Dumbass question on sparring gloves.

[shinkicker]

Ok here is the thing. I have been doing Muay Thai for about three months now and the class that I attend mainly consists of Pad work drilling punch combination's usually ending up with a roundhouse kick or knee / elbow.

My left hand and wrist is killing me - sometime my right gives me grief too. Now I wrap my knuckles and wrists really well with long 5ft mexican handwraps to make sure they are protected. I have a pair of everlast 14 oz gloves. When I punch I really try to make sure my wrist is straight without hooking the wrist round. I have done quite a lot to make its not my position which is causing the hurt.

Now here is what i think is the problem - the gloves that I have don't allow me to fully clench a tight fist..it seems there is too much padding and my hand is more like a loose fist almost like a hand holding a small chocolate bar. I reackon this is what is causing me grief. I almost feel like I would be better going bare knuckle with some good wraps then or at least use MMA gloves which allow a more clenched fist.

So anyone who boxes on here (and that does not include you lot who post shit on here yet like experts but have never been in a gym before). Could you let me know if I am on to something here...go grab your gloves and tell me how your hand is positioned inside - can you clench a good fist?

[Varth]

Possibly the gloves or you could be wrapping your hand too tight. Lot's of gloves like KO fightgear and Title are American acessible and relatively not that expensive. Get some Twin's 16 oz if you can, they'll last pretty well and are extremely good quality. I usually make a good fist with my gloves.

[lukewall]

What kind of pain is it? Is it sore hands or a sharp pain? If it's just sore hands it might just be your body getting conditioned to the pounding of doing bag/pad work. You've only been at it 3 months. If its a sharp pain, it might be a fracture...get it checked out.

Once you rule out any structural damage to your hands, find someone that has experience wrapping hands and pick their brain on the way they wrap hands. A good wrap job is key to helping prevent injury. Sounds like you're doing the right things though as far as keeping your wrist straight on impact.

Also, i've never kept my hands clenched really tight in the gloves and i've never had any major hand problems.

[Tony Manifold]

You don't want to clench your hand tight in a pair of boxing gloves. First check your wrapping technique, maybe you could wrap in a manner that gives more support. The fit of your gloves could be an issue, some gloves just don't fit me right and don't support me. If none of that works try this:

I basically use the method I found in the Title Boxing "Working a corner" video with Russ Abner. I have a bad right hand because of a previous break, so it needs a lot of support. I wrap my hands focusing on protecting the knuckles and wrist support. I do not take the wrap between my fingers. I rip three pieces of tap and use the tap to seperate my knuckles. Then I wrap once around the hand with the tape. tape an X on the back of the wraps for extra support, then once a around the wrist and once more around the hand. For my left hand I only use tape to seperate my knuckles.


Tape is reasonably cheap and if you use it to firm up the wrap then it lasts a long time.

[Fzubek]

You're still kinda new at it.. your hand is getting used to a new trauma being placed on it, you'd know if it was something more severe.

Once you get past this stage, you'll be done with it. Until you really hurt your hand that is.

[Jeff822]

The first few months after starting kickboxing my hands/wrist had some dull pain in them. After a while it went away.

[Five by Five]

It could also just be the wrist support in your gloves. I don't know much about that model, but i know when i went from using the shitty loaner gloves at my gym to using a decent set i got myself that my wrists loved me for it.

[RuDOWN4It]

It's possibly that you are wrapping around your knuckles too many times, that there's equal amount of padding above your knuckles and in your fist. What I do is fold the handwrap only on top of my knuckles for about 7 or 8 times, but you can change that depending on the length of your handwraps and the size of your hand. And then go over a couple times around your hand to keep the padding in place. That way you only have 4 or 5 rounds of handwrap that will be in your hand when you clinch a fist.

[shinkicker]

wow so much good advice - I am just checking in before leaving for work, but will digest all of your reply s later.

[jkt]

Check your wraps like everyone mentioned and also see if anyone in your gym will allow you to try on their glove. Sometimes a glove just doesn't fit you well. Try on someone else's gloves and see if that alleviates some of your problems.