I was working out on my heavybag.. all warmed up already and one moment i threw a left hook palm facing my body and at the moment it connected with a bag i felt sharp pain.. it hurt me a little but i continued working out.. pain was miled but it did hurt me a bit when twisting my wrist from palm down to palm up.. pain is in the bottom part of wrist the pinky side... now 24hrs later the pain got a bit more intense.. I`m icying it and got it wrapped in a elastic bandage.. no swelling and bruising.. could it be fracture or sprain? i broke this wrist once 8 years ago also had no swelling or brusing but it was broken... and about 6 weeks ago i sprained it but it was fully healed already plus it was a sprain in the thumb side of my wrist.. i`m so annoyed by my left hand.. keep injuring it.. i`m starting to believe its my gloves.. they are too loose inside.. when i don`t use them i never hurt my wrists once i have them on my hooks don`t land correctly on my bag..

Go to a doctor and let them have a look at it straight away.

Palm facing the body? That is not a "hook" technically. Have you ever had any coaching re how to punch e.g. boxing training, kickboxing, Muay Thai etc....?

hm i think i got the same problem when i started boxing.

I was hitting the bad and I really hurt my wrist but I kept punching it, making it worse. I couldn't do anything with my right hand after that, it hurt too much. I couldn't even do a push up on it. it took around 3 weeks for it to acutally get better.

Go easy on the heavy bags, it takes a while for you to get use to the high impacts. You might want to look into buying a wrist splint. "no pain, no pain"

Yeah i was throwing a hook with my palm facing my body... some boxers throw it that way.. either palm down on falm facing their body... I've been throwing it like that for a while but i realized that the higher i have to throw that type of hook the more twisted my wrist is.. and i hurt it last time throwing a high hook.. Its been over 5 days now.. pain is still there.. I can`t twist my wrist, i either tore some ligament or broke some small bone.. I`m going to the doctor this week.. i just hope its nothing that would require a surgery... I did the same thing to my right hand over 10 years ago... same way same pain, 10 years after it still hurts when i do heavy bicept curls...

once i`m healed i`m done with throwing hooks that way.. i`m going to have to start throwing it palm down..

Boxers do punch with the palm facing the body. But most of the time this is bad form:

i) When punching the bag, hook with palm facing down allows the puncher to view their wrist alignment, and it is easy to see any deviation in the wrist caused by hitting the bag. This can then be duly correct. Punching palm toward the body does not offer such a view of the wrist.

ii) Punching palm toward body is plain dangerous in a bout when done in a hooking manner. It presents dangers to both boxers. To the puncher, there is a risk of hitting the target with the inside of the glove, and possible damage to the lower finger joints and wrist. There is little to no protection in a boxing glove around the palm. While palm faces the body once punch is complete, if the punch is interrupted (say by the target weaving), there is a chance of impact with the inside of the glove. This is an illegal technique too. To the target, there is a greater chance of thumbing occurring, i.e. thumb of the glove goes into the eye. Very painful. And illegal. All of these factors are almost totally negated by proper hook, palm facing down.

iii) From the guard position, there is practically no rotation of the hand with a hooking punch palm facing the body, as the palms already face the body in the guard position. Lack of rotation is detrimental to the power generated in a hook, which, after all, is the archetypical power punch.

Going to see you doctor is a good idea. Palm down, from now on as well is also a good idea!!! Hope you get sorted ok.

thanks for all of this information.. I got an appointment to see and orthopedic md on thursday morning.. I hope its a sprain but its been 5 days and i`m experiencing the same pain.. hurts a lot when i`m trying to twist my wrist to the hook position.. man i messed up..

Inappropriate technique like PW said.

Good luck and hope you recover fast. Next time, ask for advice before practicing something. You don't want to end up hurting yourself, aye?

Palm down. Palm down.

-Taison out Palm down

I`m just wondering why is there so many pro boxers throwing hooks like that? tito was one of them.. to me it always felt like they are more powerful and faster rather then palm down.. and also my palm down hook would never land corectly on the bag. I just felt like it was more of a push then a punch.. I`ve been working out on the heavy bag for years and i remember that when i started of i used to throw it palm down but with time it started move palm facing me.. i also see some boxers throw it 45 degrees angle.. especialy when it comes to short hooks... kind of in between palm down palm facing your own body.. I also have some boxing training dvds , some with freddy roach and i always see them throw hooks palm to the body not palm down.. but i guess it depends on a person.. i realized i cant do that cause i get hurt, i have to start doing it palm down.. but first i have to recover.. seeing doctor tomorrow.. i was reading stuff online and it looks like it could be The triangular fibrocartilage complex (TFCC) injury..

Hooks to the lower body still need rotation to generate decent power. In amateur boxing, the AIBA use to recommend that judges did not score punches to the ribs, as they usually weren’t “power punches” i.e. punches that made any impact. Thankfully they have seen the light since then, but the perception that hooking punches to the lower body were ineffective came about from boxers trying to hook to the body palm to body.

As the punch is below shoulder level, and rotation is still needed, what you get is a hook-cum-uppercut. The first rotates about 270 degrees to land a solid punch in the lower boy. Boxers to tend to throw most of their shots like this believe me. What you see on TV is a big big glove covering a hand, obscuring the trajectory of said hand. You still need rotation to deliver strong shot to the body.

As the rotation is harder to accomplish from a hook to the body, boxers sometimes go palm to body. See my last post re safety. Not much chance to thumbing someone in the eye if you throw a palm to body hook to the ribs, is there? As I said, it is still a bad/lazy habit some boxers have.

Tito was a force of nature, a man who fought with relentless passion and aggression. Such qualities do not lend themselves to proper, precise controlled technique. You are looking at a man who, although a great fighter with solid boxing skills, was also dropped 4 times in world title fights due to his passion and aggression and disregard for the finer points of the noble art.

Sounds nasty, hope your wrist is ok.

You have only one legitimate reason to throw a hook with your palm facing your body instead of facing down: if you get into a ‘real’ fight (street fight without the benefit of wearing hand wraps at that time), and might end up hitting someone with your last two fingers with a palm–down hook.