WARNING: Boxing is a dangerous sport. It can cause harm, serious injury and even death to either you or your opponent. I, Justin Salvato, will not be responsible if you, your training partner or anyone else around you get hurt doing any of the exercises, activities, and/or drills displayed on this website. And if you choose to participate in a sparring session, please do so in a gym under the supervision of a professional trainer.
A focus mitt looks like a catcher's glove and are used in a similar way. A catcher's gloves receives a baseball from a pitcher while a focus mitt receives a fist from a boxer. Focus mitts are sometimes referred to as focus pads, punch mitts, or simply, "the pads."
The purpose of the focus mitts is to fine tune your technique and to provide an excellent cardiovascular work-out. Not only can you work a boxer's offense, but their defense as well.
There are two common methods for holding the focus mitts. In the following video clip, the first method has the holder positioning the mitts at a 90 degree angle. The second method is held at a very wide angle, but be sure that the mitts are NOT held far apart from one another in either method.
As I said earlier, you can use the focus mitts to work a boxer's defense as well. In between throwing punches, the holder should throw some punches back to the boxer, to keep him aware of defense at all times. You can also incorporate this in the combinations. For example, if you hold the mitts for a jab-cross-hook then you throw a hook to the body of the boxer, he then can return a rear upper-cut-hook-cross. See what you can come up with. Experiment. Get creative. The following videos will show how to use the mitts to work a boxer's defense.
