Clean to Catch and Snatch to Catch

Kettlebell Juggling:

Welcome to Kettlebell Movement!

Today we are going to learn two of the most basic moves, the clean & press and snatch - with a catch! For this move, you will need a medium to light bell, preferably of the hardstyle variety. You should be extremely proficient with both the kettlebell clean&press and kettlebell snatch before even thinking about attempting this move. The added challenge here isn’t so much in muscle fatigue, or even heart rate, but in concentration. With that in mind, you will probably notice quickly that your grip is challenged far more than in the standard variations of these lifts.

Begin this lesson by learning the clean to catch, consider using both hands as you catch the bell at first. One to catch the bell, the other to stabilize it as it lands in your palm. The basic move stays the same but you will be releasing the bell at the float point. Keep the bell very close to your hand, think about sliding your hand from the handle to the ball of the bell with as little loss of contact as possible. Try not to let the bell twist as it floats, it will make it difficult to catch and even more difficult to catch the handle on the way back down. Practice this exercise with high reps of a light bell to get the hang of it before moving up in weight. You might notice that if you use a bell that is too light, it becomes harder to control and has a tendency to twist and move more in mid air. This will make the catch of the ball of the bell on the way up and the handle on the way down much more difficult. Find the right balance of light and not too light when choosing which weight to use.

Once you have developed the clean, learn the press and even the push-press and jerk. These are both challenging because you will have to learn excellent finesse in order to use power, without over powering the bell. Overpowering the bell will make you lose grip on the bell and cause it to fall. Once you have learned how to get the bell overhead you can also practice windmills and overhead squats with the bell in your palm. I am a big fan of the top-down Turkish Getup, so feel free to give that a shot too! The clean & press will soon transition into the snatch, which will demand you to use the upmost control and precision especially if you plan on performing multiple reps. Making the bell land exactly in the right position of your palm so that you can catch it on the way down can be tough. Keep your eye on the bell the whole time and just like with the clean, feel free to use your free hand to stabilize the bell as you catch it. I will be providing a video on this move in the near future so stay tuned.

You will probably feel this in the usual muscles; glutes, hamstrings and back, and even more so in your grip. When I first began learning this move I remember being blown away by how quickly my ability improved in a short period of time. These moves have a way of training your grip muscles in a way nothing else can. I hope you notice the same rate of improvement that I did. Have fun learning this lift, and remember, if you lose control at any point, quick feet are happy feet!

Thanks for practicing with me today, I will use this move in future workouts so take the time to practice up. More than anything, I hope you enjoy your practice. Kettlebell juggling moves such as this will keep you motivated and seeing great results for a long time to come.

Peter Hirsh