My 9 year old started boxing regularly for the past couple of months, she goes twice a week for a couple hour sessions. Her right hand hits wicked hard and she has been experiencing pain sometimes from the force of the blow. She doesn't have any problems using her hand for any other punch but when her straight right or overhand right connect with a loud report sometimes she winces a bit. Her hands are wrapped and she is wearing gloves. I look at her hands and they are not obviously bruised but she sometimes says it is sore to touch them. Coach has just told her not to hit full force for the time being. This is her first time seriously training striking is it possible that this is something that will just go away with time?
Possibly, but as she is so young I would suggest seeing a Doctor to see if there is a fracture or somesuch...better safe than sorry!
I am ready to do that if need be. Since she has no problems moving it or even punching with it so long as she doesn't go full power I wasn't running to that just yet but I will be careful for sure.
I wonder if the issue is with the glove? I can imagine that it is hard to find a glove that fits well at that age, and an ill-fitting glove can make it almost impossible to punch with good form. Is she using bag mitts or a heaver glove, and is she using a correctly fitting childs glove?
Finding youth boxing gloves has literally been a nightmare. I got lucky that the place where my kids take Thai and BJJ had some little six ounce boxing gloves that I got for my son. I asked my daughter to try those on and they were too small for her. (She is a bit taller then most girls her age, weighs about 77 lbs.) Right now she is wearing some 8 oz gloves that said they were size "medium". I have been looking for something better. The other thing about the gloves is they feel like they are using some kind of a gel in addition to the normal foam so they feel a bit harder instead of poofy.
One of the problems when you are looking online is it's hard to decipher if you are looking at a good glove or a toy glove when it comes to kids.
Have you considered looking at Muay-Thai gloves? They are more readily available in kids sizes, as the Thais do not have the cultural aversion to children being involved in combat sports that you find in the west. Something like: http://www.muaythai-fighting.com/twins-special-muay-thai-kid-s-boxing-gloves-kid-bgvl-3.html, http://www.muaythai-fighting.com/top-king-kid-s-boxing-gloves-tkbgkc-01.html or http://www.muaythai-fighting.com/top-king-kid-s-boxing-gloves-tkbgkc-solid.html may be suitable, although it is a risk to buy online as you are unable to try the gloves first.
That's not a bad idea and I may do that. I also did just find this site and they look like they might have some good stuff. http://store.titleboxing.com/kid-youth-glove.html
I might be way off here but...my daughter has just been designated as 'hypermobile' (what used to be called double jointed). And discussing it with the doctor made me realise I have it too. It's pretty common in young kids and girls in particular. I regularly have sore joints, weak wrists and have to be really careful with 'applying' power. I actually have trouble applying power because my muscles have to work overtime just to stabilise my joints. Let's face it...your daughter is only 9 and whacking stuff with her fists just might be too much for her at this stage. Might not be anything wrong with the gloves at all. She might just be a growing girl doing something harsh with her hands.
Kids compete in olympic style boxing at 8. My son is 7 and trains almost as much as she does and has no complaints. (His gloves are significantly more "poofy" feeling though.)
Not all kids compete in boxing at eight. Like any sport. Could be loads of kids that try it and it makes their joints hurt. And your daughter is not your son. Just because he can do something doesn't mean she can. Is she more flexible than him maybe? All I'm doing is raising a different perspective. You obviously know her better than me.
She is actually very flexible but she works hard on it. She can bend her spine like a yoga instructor and has been working on her splits (both ways) and lotus position after watching a video with me of Eddie Bravo and Ronda Rousey hanging out where he talks about casually working on your flexibility throughout the day. The place on her hand that hurts is the proper two knuckles to punch with. Nothing else is bugging her but I will talk to a doctor about what you are suggesting.
Kids can sometimes get 'miro-fractures'. My son had one and it didn't show up till he started a gymnastics class. Might want to get it checked to be safe.
This. Sometimes when kids are not fully developed, things are growing and moving and adding constant punching could possibly affect that. I'm very flexible with my joints which helped me to tear both meniscus. Either way i'd get it checked out. Perhaps should could wear those jelly filled gloves under the boxing gloves? I always hated them because I couldn't feel anything so maybe that would help.
Coach says not to punch full force. That's the end of the matter really. If there was a problem with the wraps or the gloves, the coach should have seen that (assuming a very basic level of competence), if the injury was so bad she needed to stop training he would have said so. For me, 9 sounds a bit young, but if the coach is certified, then he'll know better than me.
Coaches of boxing are not Doctors and don't know what sort of possible injury might be there and even repeatedly getting hurt. She could wind up with a crippled hand later on. Take her to a Doctor for x-rays OP.
I appreciate its not boxing, but isn't there a strict rule in karate about not letting kids use makiwara because they will ruin their hands if they hit things hard while still growing?
Also...Muhammad Ali used to get his hands injected before a fight because they'd hurt when he hit people. So if his hands hurt when hitting things it can happen to anyone.
Recurring soreness in joint - see doctor. If it was sore in the Invertebral joint at the base of the neck then you would go to a doctor immediately, same for the wrist It's really that simple. If pain persists and doctor says to take it easy but it still hurts then stop doing painful activity for a short time and do a less painful alternative. She's a kid, a few month off to work on some other training or sport will probably make her better at boxing.
