regular punching bag. The hand wrap may look like a petty thing, but it is not. This is why you should know how to wrap hands for boxing. If you wrap it properly around the boxer’s hands, the boxer feels safe to land a punch without having a fear of getting hurt. It protects the fist and knuckles of a fighter from getting injured in a fight. The cloth used for wrapping the hands is called ‘Mexican Wraps.’ It is essential that the boxer feels free to punch without fearing about the injury, as this gives him more confidence and freedom to fight.
How To Wrap Hands For Boxing
Many people don’t know how to wrap hands for boxing. Hand wrapping can get tricky as many people get it wrong. It is important to note that once you are done with your wrap, the hand wrap should become tighter when you make a fist. This may be a little difficult to achieve. However, there is no need to worry, for we bring you the answer to how to wrap hand for boxing.
1. Loop Inside The Thumb
The Mexican wrap has a loop at its start. Hook that loop into your thumb from the back. You must hook the loop from the back of the thumb so that when the wrap is eventually complete, the hand wrap tightens when you make a fist.
2. Protecting The Wrist
Now you need to take the Mexican wrap and roll it over your wrist. It would be best if you did this three times to ensure that wrist is well protected from any sudden shock. Even two times is enough if you have a shorter wrap with you.
3. Protecting Your Hands
Now you need to take the wrap and roll it around your hands, covering your palm and leaving your thumb free. This is done to protect your hands from injury.
4. Making X’s Through Your Fingers
Next, you need to make X’s on the back of your hand. You need to go around one finger at a time while you make these Xs. It would be best if you went around all fingers except for your thumb. This would usually require you to make three thumbs for four fingers. This is done to protect the joints of your fingers, which may be fractured or dislocated in the fight or practice. Those who have no clue about how to wrap hand for boxing should know that this is a pretty important step.
5. Protecting The Thumb
Take the wrap and go around your thumb once such that it goes on the back of your hand. Make a wrap around the bottom of the palm in the same motion. Now, take the cover from the back of your hand through the joint of thumb and index finger and then take it forward and wrap your palms. This way, you lock your thumb and protect it from injury.
6. Protecting Knuckles
Take the wrap and go around the knuckle. It would be best if you wrapped it three times to ensure that the knuckles have been appropriately covered. Knuckles have loose joints, and there are chances that you injure it while giving a punch. It would help if you protected your knuckles.
7. Re-Protecting The Wrist
Now you are done with your wrapping, and you know how to wrap hand for boxing. If there are any more of the wrap left, then you can use it to wrap it around the wrist and to give it some extra layers of protection. You can also do so more X’s to double-check about the safety of your finger joints.
Conclusion
The purpose of wrapping is to protect the loose joints of your hand. Your gloves do the rest of the protection. Coronavirus has taught us all to take necessary precautions of social distancing. However, we can make this precautionary mindset forward and extend it to boxing. If you are a beginner, then it is highly advised that you wrap your hands before starting with the practice. If you don’t wrap your hands properly, you feel specific pain while practicing. Ensure that the hand wrap tightens when you make a fist. If your fingers hurt after some time, then it may be because you have wrapped it too tightly. If your hand feels too much free, then you must have wrapped it too loose. We have provided you with the right technique on how to wrap hand for boxing, but there is no right way to do this. You can do it in other ways as long as you protect the loose joints of your hands. Professional boxers protect their knuckles with extra padding as they deliver their punches with extreme force. If you want to do boxing, then do it the right way. The wrong will probably be a short one.