jab

[Menjo]

Jab with a purpose, when you want to get in. Always have both arms ready. Practice at home jabing and then following through with some other movements as if you would when you're fighting a real person.

[ItalianMuayThai]

jab, cross. learn that, practice it over and over and over till u can do it in ur sleep. then add something to it like a hook, or what ever you prefer and work on that until u can do that in your sleep. sooner of later it will all come natural to you. Its kind of odd i know how u feel, i was like that when i first started.

[elbows_and_knees]

it's not necessarily jab / cross. He said his problem is that he can't land a punch after his jab. That tells me right off the bat that his problems are either distancing, predictability or angles.

[Menjo]

Thats very true, but if he can execute a jab effiently then the other punch should be second nature.

[Maddwraph]

hey, if your a righty, should you jab wth your left hand? i was told that, but not sure if its true. and what are good ways to make your jabs faster?

[Menjo]

usually your weaker hand you jab with, so right-handed people usually jab with their left....

[elbows_and_knees]

yeah, what menjo said. In thai boxing and boxing, the strong hand is in the rear. However, there are always exceptions to what that is. For example, I am a lefty, but I fight with my right side backward most of the time. Why? My left leg is stronger and faster, so I use it for lead leg kicks. It also gives me a really strong jab - I KOed someone with a jab in my first fight. The power in my hands is equal, so there is no real tradeoff in handspeed / power for me - it's just that my left leg is better for lead leg kicks.

As for making it faster - practice, practice, practice. throw it with speed constantly, for rounds at a time. When I shadowbox, I always dedicate my first round to just working my jab. I do the same with heavybag work. You can also shadowbox with LIGHT - like 1-2lb - dumbells. surgical tubing works well in lieu of dumbells.