Let's take a look at how easy the American swing is.
We're here.
Hip drive, boom.
It floats right to the top.
Come back down.
That is it. It is my hip
that's launching that weight up.
So let's break it down.
Good hip drive, bam.
Arms are just floating up.
When you get to the top
grip the kettlebell.
Make sure you got a good grip.
Because you don't want it flipping backwards.
Two: You want to make sure your arms are straight on top.
And here, biceps are in line with your ears. You don't have to throw that
head through like a chicken pecking corn.
That's not good for your neck at all.
Know what I mean? If you've got good shoulder flexibility
just open up your chest a little bit more.
But for now, this is fine.
Now the coming down part.
This is huge.
And you'll see this later on when we're doing cleans
and snatches.
You just want to let it come down and
you want to do a little counterbalance.
So in other words, you're here
and as the weight's going forward
I'm relaxing my arms
I just lean back.
You're here.
Just like that.
What does that counterbalance do?
You'll see that counterbalance
later on off a clean, you'll see that off the snatch.
So what it does is it keeps the weight closer to me
Closer to my center line.
As it's floating down, it's going to feed that back swing.
And it's going to be easier on my grip.
Way easier on my grip.
Some guys like to keep it really close and they're popping it up
and pulling down. I mean, that's a way
but it really taxes your grip.
If you get this dialed in
and when the American swing comes up in a WOD
this is going to feel like an active rest.
It's not going to smoke your grip,
you're actually going to be catching your breath,
and you'll be like smoking the next event.
So, just hitting it again.
You've got a good back swing,
good hip drive, boom.
Notice that one
when I'm on top here my butt's tight,
my abs are tight, just like, similar to the hollow position in the handstand.
Then just unwind, boom.
It just floats up
and comes right back down.
And again, that counterbalance is huge.
The only thing that's worse than
if you're doing a Russian swing and you fold into head first
is having weight over head and folding first.
That's going to put unnecessary stress on you.
Good hip drive, good top position, counterbalance, good to go.
