Quantification of boxing gloves damping: Method and apparatus

In the present work, a new non-destructive method for quantifying amateur boxing gloves damping is proposed. This method is based on the determination of the relative variation of punch's energy or acceleration; a damping factor is defined to assess the damping ability of the glove. The compression of the glove is also quantified by defining, as a new parameter, the compression ratio. The designed impactor is described and the performed measurements are presented; six 10 oz competition gloves, including three new and three worn gloves, are tested using three shock energy levels of 4, 18 and 44 J. The damping factor values range between 0.04 and 0.92 depending on the glove condition and its effectiveness in attenuating the punch intensity. At weak and moderate impact energy levels, the compression ratio values are significantly smaller for new gloves than for worn gloves. At high energy level, the two types of gloves exhibit similar compression ratio values but quite different damping factors.