How to Wrap Your Hands for Boxing

Hand wraps aren't optional. They're one of the few pieces of protective equipment that actually prevents injury. Skip them, or wrap wrong, and you'll find out fast, usually in the form of a sore wrist after class, or a bruised knuckle.

The good news: once you know how to do it, wrapping takes about 90 seconds per hand.

What hand wraps actually do

Your hand contains 27 small bones. Wraps do three things:

• Compress the hand so the small bones stay aligned under impact. 
• Support the wrist so it doesn't bend backward when a punch lands at an awkward angle. 
• Pad the knuckles slightly, though your gloves also do a lot of that work.

Without wraps, the structural support falls entirely on the glove and the strength of your own tendons. That simply isn’t enough.

What to buy

Standard cotton/elastic wraps, 180 inches long. They’re often called “Mexican-style” wraps, and the elastic provides some stretch. We sell these in the gym at the front desk, and we always have different colors available. 

Other popular brands that our boxers swear by include K.O. Studio and Sting.

A few things to avoid:

Shorter wraps (120 inches or less) don't give you enough length to cover the wrist, knuckles, and between the fingers properly. The only exception to this is for girls and women with small hands. We sell some pairs of these at the gym for our youngest boxers.

Avoid pure cotton wraps without any stretch, as they don't conform to the shape of your hand and can loosen during class. 

Gel “quick wraps” are quick and convenient, but they don't offer the same support as a real wrap. They also can’t be adjusted or molded to your specific needs in case you need more support around the wrist or knuckles. Those are fine as a backup, not as your default.

Buy two pairs so you always have a clean one when the other is in the wash.

The wrap itself

There are many different ways to wrap your hands. Watch our Youtube video to learn the standard way we teach our boxers to wrap their hands.

Common mistakes we see

Wrapping with a closed fist or fingers close together. The wrap feels fine at rest but cuts off circulation the moment you punch. Always wrap with your hand open and fingers spread.

Skipping the finger spacing. Excluding this part leaves your knuckles without proper separation. That makes a solid fist harder to form and increases the chance of a knuckle injury under impact.

Under-wrapping the wrist or the knuckles. Beginners tend to over-focus on one part and neglect another. Wrist AND knuckle injuries can happen in boxing, so don't shortchange one of those parts of your hand.

Wrapping too loose. If there's slack you can feel moving around when you close your fist, it'll shift or fall apart during class. The wrap's job is to hold structure under force, and it can't do that if it's already moving before the force arrives.

Washing them

Wash your wraps regularly. They trap sweat, and by the third or fourth class without a wash, they start to smell. Throw them in a mesh laundry bag to keep them from tangling around everything else. 

Some people like to hang dry them, and others throw them in the dryer. This part is up to you. Just be prepared that if you put them in the dryer with other wraps in the mesh bag, they will get tangled up, and you’ll have to separate them later. No big deal - it’s actually kind of therapeutic to sit, detangle, and re-roll your wraps.

Likewise, if you plan on using your wraps a couple of times before washing, don’t roll them back up when they’re still sweaty. That will just trap in moisture and will make the wraps smell worse faster. Wait until they’re nice and dry, and then roll up the wrap so the thumb loop is on the outside.

When to ask for help

Sometimes even after practicing hand wrapping several times, you’ll still get stuck. Any coach at AWBC can watch you wrap once and correct what's off. Be sure to come in about 10 minutes early in case you need to get assistance (which we’re always happy to provide)!

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