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Kettlebell Learning to Snatch Part 2

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DuncanGB

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Began regular kettlebell training mid-Jan of this year with 24kg 2H- and 16kg 1H-swings and first posted on the StrongFirst forums in April on this thread:
Just thought I’d start my first thread in order to compile 4 key resources for anyone else who is learning to snatch as well as for experienced "snatchers" to share their wisdom...

I
Come March, as soon as I was making the 1H-swing pop-n-float with the 24, couldn’t resist learning how to snatch the 16. This excellent 3-part tutorial by @Hector G got me off to a flying start:


II
These 5 tips improved my technique and got me from 16 to 24 to 28 A+A snatches:

1 connecting all the parts in one fluid motion
2 deep hip hinge
3 taming the arc
4 keeping the bell more or less on the centre line
5 evading as late as possible

III
Pavel Macek’s focus on "the non-working arm" really helped power up my 24kg Q&D snatches:

IV
Low-pulling the snatch out of the hinge in conjunction with the Lion’s Roar saw me blast through the Master’s snatch-test (60 + 40 @20kg in just under 5 mins) last Friday and, @WxHerk, get the 32 up-and-down smoothly for 6 consecutive repeats of 5L, 5R yesterday!!
 
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Thanks for compiling this! I've been struggling with snatches lately and having this all in one place is very helpful.

Ivw snatching with the 28 for about a year, and recently got a 32. I started snatching the 32 recently (after running through RoP with it) but my form isn't as good as the 28. I suspect I had just been strong enough with the 28 to cover up my technical flaws. Hopefully going through all this can show me where I need to improve!
 
Because I'm so OCD regarding snatch technique, I've compiled my own list of important nuances (both from working with an SFG and from various sources online):
  • Unlike the swing, you will slightly lift your torso and bend your knees, granting a hinge position better suited for vertical projection.
  • Imagine jumping without leaving the ground. Drive your feet into the floor, forcing the hips to extension while tensing your glutes & quads.
  • Direct the ‘bell UP by sharply pulling the elbow to the rear.
  • Keeping the weight close to your centerline, punch up and through the handle to help it sit deep in your palm and away from your fingers.
  • The shoulder and elbow must be packed & vertical before the ‘bell drops into the lockout.
  • Maintain a “strong” wrist at the top, with your hand closed but not over-gripping the handle.
  • Actively pull the ‘bell into the downswing and lean back slightly as it “drops.”
  • When the ‘bell is at about eye level, loosen your grip slightly, and then grab it again when loading the hinge. This takes practice but will help save your hands. You only need a firm grip during the hinge - after the throw and until midway through the drop, it’s unnecessary.
  • As the ‘bell continues its descent past your chest, lean forward and drive it into the hinge - don’t let it pull you there!
 
@Wade III - first of all, welcome to the StrongFirst Forums!

Thanks for compiling this! I've been struggling with snatches lately and having this all in one place is very helpful.

Ivw snatching with the 28 for about a year, and recently got a 32. I started snatching the 32 recently (after running through RoP with it) but my form isn't as good as the 28. I suspect I had just been strong enough with the 28 to cover up my technical flaws. Hopefully going through all this can show me where I need to improve!

I hear you when it comes to snatching the 32... it definitely proved to be a different kettlebell of fish for me:

went from snatching 16 to 24 pretty quickly and smoothly, and once I was snatching the 24 A+A 5L-5R found that my grip could easily handle 1H swings with the 32, so figured I'd try snatch it - first rep on my stronger side, the darn bell nearly ended up putting a dent in my skull;

got myself a 28, which quickly healed the dented pride, but feeling that my progress was stalling, thought I'd give Q&D snatches a whirl - straight away loved doing fast 10s with the 24, really focusing in on efficient technique for speed and power;

reckon this one-step back to go two-steps forward approach has been the decisive factor in my new-found ability to snatch the 32 with confidence off both arms for repeats of 5 reps - the 28 now feels like the 24 and the 32 like the 28 used to

Hope this thread is already helping out with your snatching the 32!
 
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It has helped! I've decided to keep with the 28 until I can tighten up my technique. The clean to push press has helped keep the bell close to the center line on the down swing, which seems to be my main problem. I'll post some technique review videos to the forum shortly, this has helped a lot!
 
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Re: Question on KB Snatch
THANK YOU for quoting this link. After going through it, I reviewed my self video from yesterday's Q&D snatches to look for form mistakes. One key mistake I was doing was a shallow hinge which necessitated a high pull that consequently resulted in arm jarring at the lockout.

I spent all morning GTGing sets of 5 snatches at half my 24K Q&D snatch weight. I focused mainly on deepening and loading my hinge with the aim of having the bell starting to outpace my hand at chest level on the way up. No high pull and no lockout jarring.

I'll continue doing this GTG on my rest days for a while, though I'll use 16K. The 12K was too light to load my hinge.
@barrak - much appreciated

The 16kg bell is a great teacher for learning the kb snatch - as you say, it allows a proper re-loading of the hinge, but it also provides a safe level of negative feedback for the reasonably-sized and fairly strong student who is bound to get the downward phase of the movement wrong repeatedly... to begin with...

"Mean old Mr. Gravity" acting upon a 16kg cannonball from overhead to between-legs will yank on the arm and ego of the lifter with bad technique whether or not s/he has a fairly good grasp of basic physics...

It therefore makes sense to learn how to snatch from top-down with at most half of the weight one is used to using for 1-handed swings. The top position - the lockout - may then be regarded as the proper starting- and finishing-point of each kb snatch rep:

1 Lockout
1.1
loaded hand - wrist flexed, relaxed grip
1.2 contract your glutes
Forget the word "drop" - you are going to pull the bell downwards leading with your elbow

To be continued...
 
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2 Downward Phase
2.1
pull bell hand down through the handle from palm-/deep-grip to catch it in hook-grip:



Hat tip to @Mark Limbaga who posted this gem to another thread

2.2 at the same time, make space for the bell
- a slight breaking at the knees allows the torso to lean back a bit ["body-English" as @Harald Motz has termed it]
2.3 raise unloaded hand so that it can track the loaded hand [cf. link to @Pavel Macek 's "Lion's Roar Snatch" above]
2.4 still leading with the loaded elbow, connect upper-arm with side of rib-cage
2.5 as with the swing, play chicken with the bell into the hinge
 
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