all posts post new thread

Kettlebell Form Check - swing

Status
Closed Thread. (Continue Discussion of This Topic by Starting a New Thread.)
Hi Alexa!

Some instructors might chime in here, but in the meantime, I'll tell you few things I think you can work on.

First, your hinge looks good to me. That's a great start.

When you set up, give yourself some time and get tight before you start swinging. Dont lift the bell before you start swinging, just hike it back to the downswing position and carry on from there.

When you are swinging, keep your eyes at a fixed spot in front of you. It can be at head height or a bit lower. Dont look at the bell when it goes down, it can make you lose balance.

It appears you are slightly lifting the bell with your arms, or not letting the bell fall freely from the top position. Try not to do this. Remember the arms are ropes when you are swinging.

When you are at the bottom of the down swing, you are starting the upswing an instant too early. That makes you push your forearms with your hips making the bell flip, lagging behind your arms. Give yourself some more time at the bottom of the swing, let the kettlebell start falling on it's own and only then explosively start the up swing. That allows your hamstrings to load nicely and help with the explosiveness. It will also prevent you pushing your forearms with your hips. Again, remember the arms are ropes, if they were literally ropes they would be too flexible for your hips to push them forward. A nice drill you can try to understand this is the towel swings.

You are hinging a bit too early. Try to play chicken with the kettlebell, holding the vertical plank until the very last moment, and only hinge when your arms connect to your body. When you hinge too early you will feel that the kettlebell pulls you forward out of balance, so when you correct this you might identify the difference because you will feel more solid.

Hope this helps and keep swinging!
 
Hinging too early - as the result there is a little too much squat at the bottom. Potentially this can hurt your lower back when you do more and heavier. I think following Oscar's advice - "playing chicken with the crotch" - will correct 80% the issue.

Looking down. It adds to the previous issue, but is very easy to correct.

Good luck.
 
Hi Alexa, nice swings!

Yes, your hinge is great. Setup is good. Explosiveness and basic movement is good. A few tweaks to be picky, as requested...

I agree with Oscar on the gaze (you're looking down on the downswing), so just keep the gaze on the horizon throughout the set.

I'm not sure if you're lifting the bell with the arms, but what I see is that you're delaying letting your arms fall with the bell, so the bell ends up dropping on the first part of the downswing. Slow the video to .25 speed and you can see it. So, just let your arms start down sooner, relax them as soon as you feel the bell start down. Towel swings can help get this timing right, because it will encourage your timing to keep your arms and the bell/gravity in time with each other.

Agree on the upswing and the hinge... your hinge timing is almost perfect, but if you give it just a tiny bit longer in that loaded hinge position before exploding back up, and then focus on a little tighter standing plank and hold it just and instant longer, you'll be good on both.
 
@ Oscar-
Thank you for this awesome feedback. So detailed. I will try towel swings. And thinking of the arms as ropes. For me, tiny little cues like using the arms as ropes often make a big difference.

Appreciate it.
 
@ Anna and Van Der Merve (and Oscar too)-

I will try to implement these things. Swing timing is so hard for me!

Follow-up question:
On my "heavy swing" training days, I am using the 24 kg bell - double my test weight. From the feedback here, it sounds like that could be dangerous for my back unless/until I get this fixed. Should I lower the weight on those days and focus only on technique right now?

It matters any, I actually have been planning to do the SFG1 cert weekend. It's a little concerning to me that my swing is off in this way. This is a fundamental skill - everything else is based on it more or less.

And thank you all. Very grateful.
 
Alexa
You are well on your way to a great swing and no need to worry about you SFG I weekend—it will only improve everything you are doing.

Focus on not looking down as noted and focus on finishing tall—also don't push the "pace" of the swings and allow time for every rep.
Getting in a rush causes it's own issues.
Patience is key.
 
On my "heavy swing" training days, I am using the 24 kg bell - double my test weight. From the feedback here, it sounds like that could be dangerous for my back unless/until I get this fixed. Should I lower the weight on those days and focus only on technique right now?

I don't think so. Keep swinging heavy! Nothing looks the least bit dangerous to me.

You're well within "tune-able at the cert" range, but the closer you have it dialed in, the better everything goes.

You're welcome to post a follow-up form check after some more practice... And a session with an SFG is always time well spent when prepping for a cert, if you have one nearby.
 
Status
Closed Thread. (Continue Discussion of This Topic by Starting a New Thread.)
Back
Top Bottom