One of the most common kettlebell mistakes we see is the squat and front raise error. In a proper, ‘hip-driven’ Swing, the kettlebell is hiked back between the legs, and the arms only do around 10-20% of the lifting. But when someone makes the squat and front raise error, they perform a squatting pattern with the lower body followed by a front raise-type motion. In this case, the arms have to do around 50-60% of the work.
Here are two tips to help fix this flaw:
- Try the Towel Swing
The lower body is what drives movement; the arms are just along for the ride. A good drill to perfect this is the towel swing.
To perform the towel swing, you do your two-handed swings with a towel wrapped around the horn of the ‘bell and grabbing the ends of the towel. To maintain tension on the towel through the entire movement, you have to use your hips and direct energy efficiently to the ‘bell. It’s a great drill because it’s very self-correcting. Do a few swings with the towel and you’ll naturally use your lower body more and your upper body less as you get feedback from the towel.
- Think of ‘hiking’ the ‘bell behind you as it comes back
Squat down and raise the kettlebell up in front of you instead of hiking it back and snapping it up. The bottom of the ‘bell should actually face the wall behind you or pretty close to it when the KB is hiked back.
One of the most frequent mistakes with the Kettlebell Swing is the Squat and Front Raise error. This happens when the trainee uses a squatting, knee-dominant movement during the ‘down’ portion of the Swing and as a result over-involves the arms in finishing the movement. The tips in this article will help you fix and correct this flaw; good luck with your kettlebell lifting and keep training hard!
- Forest and the Team at KettlebellBasics.net
PS – If you enjoyed this article on fixing mistakes with the kettlebell Swing, stay tuned – the registration for my 28-day Kettlebell Basics Challenge with weekly LIVE workouts / technique workshops opens tomorrow, October 18th!