If you haven’t yet viewed the Kettlebell Sport Double Arm Swing or Snatch Part 1 videos, please see them now as these tutorials progress in order.
Kettlebell Sport Double Arm Swing Video
Kettlebell Sport Basics: Snatch Part 1
This session focuses on bringing the bell down in Snatch. This aspect is often more challenging than bringing it up and if you observe various lifters you'll see many different styles for lowering the bell.
The main point: letting the bell drop into a pendulum and then using that momentum to get the bell back up. You don't want to pull or fight with the bell.
1-When performing Snatch with a fitness bell, it's very easy to throw it over the top of your hand. But this approach won’t work well for endurance with the larger competition bell as it will create excess velocity leading to an extraneous load on your spinal muscles and grip fatigue.
2-Instead, you want the bell to face to the outside, away from your head, before the drop. This enables a smooth, easy trajectory into the pendulum. You can achieve this position to the outside by fixating the bell with your hand facing inward or by giving the bell a very small, gentle turn at the start of the drop.
3-As you let the bell fall, you’ll move your hand quickly so that the handle jumps from your deep palm into the crease of your fingers. The handle should skip over your mid-palm.
4-As you lower the bell, you’ll lean back slightly to counter the weight. It’s the same counterbalance as when the bell ascends.
-Drop: Lean back to counter
-Backswing: Absorb & rebound with buoyant knees
-Upswing: Lean back to counter & accelerate
-Fixate: Get under
5-Most people close their thumb over their index fingernail on the catch, but if you have large hands or long fingers, you may prefer to keep the thumb detached and catch with just 4 fingers.
6-There will be 3 exhales – backswing, upswing and fixation. If you’re resting in fixation, you’ll keep breathing.
As you can see and experience, this is a dance of moving with the pendulum, guiding and responding to it, not fighting against it.
When you’re efficient, your nervous system will fire on/off, on/off, like most any other sports: rowing, basketball, tennis. If you hold tension while performing this endurance style, it would be like driving a Lamborghini on the racetrack with the emergency brake on; the car will move but it's not moving at its fullest potential.
Let’s get to full potential!
Next up will be Kettlebell Sport Snatch rules, pacing and accessory drills.
@LornaKleidman
Lorna is a 5-time World Champion in Kettlebell Sport, with Absolute National records in 24kg and 20 kg Snatch.
She is an author and personal trainer, with a Bachelors in Exercise Science. Coaching certificates from IKSFA, WKC, AKA Certified Coach and personal training through NASM.
Lorna's been featured in SHAPE, Prevention, Women’s Health and twice in The New York Times, but her greatest triumph is not evident to the eye. Her journey was shaped by a relentless hunger to experience her full potential, guiding her to the highest ranks in Kettlebell Sport and to bring a personal, results-oriented approach to her personal training clients.
