In Australian garage gyms and home training setups, mates train together. One person throws punches, the other holds pads. But here's the problem most training partners ignore: holding pads wrong injures the holder and ruins the hitter's technique.
Walk into any garage gym and you'll see the same scene, one bloke throwing combinations while his mate stands there like a human punching bag, letting the pads fly back into his face, shoulders hunched, elbows flared, grimacing through every round. Three weeks later, the pad holder has tennis elbow and the hitter has developed bad habits because the feedback was inconsistent.
Training is a two-way street. Being a good pad holder is as important as being a good puncher. When you hold pads correctly, you provide resistance, timing feedback, and realistic impact simulation. When you hold them poorly, you create injury risk for both people and waste training time.
Here's how to hold pads like a professional coach, not a passive target.
Brace for Impact
The biggest mistake pad holders make is passively catching punches. You're not a crash mat. You're an active training partner providing resistance and feedback.
The Technique: Meet the Punch
When your partner throws a punch, you need to meet it with slight forward resistance. This means:
1. Lock your core before impact
Brace your abs as if someone's about to punch you in the stomach. This creates a stable platform that absorbs force without letting the pads fly backward. If your core is loose, the impact travels through your arms, into your shoulders, and eventually into your neck—that's how pad holders get injured.
2. Push slightly forward into the punch
As the punch lands, push the pad forward 2-3cm to meet it. This creates resistance that simulates a real target (a heavy bag or an opponent's body). It also prevents the pad from slamming back into your face or chest, which happens when you're passive.
3. Angle the pad correctly
For straight punches (jab, cross), hold the pad perpendicular to the punch trajectory. For hooks, angle the pad slightly inward so the punch lands flush on the surface, not on the edge. Poor angles cause punches to glance off, which teaches bad targeting and can hyperextend the hitter's wrist.
4. Reset immediately
After absorbing the punch, snap the pad back to the ready position. Don't let it hang in space. Quick resets keep the drill tempo high and force the hitter to maintain rhythm and accuracy.
Why This Matters
When you brace and meet the punch, you're teaching your partner to punch through the target, not at it. This builds power transfer, proper extension, and realistic impact feedback. When you passively catch punches, you're teaching them to pull their punches short, a habit that's hard to break and dangerous in sparring.
Thai Pads vs Focus Mitts: Which Should You Hold?
Not all pads serve the same purpose. Choosing the wrong type for your training session wastes time and increases injury risk.
Thai Pads
Design: Large rectangular pads (typically 40cm x 20cm) with forearm straps and handles. Designed to absorb heavy strikes from punches, kicks, knees, and elbows.
Best for: Muay Thai, kickboxing, MMA striking, power development
How to hold them: Use both hands—one gripping the handle, one bracing the back of the pad. For kicks, hold the pad at torso or head height and brace your entire body. For knees, hold the pad at waist height and step into the strike to absorb impact. For punches, hold the pad vertically and meet the punch with forward pressure.
Why they're essential: Thai pads are built for high-impact training. They distribute force across a large surface area, protecting the holder's arms and body from the shock of repeated heavy strikes. If you're training Muay Thai or MMA, Thai pads are non-negotiable focus mitts can't handle kicks or knees.
Explore the Thai Pads collection for options built to handle Australian training intensity.
Focus Mitts (Focus Pads)
Design: Small curved pads (typically 20cm diameter) worn on each hand like a glove. Designed for speed, accuracy, and combination work with punches and elbows only.
Best for: Boxing, punch combinations, speed drills, technical work
How to hold them: Keep your hands up in a guard position, moving the mitts to create targets for specific punches. For a jab, present the lead mitt at shoulder height. For a cross, present the rear mitt slightly higher. For hooks, angle the mitt inward and position it at head or body level. Move the mitts dynamically to simulate defensive movement and create realistic angles.
Why they're ideal for boxing: Focus mitts are lighter and more manoeuvrable than Thai pads, allowing you to run fast-paced combination drills and defensive sequences. They're easier to hold for extended sessions (20+ minutes) because they don't absorb the same impact volume as Thai pads. However, they're not designed for kicks or knees—using them for those strikes will damage the pads and injure the holder.
Check the Focus Pads & Target Pads collection for mitts built for Australian garage gym training.
Which Should You Use?
- Boxing-only training: Focus mitts. Faster, more technical, easier to hold for long sessions
- Muay Thai, kickboxing, MMA: Thai pads. Built for kicks, knees, and heavy strikes
- Mixed training: Own both. Use focus mitts for boxing rounds, Thai pads for kickboxing rounds
How to Avoid Pad Holder's Elbow
Pad holder's elbow (lateral epicondylitis) is the most common injury for training partners. It's caused by repetitive impact stress on the elbow joint, especially when holding technique is poor.
Keep Your Elbows Tucked
Flared elbows (elbows pointing outward) put excessive strain on the lateral epicondyle (the bony bump on the outside of your elbow). When a punch lands and your elbow is flared, the impact force travels directly into that joint.
The fix: Keep your elbows close to your body, pointing downward. This aligns the force through your forearm bones and into your core, bypassing the vulnerable elbow joint. Your arms should form a stable frame, not loose levers.
Relax Your Shoulders
Tense shoulders fatigue quickly and cause the holder to compensate by locking their elbows, which increases joint stress. Relaxed shoulders allow for micro-adjustments that absorb impact more efficiently.
The fix: Drop your shoulders down and back before each round. Breathe normally. If you're holding your breath or shrugging your shoulders up toward your ears, you're too tense. Shake out your arms between rounds to release tension.
Use Appropriate Pads
Cheap pads with inadequate padding transfer more impact force to the holder's arms and joints. Quality pads use multi-layer foam or gel inserts that absorb shock before it reaches your body.
The fix: Invest in pads with proper padding density and forearm protection. If you're feeling every punch in your elbows, your pads aren't doing their job. Replace worn-out pads immediately, compressed foam doesn't protect.
Limit Session Duration
Holding pads for 60+ minutes straight is a fast track to overuse injuries. Even with perfect technique, repetitive impact accumulates.
The fix: Swap roles every 3-5 rounds (9-15 minutes). This gives the holder's joints time to recover and keeps both training partners engaged. If you're training solo with a partner, structure your session so you're alternating between hitting and holding throughout the hour.
Good Pad Holding Elevates the Whole Crew's Training
In Australian garage gyms, training partners are your most valuable asset. When you hold pads properly, you're not just protecting yourself from injury, you're actively improving your partner's technique, power development, and timing.
Good pad holders provide consistent resistance, realistic angles, and immediate feedback. They make every round productive. Poor pad holders turn training into a frustrating, injury-prone waste of time.
Learn the technique. Invest in quality pads. Protect your joints. Elevate your crew.
Explore the Thai Pads and Focus Pads & Target Pads collections for durable options built for Australian training conditions. Pair your pads with quality Boxing Gloves and Hand Wraps to complete your garage gym setup.
Ready to run the drills? Train smarter. Hold better.