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Kettlebell Right foot opens up during swings

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SuperGirevik

SuperGirevik

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I noticed something peculiar yesterday while doing 2H kettlebell swings. I got loaded, packed my shoulders, planted my feet using my natural foot angle and started swinging. Everything was going well but when I finished, I noticed my right foot had opened up. Yet my left stayed in it's starting angle.

This is more or less how my feet look like when I finish a set of swings...
feet.jpg

Is this normal? If not, how should I address this issue?
 
I have had the same issue as long as I can remember. Despite my best efforts to keep my feet angles the same, they always find their way to end up uneven as you pictured. It occurs during other similar lifts such as squats & snatches. FYI, my right leg is my dominant leg and I was told by a podiatrist decades ago that my left leg was shorter than my right leg.
 
Lee said:
I was told by a podiatrist decades ago that my left leg was shorter than my right leg.
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Your podiatrist may well be correct but it is also true that many who have been "diagnosed" with one leg shorter than the other actually have a pelvic alignment issue. Over the years of "rehab from wear and tear of aging" I've found a number of issues in posture and gait. Working at ways to correct them I have discovered that my knee surgeries for cartilage, my knee arthritis, my lumbar pain, all ultimately have been caused by weak/asleep medial glutes and very tight iliopsoas. There have been hints along the way but no professional every really nailed the issue(s). Over the last few months, I've managed to shift things dramatically after very long, sustained work from several angles. The shift has been dramatic enough that a couple weeks ago when I ran into someone I know well, out walking, she did a full double take when I got up close. She told me my posture and gait were so different that she had not recognized me.

All that is long way around and probably lost the main point which is that if you are "loading up" those sorts of imbalances can cause chronic injury unless they are appropriately dealt with. In my experience, even most professionals don't know how to approach or even diagnose things that don't "fit the book". I think it is up to each of us to find our own way through these things. Consult, research, experiment, and above all, pay attention!
 
I know a lot of people tend to be terrified of any asymmetry, but (IMO) minor asymmetries are normal and not something to worry about. This was a point that Mel Siff used to bring up all the time on his old Supertraining email group.

You might experiment with either just starting your set in the stance you tend to end up in, or starting in a symmetrical stance where the left foot matches the turnout that your right ends up in.

I strive to stay rooted during my sets and not have my feet wandering around. However, on double cleans, my feet do seem to frequently make their own adjustments.

I have one particularly bad arthritic ankle and a particularly bad arthritic knee on the other side, so on squats my most comfortable stance is a little asymmetrical. I just use the most comfortable stance and don't worry about it.
 
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SuperGirevik said:
I noticed something peculiar yesterday while doing 2H kettlebell swings. I got loaded, packed my shoulders, planted my feet using my natural foot angle and started swinging. Everything was going well but when I finished, I noticed my right foot had opened up. Yet my left stayed in it's starting angle.

This is more or less how my feet look like when I finish a set of swings...
feet.jpg

Is this normal? If not, how should I address this issue?
Click to expand...

@Brett Jones wrote about stance in this article, which covers the asymmetrical stance. I think it's a lot more common than people realize. Several of my students have an asymmetrical stance too. My right foot is also slightly turned out to the side. I don't try to force it into any position, I just embrace it.
 
Yes, forcing will only layer on compensations and cause more problems down the line.

Just my opinion after 30+ years as an acupuncturist and nearly 70 "as a body": Arthritis doesn't "just happen" for no reason. If actual structure is in non-standard alignment then that is not a problem but if the "out of line alignment is being caused by a muscular function imbalance then it will likely stress joints and over time, cause problems unless corrected.
 
I would not bother too much about it, probably comes down to some asymmetry that nearly everybody has in some way. The situation is very similar to when I do squats. Thing is that I feel better with that slight offset stance.
 
GeoffreyLevens said:
Arthritis doesn't "just happen" for no reason.
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In my case, the reason would be tens of thousands of hours of full court basketball on cement courts and hundreds of acute injuries of varying severity, over 45+ years.

My fingers are arthritic too. I've had some combination of multiple sprains, fully torn ligaments, avulsions, and broken bones in every one. Most of them are no longer straight and a few of them bend in directions they didn't originally.
 
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