How does a persons wrist size affect the power of their punch? My friend has suggested that if you have slight wrists (and lower arm) then there is less energy traveling down your arm to your hands so you will have a weaker punch.

Is this true?

A persons wrist size/thickness doesn't have any bearing how how hard they can punch, however it may well effect how much power their wrists can handle without buckling when striking a surface.
Strength in a punch comes more from your body weight and punching technique rather than the size of you wrist/forearm. After all you only use you fist to make contact and a decent punch will rely on the muscles in your shoulders and hips a lot more than your arms.
I think it's fair to say that someone with slight/weaker wrist will be more prone to injury from punching although correctly wrapping them and using exercises to strengthen will help greatly.

Cheers for that mate - really appreciated!!

A persons wrist size/thickness doesn't have any bearing how how hard they can punch, however it may well effect how much power their wrists can handle without buckling when striking a surface.
Strength in a punch comes more from your body weight and punching technique rather than the size of you wrist/forearm. After all you only use you fist to make contact and a decent punch will rely on the muscles in your shoulders and hips a lot more than your arms.
I think it's fair to say that someone with slight/weaker wrist will be more prone to injury from punching although correctly wrapping them and using exercises to strengthen will help greatly.

Spot on response that.

One of the girls that used to train with us has the tiniest wrists ever... her boss chalenged her to 1 inch punch him....

He spent the next few minutes trying to breath again:hihi:

A persons wrist size/thickness doesn't have any bearing how how hard they can punch, however it may well effect how much power their wrists can handle without buckling when striking a surface.
Strength in a punch comes more from your body weight and punching technique rather than the size of you wrist/forearm. After all you only use you fist to make contact and a decent punch will rely on the muscles in your shoulders and hips a lot more than your arms.
I think it's fair to say that someone with slight/weaker wrist will be more prone to injury from punching although correctly wrapping them and using exercises to strengthen will help greatly.

Add state of mind and I'll go with that.

A persons wrist size/thickness doesn't have any bearing how how hard they can punch, however it may well effect how much power their wrists can handle without buckling when striking a surface.
Strength in a punch comes more from your body weight and punching technique rather than the size of you wrist/forearm. After all you only use you fist to make contact and a decent punch will rely on the muscles in your shoulders and hips a lot more than your arms.
I think it's fair to say that someone with slight/weaker wrist will be more prone to injury from punching although correctly wrapping them and using exercises to strengthen will help greatly.


Thats pretty much on the money for me. I think that when Evander Holyfield was in his prime he only had something like 7½" wrists.