0:43. What you see is the People's Republic of China. Several steps from me is the river Amur, and while I am talking about kettlebells I enjoy the view of the border town Heihe.
1:35. I would like to emphasize that Girevoy Sport is a cyclical sport, and it's main goal is to spend as little energy as possible. So you have to pay a lot of attention to the phases of relaxation. Lowering of the bell during snatch is exactly the part when the bell is in free fall, and so during this phase we should strive to be maximally relaxed.
2:08. Lowering starts immediately after fixation. So we are in fixation phase, the arm is relaxed, the elbow pointed forward. In this position we are trying to maximally relax the deltoids, the triceps and the muscles of the forearm.
2:38. The initiation of fall. First common mistake is that some athletes are trying to "help" the kettlebell to fall. I.e. they are trying to push or tumble the bell. First, this lengthens the trajectory of the bell and therefore loss of energy. Secondly, it leads to wasting energy actually pushing the bell down.
3:00. In order to initiate the descend of the bell with minimal waste of energy it is simply enough to turn the arm forward, the bell will lose balance and will start falling down.
3:10. Next common mistake of both beginners and non-beginner is "dive" forward, or premature flexion of the trunk. What's wrong with it? The fact is that flexion of the trunk involves the muscles of the lower back and posterior thigh. You can even try it yourself: put your hand in the small of your back and feel the relaxed muscles. As you bend forward you will feel how back muscles gradually become harder. So if you use back extensors when the bell is moving down you don't give them a chance to rest and spend excessive energy.
4:00. In order to make the lowering phase successful, as you turn the arm forward you should simultaneously lean the trunk backwards. Next, the arm with the bell is freely falling down while the trunk is deviated backwards. Doing it this way you will give the back extensors and posterior thigh muscles the chance to rest.
4:15. Next, about the position of the arm during the phase of free fall. There are two options, and the proponents of both are to this day arguing as to which is better. First option, and I am the proponent of this one, is when the bell is in free fall you turn the arm elbow down. Second, during the free fall you turn the elbow up. Why am I the proponent of the first option? If the elbow is directed down the plane in which the bell is moving overlaps the direction of the vector of force of gravity. In this case when I have to flex forearm muscles in order to neutralize the movement of the bell at the bottom the effort will be minimal. However, I the elbow is turned up the movement of the bell and the movement of the forearm are in different planes, and so I will have to use more energy when the bell moves to the bottom position.
5:35. Another typical mistake is the "dive" before the arm touches the body. So it's like this: when there is a distance of 15 - 20 centimeters between the elbow and the body left the athlete "dives" forward. If this happens, then at the moment of when the grip switches the athlete is bent forward, and the bell is slowing down by involving the muscles of the back and posterior thigh.
6:20. I want to emphasize that you have to keep the trunk deviated backwards until your arm touches the body. This way the downward movement of the bell will be neutralized mostly by the muscles of the forearm, and only when the bell is about to pass thought the legs the muscles of the back and posterior thigh switch on. So you save a colossal amount of energy.
6:55. Another typical mistake is lowering the bell vertically. If I do that, if the bell falls while the arm is bent - what's wrong with it? At the end of the fall the bell jerks the arm down. First, it can lead to injury, especially with a heavy bell: ligaments of the elbow, for example. Second, this downward jerk overloads the forearm and will affect work capacity of flexors of the fingers. To avoid this I recommend to keep the arm straight. Obviously, it will not be completely straight - it will be a little bent because it's relaxed. Still, you have to lower the bell along the arc, not vertical line. What does it do - it makes the movement smooth. Before you switch the grip you should try to keep the shoulder, forearm, hand and the bell in one line. This line tenses, and the bell swings between the legs. This way the load on the forearm muscles will be minimal.
8:24. I also want to tell you about another element of the technique I use. It's not absolutely necessary, but it helps to make the downswing smoother. It helps e to tense "the line" before the bell starts moving past the legs. It is flexing of the calves and getting onto the tiptoes. So when the bell falls I turn the arm forward, now it begins moving elbow down, the trunk is deviated backwards. As the arm becomes horizontal I begin getting on the tiptoes, so the calf muscles are flexed at their maximum when the elbow touches my abdomen. Then I get back to my heels and swing the bell between the legs.
The rest of the video is the report of Sergey competing in Korea. He was participating in biathlon with 24 kg bells. He says the result was not very impressive: jerk - 131, snatch - 201. But he was happy anyway as he didn't have time to properly prepare for this competition.
I recommend watching the video to the end, as while the judges are preparing the awards Sergey is demonstrating various kettlebell tricks.
All for now.
