The Swing: Loading the Hips

Seeking Jeff Martone’s famous “boom!”?

Look no further. At this CrossFit Kettlebell Trainer Course at Progressive F.O.R.C.E. CrossFit in Las Vegas, Martone talks about establishing body awareness to get the hips back in the swing.

First, he has attendees do wall squats with their faces within inches of the wall. Next, he talks about getting the butt back.

“This is really a timing issue,” he says.

And it applies not only to swings, but also to the clean and the snatch, Martone explains. The first step is creating awareness of the hip flexors. This is accomplished via a two-person drill where one person lies on his back and pulls his knees to his chest as the other person provides light resistance on the top of the feet. Then it’s on to swings.

“What that does, it helps load everything, and then you explode and so it gives you more power,” Martone says.

Boom!

7min 38sec

HD file size: 279 MB
SD wmv file size: 91 MB
SD mov file size: 80 MB

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Additional reading: Kettlebell Basics: Drills for Improving Your Swing by Jeff Martone, published Nov. 1, 2006.