The science behind Gennady Golovkin – part 2

Gennady Golovkin

Catch up with part one here

THEย undefeated, hard hitting ย Gennady Golovkinย looks set to become boxingโ€™s next pay-per-view star. The unified middleweight worldย champion has risen from humble beginnings in his native Kazakhstan toย world-wide fame thanks to becoming US giants HBOโ€™s headline act.

GGG was always set for stardom following an outstanding amateur career,ย losing just 5 of his 345 competitive bouts. Golovkin has extended his strong reputation in the professional ranks byย knocking out 91% of his opponents.

With one of the highest knockout percentages of the current boxing world champions, everyone is now wonderingย โ€œhow does Golovkin hit so hard?โ€

The second part of โ€˜Science behind Golovkinโ€™, we explain the physical benefits of his amazing footwork, that helpย him move into range and let off those hammering blows.

World-class footwork

A key contributor to Golovkinโ€™s knockout success is hisย effectiveย footwork. He moves effortlesslyย in and out of range, creating angles that his opponents canโ€™t deal with.

GGG findsย his range so easilyย andย rarely throws a long shot. He often lets his shots go when heโ€™s well withinย range of his opponent, meaning heโ€™s able toย maximise the force of each punch.

But why does this allow GGG to put so much force into his punches?

Science behind the mid-range punch

The mid-range punch is the most effective and can be explained by the physiology and mechanics of muscle action.

Theย length-force relationshipย describes how much force aย muscle can produce at different lengths, and thereโ€™s anย optimal length at which force is maximised. Muscle action can be limited if theย the muscle is stretched or at a short length.

What does this mean for my punch?

golovkin-length-tension

If you connect with your opponent at the end range of a punch, you might still have hand speed. However, the muscle action may be limited when you stiffen up on impact (effective mass) due to the elbow locking out. Conversely, muscle activation is also reducedย when youโ€™re letting shots go at short range.

What does this mean?ย If youโ€™e out of range or too close, your punch force will be compromised (see graphic above)

The mid-range punch has the potential to provide you with optimal hand speedย andย muscle action on impact

Due to Golovkin letting his shots go mainly in mid-range, this means the muscle action during a punch will be optimal upon impact โ€“ this occurs mainly in theย upper-limbs and torso.

We understand that working predominantly within mid-range of your opponent is aย difficult skill to master, thatโ€™s why Golovkin is at the top of his game. Therefore, our task from a strength and conditioning perspective is to help our boxers become more effective punchers overย differentย ranges.

How can we improve this?

Lets say we want a harder punch at a longer range.ย One way we can do this is to increase the amount of force generating elements within a muscle-tendon unit but that has implications for making weight. So a great way to improve this is by using a technique calledย Accommodating Resistance Training.

This is where the resistance of an exercise increases with the range of motion encouraging an athlete to apply more force at the top of the lift.ย This can be achieved with bands, chains or partial range lifts, mainly done with squats, deadlifts and upper-body pressing exercises.

See the video below where we have applied accommodating resistance methods on pressing exercises across theย Force-Velocity curve:

Conclusion

  • Inย part 1of this series โ€“ theย Science behind Golovkin, we revealed that โ€˜effective massโ€™ played a big role in his knockout success.
  • In this article, we used GGGโ€™s effective footwork and range-finding skills to demonstrate why his mid-range punches are so devastating
  • With a bit of physiology and mechanics of muscle action we showed you that the mid-range punch is the most effective for producing high-force
  • But it takes a lot of skill to be effective mid-range so improving your ability to produce force across a range of angles is important
  • One of the ways you can improve punch force at your end-range is by using a technique called accommodating resistance training

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