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June 19, 2006
'Tame the arc' for safer and more powerful kettlebell swings, cleans, and snatches
We owe the 'tame the arc' term to former Senior RKC Rob Lawrence. This concept is best illustrated with Jeff Martone's hand-to-hand clean. Don't try it until you have you have learned the kettlebell swing from The Russian Kettlebell Challenge or From Russia with Tough Love.
Pick up a kettlebell with one hand, and swing it between your legs. Flip the kettlebell and catch its round surface on your palm, the handle facing down. Keep your wrist tight. Press your upper arm against your body, keep your elbow low. Don’t lean back.
Drop the kettlebell between your legs—watch your knees—catch the handle, and repeat.
Very quickly, you will realize that swinging the kettlebell in a big arc gives you problems. The bell escapes forward away from you and either pulls you forward or simply does not allow you to palm it. Swinging the bell too high is just as annoying.
Tame the arc and your problems are solved. On the way down, it is done by tossing the kettlebell back rather than down so your forearm almost hits you in the groin. “Hike pass.” On the way up, the answer is not pulling with the biceps but rather yanking the shoulder back, like starting a lawn mower.
Taming the arc also applies to racking the kettlebell on your chest after a clean or catching it overhead after a snatch. Letting the kettlebell travel in a big arc means banging yourself on the forearm. Tightening the arc by outrunning the kettlebell with your fist makes the catch soft.
Russian kettlebell power to you!
Posted by james at June 19, 2006 6:21 AM