Left wood radical - the indexing radical, depicting a tree with roots and branches. Grounds 棒 in its concrete meaning: a wooden stick, club, bat. The slang 'great, awesome' extends from 'sturdy as a stick.' Same family as 板 plank, 桌 table, 椅 chair.
Right side 奉 supplies the sound - fèng drifted to bàng, with regular f-b alternation in Old Chinese and the rime preserved. Pure phonetic role; the 'reverently offer' meaning of 奉 contributes nothing to 'stick' or 'awesome.' Same phonetic family includes 捧 to hold in cupped hands.
