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In this article, we’re going to learn about the science behind a devastating hook, and how to improve it.

Quick facts

  • Hooks are thrown with faster hand speed compared to straight shots, but take a longer time to land.
  • Fast and hard hooks rely on a rapid rotation of the hips and core.
  • Strength and speed training can develop these qualities, contributing to harder punches!

Before we start…

Punch power is mostly due to great punching technique… and many people have asked us to breakdown the biomechanics for the most powerful punches. However, if you think about the most powerful boxers over the past 20 years, Julian Jackson, Gennady Golvkin, Deontany Wilder and Mike Tyson, these all have different boxing styles and punching techniques. Plus, they all knocked out their opponents with different punches, different attacks at various stages of the fight, meaning there is no set way to produce the knockout punch. 

This makes assessing the optimal punching technique for punching power out of our remit. However, what we do know that you can have all the physical attributes for a solid punch, but they will become inadequate if there is a deficiency in technique. 

If you have good technique, you can improve your punch power through training the physical contributors to a punch. This is what we will share in this article. 

When executed effectively, the hook is one of the hardest punches that you can throw.

Performed with a bent arm and a rapid rotation of the hips and core, this punch is preferred by many fighters when operating at close range.

Science Behind the Hook

An effective hook shot is thrown well within the mid-range and connects before full elbow extension. We showed you in Science behind Golovkin that this type of action enables a boxer to capitalise on the mechanics of muscle function to create force both during the punch and then on impact.

scientific study published in 2011 by researchers at Liverpool John Moores University demonstrated that both lead hooks and reverse hooks generated much faster peak hand speed than jabs or crosses.

Hand speed is greater during the hook punch due to different kinematics and punch trajectory.  

Jab and cross punches are thrown straight utilising elbow extension, while the hook sweeps round and up. 

Hooks create more rotation from the core, flexion and adduction of the shoulder, plus creating an extended acceleration path – this can create a greater end point speed.

Furthermore, there is a greater counter-movement prior to the hook punch being performed. 

Many boxers often throw the hook with a small dip of the hips and legs before throwing the shot.

This suggests that there is an increased pre-stretch, and rotation from the core during a hook punch, which contributes to faster hand speeds.

Faster Hand Speed but Slower to Perform

It takes 34% longer to land a hook compared to a straight shot.

Due to the prior countermovement and the trajectory it is thrown at, it takes a longer time to land a hook (477 ± 203 ms) than it does to perform a cross or a jab punch (357 ± 178 ms).

0.477s

The average time it takes to land a hook in seconds

This means that although a hook is a useful tool, your opponent has a longer time to react and evade the punch. 

This means that the hook should be used effectively – often within range during combination and counter-punching.

When used appropriately, the faster hand speed and the optimal muscle length to produce force during a hook makes this a truly devastating punch!

Improve Your Hook

Punch power is mostly due to great punching technique… and many people have asked us to breakdown the biomechanics for the most powerful punches. 

However, if you think about the most powerful boxers over the past 20 years; Julian Jackson, Gennady Golvkin, Deontany Wilder and Mike Tyson, they all have different boxing styles and punching techniques. 

This makes assessing the optimal punching technique for punching power out of our remit. However, what we do know that you can have all the physical attributes for a solid punch, but they will become inadequate if there is a deficiency in technique. 

If you have good technique, you can improve your punch power through training the physical contributors to a punch, including lower body and core strength. 

There are many ways to improve lower body force and core strength, most of these are general strength and conditioning exercises that can be applied to any sport. These include squats, deadlifts, and Olympic lifting variations.

However, successful strength and conditioning programs will use these to build foundational strength and speed, then find specific exercises to help transfer force through a sport specific sequence.

Top three exercises for a harder hook

Ice Skaters – Develops the ability to produce lower body force in multiple directions and planes. Develops effective use of the gluteus maximus and glute med, which are important contributors to hip rotation and extension during a hook punch.

Landmine Rotations – Develops core rotation strength and the stretch-shortening properties of the trunk musculature.

Lateral Med Ball Throws – Strength speed exercise that promotes contraction sequencing, and force transfer through the kinetic chain.

Summary

  • Hooks are thrown with faster hand speed but take 34% longer to land compared to straight shots.
  • To improve hook force and speed, develop technique, plus rotational strength and the stretch-shortening cycle of the hips and core.
  • Ice Skaters, Landmine Rotations and Lateral Med Ball Throws are great specific exercises which can develop these qualities.

Want to learn more about developing a harder punch? Our 25-minute punch specific exercise video workshop is now available as part of the Boxing Science online membership. Click here to learn more.