How To Properly Throw Hooks With Gabriel Gonzaga
Everyone loves to see a good hook punch land. It’s satisfying and has a huge effect on your opponent. Another big part of why, especially fighters like to land hook punches is that out of all the punches, hooks have the highest knockdown and knockout rate.
Even if you don’t knock someone out with your hook, you’re still pretty likely to hurt them pretty badly. This is because of the rotational nature of the hook. With a hook you get so much more rotation than pretty much every other punch. This,combined with your body weight, which you can also get into this punch, make the lead hook absolutely devastating.
The problem is that in order to make your hook punches as powerful as possible, there are a lot of little things that you need to do. Newer fighters, especially bigger ones that already have a ton of power tend to overlook the small and necessary details.
That’s why it’s important to know all of the small little things from your stance to the best way to turn your body when you hook to make sure that it’s perfect. But you are going to need to have someone show you how to throw the technique.
That’s why in this video we have one of the best power punchers in the world, Gabriel Gonzaga and his coach show us how to properly throw both lead and rear hooks.
Who Is Gabriel Gonzaga
Gabriel Gonzaga is a Brazilian Boxer, BJJ Black Belt and former UFC fighter who fought in the heavyweight division. Gabriel is a fighter with a ton of knockout power, but you could probably tell that just by looking at him. Gabriel is most well known for scoring a head kick knockout on Mirko Cro Cop, a man who won his fights usually using his own devastating head kick.
How To Properly Throw Lead and Rear Hooks
The video starts off with Gonzaga’s coach talking about the importance of having a proper stance with a strong base. This will allow you to throw hooks with maximum power and make sure that you can return to your stance and keep your balance after throwing the punch.
From there you are now in the proper position to twist your hips to the side, and rotate the corresponding foot with the hand that is throwing the hook. Remember to keep your head on the centerline to help keep your balance.
Some people might be scared to throw their arm past the centreline because of their balance. If you have proper body position and a good stance and hook movement, you don’t need to worry about that and you will be able to return to your stance no problem.
There are also short range, mid range and long range hooks. The main difference between these hooks is the amount of bend in the arm. The farther away your opponent is from you, the less you need to bend your elbow because you need to have a longer arm in order to reach them.
Learn More From Gabriel Gonzaga
If you like this technique breakdown and want to learn more from Gabriel Gonzaga and his coach then you should check out his complete tutorial series “Working The Power Punch by Gabriel Gonzaga” Available exclusively on Dynamic Striking!