Where Do You Hang a Punching Bag for Kids?

By Kasim Javed Punchbags

If you’re an avid boxer looking to set up an at-home gym for you and your kids, you’re probably wondering where the best place to put all your equipment is. If your kids are older than 16, then fortunately you can both benefit from using much of the same equipment, but if your kids are younger and just getting interested in the sport, they’ll need their own equipment to train safely.

So what equipment will they need and, once you’ve got it, where’s the best place to hang the punching bags? It can be a tricky question to answer if you’re in a small or rented apartment, but if you’ve got plenty of space, there’s no need to worry. Let’s take a look at what punching bag to get your kids and where to keep it.

Types of Punching Bags

There are several types of punching bags, each helping to develop a different boxing technique. Punching bags include:

Freestanding bags
Heavy hanging bags
Speed bags
Wrecking bags

To develop each of your boxing techniques, it’s best to have one of each, however, this can take up a lot of space in your home. So, if you simply want to incorporate some cardiovascular exercise into your home life and practise your shot accuracy, footwork and heavy punches, heavy bags and freestanding bags are the best options.

Heavy bags and freestanding bags can help to practise a lot of the same skills used in boxing, however, heavy bags tend to be much better for cardio, as well as kicking and practising heavy punches without risking the bag toppling over. But if you can’t add any permanent fixtures to your house because the walls are weak or it’s a rented property, freestanding bags are more beneficial. Hanging bags come in different weights and can be filled with sand, water or more commonly material, but the idea is for the bag to be almost half the body weight of the boxer, so it can still risk pulling down weak ceilings and walls.

Freestanding bags have weights at the bottom to enable heavy shots, but can still get rocked from very heavy punches, so you’ll need a sturdy stand, plenty of space to train in case it falls, and heavy weights to prevent it from falling if you’ve got a hard punch. Hitting the bags won’t make you punch harder, you need to build muscles for that, however, they will enable you to utilise your punching power and practise heavy hits in combinations and with speed and accuracy.

Mixed martial arts fighters also benefit from having grappling dummies to practise certain manoeuvres that aren’t used in boxing. Also filled with material, they’re the size and shape of a person to practise for real fights.

Benefits of Heavy Punching Bags

Each type of bag has a different benefit to the boxing technique, but heavy bags are particularly great for development in boxing, kickboxing and Muay Thai for adults and children alike.

Punching a heavy bag for even 10 minutes each day is a great cardiovascular workout that will help you on your way to a healthy and active lifestyle. The more you work out, the easier it will become and the longer you can go, reaching the NHS target for healthy adults of 75 minutes of vigorous exercise a week, spread over 4 to 5 days.

As well as physical benefits, hitting a heavy bag brings about positive mental health changes too. Heavy bags are designed to replicate hitting a real person to aid with boxing training, so on the days when we’re feeling great anger or pent-up stress, using all our might to hit a heavy bag while thinking about what – or who – is causing us stress can be great mental relief.

Intense exercise is also great for our mental health as it releases dopamine, helping us to feel satisfaction, and when practised regularly, we can see our progress and improvements which give us a very positive outlook. Exercise and boxing, in particular, can be great tools for teaching children discipline, and the importance of resilience.

Are Punching Bags Worth It?

Depending on the materials used, some punching bags can be expensive, leading people to wonder if punching bags are worth the expense and the hype. Well, considering the mental and physical benefits involved in learning to punch powerfully and accurately, they certainly are worth the fuss.

Where to Hang a Kids Punching Bag

For adults, hanging a punching bag is relatively easy; the bag will usually weigh between 30 and 50 kg and measure 120 cm in length, so you’ll want a strong and high place to hang the bag, which is a support beam in your ceiling.

However, this would be much too high for your kids to reach, especially considering kids’ punch bags are usually around 81 cm long. But with hanging any punching bag, you still need to consider whether your walls can take the weight, and how much space you’ll have around the bag for it to swing after being struck.

Fortunately, most kids punching bags weigh around 12 kg and come with wall mounts and hooks, so you can easily attach them to sturdy walls, or have a longer chain hanging from your support beam. If you’re going to hang your bag from a wall mount, you should still consider:

Do you have permission to make changes to your house? E.g. is it a rented property?
Do you have masonry walls to attach it to? E.g. made of brick, stone or concrete
Is there enough space for it to hang permanently?
Is there enough room for the bag to swing without breaking any objects?

The best place to hang your kid’s punching bag is therefore in a garage or basement on a masonry wall to ensure there is sufficient room to train safely and the walls can bear the weight of the bag and the impact of the punches.

Hanging Your Punching Bag Outside

If you have a large garden and don’t want to risk attaching your punching bag to weak walls, you can hang your punching bag from a tree outside. To do this, you’ll need to choose a sturdy branch that can take the weight of the bag without moving too much when struck, as well as being the right height for the bag to hang. Cut away branches and leaves that may be in your way when training, and wrap a secure band around the branch with a carabiner to attach the bag.

The downside of hanging your punching bag outside, however, is that you’ll either have to put the bag in position each time you wish to train or keep it outside in all weather conditions, which will damage the materials and shorten the punching bag’s life. Even if you cover the bag, extreme cold and extreme heat can still cause the outer skin to become brittle and tear more easily than if you keep it inside.

Other Equipment Your Child Needs

Punching bags are a great start if you or your child are getting into boxing, but the most crucial piece of equipment every boxer, amateur or professional needs, is the right boxing gloves. You can choose the right gloves according to your weight, but kids will always need kid’s gloves to sufficiently protect their hands. Similarly, if your child is interested in Muay Thai and boxing, they’ll need different gloves for each.

You can train to a certain extent in both pairs for the opposite sports, however, each glove is designed with the specific moves of its sport in mind, so for the best protection and comfort when training, a Muay Thai fighter should use their own gloves, and a boxer should only use boxing gloves.

A great way to train with your kid at home is by using focus pads. One person wears the pads while the other practises jabs, uppercuts and hooks. Help your child improve their accuracy, speed and footwork by meeting their strikes and giving constructive criticism so each move gets perfected over time.

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