One thing I like to do is separate the fundamentals from the tunes. How many times have you seen two big guys in a bar fight, throwing big bombs that would knock someone's head off, but not landing anything effectively ... throwing hard, but not effectively. One guy throws a punch, but the other is a bit too far away or too far along the punch's arc so the power is depleted or he misses completely; now the other guy throws, but the first guy is too close and the punch gets stuffed or swings back behind his head. You all have seen this scene. Throwing hard punches isn't enough. You need to use footwork to get to the right distance and throw the punch with the right timing, all while the opponent is also moving in some non-predictable manner. If you can do those things, your punches will be effective; if you can't, it doesn't matter if you can hit the heavy bag right off the hinge, because you may not land effectively. The guy who hits the heavy bag harder, is not always the guy who lands punches more effectively against an opponent. Footwork, distance, timing, work those as fundamentals, while you're tuning up your power via the advice above. I think too much focus on "hitting hard" in a vacuum can be counterproductive if you lose sight of the fundamentals, which most beginners will if you don't drill that into their heads. |