How to Build a Speed Bag Platform

Boxing is an effective way to build muscle and confidence while losing fat. Since the early days of the sport, boxers have trained using two main styles of bag -- the heavy bag and the speed bag. While the heavy bag is designed to mimic an opponent, the speed bag is used to develop and improve hand speed and hand-eye coordination. Building your own speed bag is a simple process and is ideal for use in a basement or garage.

Things You'll Need

  • Reciprocating saw
  • Plywood
  • Sandpaper
  • One, 4-foot-long 2 x 4
  • Drill
  • Bolts
  • Nuts
  • Ratchet handle
  • Sockets
  • Speed bag mount
  • Speed bag
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Instructions

    • 1

      Cut the sheet of plywood into a shape that is circular on one end and square on the other, similar to a filled in letter "U." The piece should be 2 feet wide at its square end, and its sides should each be one foot long before the semi-circle begins.

    • 2

      Sand the edges of the wood to remove any splinters.

    • 3

      Cut two, one-foot lengths of the 2 x 4 board. Fasten them with bolts perpendicularly to the plywood, two inches from either end side, after drilling corresponding holes. Ensure they hang over the square end of the plywood by three inches. If you consider the plywood to be a filled-in letter "U," the 2 x 4 pieces will run along the parallel sides of the "U."

    • 4

      Cut a piece of the 2 x 4 to fit perpendicular between the two one-foot lengths of 2 x 4, and fasten it to the 2 x 4 pieces and plywood with bolts. This piece will serve as a stabilizer.

    • 5

      Drill a hole through the three-inch overhang of the two one-foot lengths of each 2 x 4, and measure and drill corresponding holes in a piece of the wall framing in a garage or unfinished basement.

    • 6

      Fasten the speed bag mount to the frame of the wall using bolts and nuts.

    • 7

      Screw the speed bag mount into the center of the piece of plywood, and loop the speed bag through the metal ring.