Do you need wraps for boxing gloves?

Can you Wear Gloves Without Hand Wraps?

You should never wear boxing gloves without hand wraps. Hand wraps can be compared to a sock in a shoe. You would not wear shoes without socks and if you did you would most likely cause injury to your feet.

The same is true with hand wraps under boxing gloves. Hand wraps provide that extra bit of comfort and support to help reduce the likelihood of injuring your hands while boxing.

So the quick answer is NO, definitely not!

What do Boxing Wraps do?

Boxing wraps are essential. There is no question about that. You want your hand wraps to be durable, protective and comfortable on your hands and wrists.

Putting on hand wraps can definitely seem overly complicated at first and there is such a plethora of different ways that people choose to put their hand wraps on. It can feel like an insurmountable task to know how you should do it.

Further down we will run through one of the many ways to wrap your hands to get you started. Another good way to learn how to wrap your hands could be a video as some people find a visual easier to follow than step-by-step instructions.

You could also choose to get quick wraps if that is more suited to you. These wraps are much easier to put on and will protect your hands in your gloves in the same way.

However, you wrap your hand under your glove just make sure that you do. The support and protection they offer is not something you want to miss out on. They will significantly reduce the risk of abrasion, chafing and scarring on your knuckles.

How to Wrap Your Hands for Boxing?

Knowing how to wrap your hands before you put them in your gloves is important. Here we have a step-by-step guide to help beginners wrap their hands.

1. Pick up your hand wrap with your dominant hand.
2. Take the palm of your non-dominant hand and face it away from you. Spread your finger and put your thumb on the hand wrap to hold it and wrap it around your hand and secure it.
3. Use the cloth to encircle your wrist until it feels tight. This should be after around three wraps. Do make sure though that the cloth around your wrists is not too tight.
4. Wrap your thumb again, then the wrist again and repeat this at a minimum of three more times.
5. Now it is time to wrap your knuckles. Go from right to left across your palm three times. Tightly but not uncomfortably with your fingers spread.
6. Now get the cloth and wrap it around the wrist again.
7. Get the wrap and place it between your middle and ring fingers, across your palm and over the top of your thumb.
8. Next, loop the wrap around your knuckles one more time then finally around your wrist again.
9. Now you can secure your hand wrap in place.

Before Wearing Boxing Gloves – Cleanliness.

The cleanliness of your boxing gloves should be a huge priority. You do not want your gloves to be constantly damp and full of bacteria. So take a look at these tips to help you properly take care of your gloves.

• You should always make sure you have washed and properly dried your hands when you are putting on your gloves, If you do not do this you will end up with a great breeding ground for nasty bacteria. This can be easily voided by simply making sure your hands are completely clean and completely dry. A damp glove with not be pleasant in so many ways.
• You could keep a bottle of hand sanitiser in hand as this id a very efficient way to make sure your hand are clean and by not using too much your hand should not be too wet to put in your gloves.
• Another way to ensure cleanliness before putting on your gloves is your hand wraps. They will create a physical barrier between your hand and the inside of the glove meaning you should get less sweat built up inside.

Can you Hit a Punching Bag with Just Gloves?

Hitting a punching bag is fine to do without hand wraps. Hand wraps help to reduce the exhaustion you feel after a particularly strong punch and protect your thumbs, knuckles and wrists. Warming up with just hand wraps, therefore, is just fine.

Do not however forego the hand wraps and punch a bag with bare fists. You could cause yourself some serious damage to your hands and wrists.

If you do not want to wrap your hand we recommend going nowhere near a punching bag and just shadowboxing in front of a mirror instead. Watch yourself to see how you might improve.

You may have seen some professional boxers train with just hand wraps on, These guys are good and have learnt how to do this without hurting their hands in a way that also toughens their hands up.

If you are trying to improve strength this is not really the way to go about it. For something like that try boxing pads. They are a great addition to your equipment and will ultimately help you with strength and technique.

How to Choose & Use Boxing Wraps?

Choosing boxing wraps might feel overly complicated but we promise to help you figure it out.

Different types of wraps are more suited to different situations.

If you are a boxer with larger hands or you are sparring you should choose longer lengths for your wraps.

If you have a smaller hand or are training alone or shadowboxing,  shorter lengths will be the better option for your hand wraps.

You could also look at elastic hand wraps which are much more stretchy than their reusable cloth counterparts. These are better as they are more flexible and will conform to your hands as you box.

Different Types of Hand Wraps for Boxing?

Type	Pros	Cons
Tape & Gauze	Most protective Lightest option Athletic standard tape and gauze Variable sizes	Take more time to wrap May require a person to assist you Cannot be reused
Reusable Cloth	Reusable Wide variety available Cost efficient Variable sizes	Can’t use velcro fastening if reusing
Elastic bandage ‘Mexican style’	Stretch to conform to your hand shape Do not loosen during a workout Breathable	Some boxers may find it too thick – personal preference

Gel Wraps

Gel wraps are not actually wraps. They are completely different to hand wraps and despite being called ‘gel wraps’ they actually go onto your hand similarly to a glove. They offer good support for knuckles and do not cover your fingers.

Gel wraps are usually used from a place of convenience. They often cost more than double what you would find yourself spending on cloth wraps and many boxers have claimed that the wrist protection of gel wraps compared to that of cloth wraps is not great. It is a good idea to look into them though as they may be the perfect option for you.

What’s Next?

Now that you know how to wrap your hand have a look at choosing your boxing gloves. What size do you need? Do you need training gloves? Do you also need sparring gloves? Make sure to properly read the Sport Maxx blogs so that you can be sure to make the right selection for yourself.

Sport Maxx

At Sport Maxx we think protective gear is hugely important in the world of boxing. Especially hand wraps. They can prevent so many different issues and injuries from occurring. The support that they offer muscles and tendons in the hand means that despite the bones in your hand being small you are less likely to fracture anything.

We have different types of hand wraps so that you can find what suits you the most. We offer more traditional cloth hand wraps and even hand wrap gloves. Whether or not you want to wrap your hand yourself or choose the quicker easier option is up to you both have their strengths.

All our hand wraps come in multiple colours so make sure to choose your wraps and gloves and wear them with pride, whether training, sparring or fighting a professional boxing match.