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Old Forum swings critique

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Claude512

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Hello All,

Not used to doing this usually (don't like myself on this newfangled interwebs thing) but here goes...

Could you please look at my swings below (24kg), and let me know what you think? Looking at it myself I think I am not hinging back enough so my back goes very flat?

any suggestions and fixes?

thanks a lot!

Claude
 
how do you embed a youtube video?

here is the link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IY23z8OZ35o&sns=em
 
I'm no trainer, but a few things stand out to me.

Your back looks like it's moving too much. Kind of rounding a bit at the bottom, and waves on the way up.

It looks like you're leaning back a bit at the top. Your body may lean back a little to counteract the weight, but it should still be straight (plank). You look like you're actually leaning (note the slight back-angle at the waist on some of the swings).

Your trajectory looks a little more upward than forward, and I think you're swinging a little high for an SFG swing.

You look like you're starting your hinge a little early. Start the hinge when the upper arms contact the torso.

See how the kettlebell flips up a bit at the bottom? Learn to control that. Getting that under control will help with other aspects of the bottom position. Part of this control lies in your trajectory and the height of the swing (mentioned above).

Just a few things to pay attention to.
 
Look it up in the book but don't hinge until the last moment. Forget the exact wording.

 

i retread the book often to look for additional pointers. It helps
 
Level 1 Standards (same for the swing one or two bells):http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l5qB0nILpko

Here are a very few things I noticed; you are very loose, more tension in lats and abs to maintain a neurtal spine.  As Jason said before, you are hinging early and not allowing the bell to get in close to the body.  You need to be 'playing chicken' with the kettlebell like Pavel says in S&S, as the 'ball' of the bell comes toward your hips wait until the last moment to drive you hips back and your's(s) out of the way.  You look like you are letting the kettlebell control you, some of this is your lack of tension in your body.  At the top of your swing your body needs to be straight and tight, you are loose and leaning back with your hips forward.

Can you show a video of you performing a wall hinge?
 
Claude, I would practice the hinge pattern a little away from the kettlebell, e.g., practice sitting back onto a chair that's a foot or so behind you under complete control.  Adjust the distance from the chair and/or the height of the chair to make the drill into an appropriate level of challenge for you.    You are doing a number of things well - your feet stay planted, and you're explosive with your hip snap and associated breathing.

The other suggestions and criticisms are all valid but you can't address all the issues raised at once.  I recommend you focus on the hinge pattern for now - try it with a stick held at your back (stick touches the back of your head, between your shoulder blades, between your butt cheeks) to be sure your back is doing what it should and isn't rounding.  Take some videos of yourself practicing the hinge pattern and then video some of your swings - see if you can, after perfecting the hinge pattern without a weight and slowly, bring some of those things to your swing.

-S-
 
Oh boy, lots of info to digest!

from what I understood 2 things are most pressing, first hinge movement pattern, and tightness of lats butt and abs...

i will try to work on the hinge pattern!

For the tightness part maybe adding a plank to the warmup helps getting into the groove?

I will try to concentrate on being extremely tight during practice (probably also applies to TGU then)

Now that you mention it, the play chicken with the kettlebell thing is really obvious, so I will keep practicing that also

how do you reduce the height though? imagining throwing the bell forward instead of up?

now would you do swings with a lighter bell while focussing and practicing the above things (all the while GTGing the hinge pattern throughout the day, or no swings at all?

again thank you so much for all your help, you guys are amazing!

 
 
Claude,

If you were my student in person, I would make you practice with a heavier bell while drilling as Steve and Jason described ... but at distance, I would recommend that you do this only if you can work with an SFG in  person.

Just keep practicing ... you're on track.
 
I agree with AL, not be at all. Fix an issue at a time and usually one helps the other. Pack the shoulders, and fix that lean back, body should be very vertical at this weight.
 
Claude,

one point, which I have not seen mentioned yet, is that you swing the bell too low.  notice how the bell comes down through your knees on the back swing.  I believe it was Dan John who said the bell should be playing chicken with your crotch.  this keeps the bell nice and high on the backswing and it holds the hip hinge until the last minute.  it appears that the bell is leading you instead of you directing the bell.  after the bell pauses at the top use your lats to yank the bell down toward your crotch, keep your shoulders packed and, when the bell is about to hit your crotch, punch you butt back.  but as Steve mentioned above, there are more positives than negatives with your form.  ETK has some great photos and Dan Johns "Intervention" describes the proper hip hinge. also, check out some of Dan Johns videos on youtube, here is one you may find helpful.

the hinge assessment video by Dan John is a good reference:

 

http://search.yahoo.com/search?p=dan+john+swing+kettlebell&ei=UTF-8&fr=chr-hp-psg&type=CMDTDF

 

keep it up!

 
 
thanks to all of you!

I have tried to incorporate your suggestions into my routine

I GTG the hip hinge a couple of times a day (people start looking at me funny), I do a couple of easy planks after my warmup, and I try to focus on 3 things during my swings: tension in lats and abs, play chicken with the bell, and actively push back the hips

I came up with 3 cues during my swings, and they seem to work for me… “plank” when pushing the bell forward (I find that I have to consciously think of that already in the bottom position, otherwise I tend to lean back at the top and then only brace the abs), “wait” when the bell comes down, and “push” when hiking the bell through my legs

I seem to improve (video confirms that), my back is much more tense and straight with much less wobble, I wait much longer until doing the hip hinging, and the bell doesn’t come up at the end of the swing anymore… And i may have found new muscles in my back, at least my lats are sore in places I never knew they extended to :)

Still got some work to do, some reps still fall back into the old habits (about half), but i feel I am getting there! The plank part is the most difficult for me, although I can do a good plank on the floor and brace very hard while standing somehow that does not translate so well to swings… bad habits die hard!

The next SFG is about 750km away, which is not going to happen, job, family etc get in the way of that, so I would be very grateful if i could continue to rely on you guys for help!

Anyway, I will keep practicing, and report back with a new video in short time to gauge progress!

thanks a lot!
 
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