How to wrap your hands.

Wraps protect the small bones in your hand and stop your wrist folding when you land badly. Almost every beginner wraps too loose at the wrist and too tight at the fingers — here's a method that avoids both.

What to buy first

You want 4.5 metre Mexican-style stretch wraps. The 2.5m ones are for children and won't give you enough passes; non-stretch cotton wraps are harder to tension evenly as a beginner.

Buy two pairs. One is always drying, and wrapping dry hands in damp wraps is how gloves start to smell.

• Hand wraps — 4.5m Mexican stretch £5–10 — the cheapest kit you'll buy and the one that most changes how your hands feel after a heavy pad round. (Amazon link — as an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.)

The method

Wrap with your fingers spread and your hand slightly open — not clenched. If you wrap a clenched fist, the wrap will be painfully tight the moment you relax.

1. Thumb loop. Hook the loop over your thumb, wrap side facing down against the back of your hand.
2. Wrist — three turns. Straight around the wrist, firm but not cutting in. This is the part beginners skimp on and it's the part that prevents injury.
3. Hand — three turns. Up over the back of the hand and around the palm, just below the knuckles.
4. Knuckles — three turns. Across the knuckles themselves. Firm, even, no bunching.
5. Between the fingers. From under the palm, up between little and ring finger, back down; repeat between ring and middle, then middle and index. Three passes total, each one crossing the back of the hand.
6. Thumb. One wrap around the base of the thumb, then back across the palm — this locks the thumb to the hand rather than leaving it loose.
7. Finish at the wrist. Use whatever length remains on the wrist in even turns, and velcro it down.

Make a fist. It should feel firm and supported. Open your hand — it shouldn't throb, tingle or go pale.

How tight is too tight

Signs you've gone too far: fingertips going white or blue, pins and needles within a minute, or the wrap feeling fine open and unbearable closed. Take it off and redo it — nobody has ever regretted rewrapping, and plenty of people have trained through a numb hand and made it worse.

Equally, a wrap you can slide a finger under at the wrist is doing very little.

Common mistakes

• Skipping the wrist turns to get to the knuckles faster. The wrist is the bit that gets injured.
• Wrapping a clenched fist — guarantees it's too tight in use.
• Bunching over the knuckles — creates pressure points rather than spreading impact.
• Leaving the thumb unwrapped — thumb injuries are common and completely avoidable.
• Never washing them. Wraps absorb everything. Wash bag, cold cycle, air dry.

Do you need them for every session?

For bag and pad work, yes. For light technical sparring some people skip them, though most gyms would rather you didn't. For an interclub, always — you'll be doing three rounds in unfamiliar gloves and your hands will thank you.