Hook

• ›Turn the foot, turn the hip; the hand comes along.
• ›Elbow up, arm locked.
• ›Short and tight: hit with it, don't reach with it.
• ›Palm-down or thumb-up? Coaches differ; land with the big knuckles either way.
• ›Rear hand stays on the cheek.

• ✕Pulling the arm back before throwing. Fix: start from the guard and let the body turn supply the power.
• ✕Opening the arm wide so the hook loops into a swing. Fix: keep the elbow bent near 90 degrees and the steps short.
• ✕Not turning the lead foot. Fix: pivot on the ball of the foot so the hip can turn.
• ✕Dropping the rear hand as you turn. Fix: pin the rear glove to your cheek; your own chin is open on that side.
• ✕Landing with the inside of the glove. Fix: turn the fist so the knuckles land; slapping with the inside of the glove is a foul.

• •After a straight punch has already loaded your lead side (the 1-2-3).
• •Against an opponent who rushes straight in or guards only the front of the face.
• •At close range, when straight punches have no room.
• •To the body when the opponent lifts the elbows to protect the head.

• •Jab-cross-hook: the turn of the cross loads the hook.
• •Jab to the body, then hook to the head.
• •Slip outside a cross, then hook.
• •Roll under their hook and come up with your own.

• •Cross
• •Rear uppercut
• •Second hook to the body (double hook)

• •A straight punch down the middle beats a wide hook, because it travels the shorter path.
• •Rolling under it and coming up with a hook or uppercut.
• •Stepping back and countering as the puncher over-turns.

• •Raise the rear glove to the temple and tuck the chin (the high guard or "telephone" block).
• •Bob and weave under it, moving with the direction of the punch.
• •Step or pull back out of range, then counter.

Switch on Physics and the punch on the diagram is worked out by a physics engine: the arm, the 10 oz glove and the head have their real masses, the glove is padded and the neck gives. We tuned it to a few numbers from the studies below; everything else is the engine's own answer, next to what was measured.

Tuned to: fist speed at contact 11 m/s (Viano et al., Neurosurgery 2005); first movement to contact 477 ms (Piorkowski, Lees & Barton, Sports Biomech 2011).

Thrown with the lead hand (left for orthodox), pivoting on the lead foot. It is what "hook" means on its own, and the classic finishing punch.

Thrown with the rear hand at close range, powered by turning the rear foot and hips as in a cross. The elbow stays bent at about 90 degrees and the fist can be palm-down or thumb-up.

The short hook is thrown tight from close range with a sharply bent elbow: this is the knockout version. A longer hook with a straighter arm reaches further but is slower, easier to see and weaker; Jack Dempsey warned that long steps turn hooks into swings.

Karate's hook punch arcs in from the side, the fist twisting and the elbow opening out, and strikes the target at an angle. It appears in kata such as Bassai and Jion.

Savate's bent-arm hook, thrown with either hand; one of the four punches allowed in competition savate.

Mat wiang san, the "short swinging punch". Early Thai boxing used few punches; hooks, uppercuts and the rest of the Western set came in through cross-training with boxing.

Stand on a line on the floor and throw slow lead hooks, checking that the lead heel turns out and your hips finish facing across the line. Do 50 reps, then add a cross before each hook.

Three rounds on the heavy bag: jab, cross, lead hook, then move off at an angle. Every fourth rep, double the hook: body, then head.

Your partner holds a mitt at jaw height with the pad facing in. Throw lead and rear hooks on the call, then roll under their slow return hook.

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