"If one person can do it, then it can be done!" (Mark Reifkind) (oh, and a "Jello Cam"!)

Since my last competition 2 weeks ago I was feeling a need to back way off the heavy weights for my GS training/practice to focus more on technique, and thank the Lord Jesus that my coach, John Buckley, was feeling it too!  I have yet to do a full report on my last competition AND two day Certification 2 weeks ago but let's fast forward to this week.  All of my sets were prescribed w/14kg, not one rep with the 16kg or heavier, which suited me just fine.  I learned soooo much by my competition sets, and then soooo much more in the following two day OKC Kettlebell Sport Instructor Certification that, after a week of recovery, I was anxious to get back to practice.

I pretty much know the parts of my technique that need improvement, but that doesn't mean I know HOW to improve it, exactly.  Working as an Instructor myself, many times when you give someone a correction they truly think they are correcting it, but it doesn't always work!  So you try different cues, you try saying it a different way, and sometimes that works, and sometimes it just takes time.   Maybe they just can't hear it yet.  Weeks later you give them the same correction or in another way and viola!  They get it!  Sometimes it takes letting go instead of trying harder!  When we try "hard" we may tend to over think the movement instead of feeling the movement. Feeling for the cues, instead of thinking about them.

This idea of feeling, or in the case of my GS practice "not" feeling, just relaxing is evolving nicely, or at least I think it is!  The biggest thing I learned over the competition weekend was that I need to make these sets easier, not "harder", and how this way of thinking...I mean feeling is key!  So remembering (when I can relax enough to remember instead of stress about forgetting) to "feel" the absence of stress has been a game changer for me.  I've been watching video of other GS athletes, and of my own practice, and looking for the cues.  What are they doing that I'm not, or that I haven't been doing enough of, or need to do differently?

This past week I've completed all of my sets successfully.  Not only accomplishing my prescribed rep "numbers" but feeling good about them. In other words, not suffering through those last reps near the end of the hand switch or the end of the set.  In fact my next goal is to back off the weight and think about finishing as strong (or near as strong) as I start.  I was over the moon this afternoon when I did exactly that with my 14kg 10 minute snatch set.


Orders were to complete a 10 minute set at an "easy pace".  I had an idea of a few parts of my technique I wanted to focus on changing a bit, man was this fun!  My focus was not on the stress of completing the 10 minutes with one hand switch, or how many reps I needed to get, it was on a couple of other points (hint: the downstroke/drop).  Looking over the video, reliving my focus I'm thrilled at the result, although I noticed another part of my technique that went to shit!  (the bell handle/palm placement on my R side for most of the set! Oh well....baby steps!)  Ironically, without trying I came damn close to 100/100 the actual rep count was 94/93, and better yet the last minute of both R and L was at a faster pace, 22 rpm than the first 4 minutes each side!  Success! And afterall, really, at the end of the day, what else better do I have to do besides spend an hour, three times a week, learning how to be stronger, getting stronger, and having a hell of a fun time doing it!

Lucky me.


PS I set three 14kg jerk PR's this week but I'm not ready to publicly post video...but no worries! I know my skill and technique of my jerk has been severely lacking, but I'm happy to report that I'm "feeling" more and thinking less...or maybe I'm feeling less and relaxing more!  After all, as I watch other athletes demonstrate success I have to remind myself....."If one person can do it, then it can be done."  (Mark Reifkind)