Mistakes in Jerk

As I wrote in July 2008, my then eleven year old daughter started doing swimming. As the parent it was inevitable for me to sit through a few sessions and watched her training. It was interesting to notice that the coach didn’t concentrate much on the technique of swimming during the first couple of months. If it more or less looked like breaststroke – it was ok, and kids did lots of laps. After a while the coach started correcting nuances in the technique. It made sense to me then and still does. I still believe that it is a valid way to learn GS lifts: start doing them, get to some level of strength endurance and then start finessing the technique.

This post is the excerpt from Alexander Gorbov's book "Girevoy Sport" and discusses common mistakes in jerk.
Mistake 1. In starting position and during pushing the bells up the arms are straining excessively and the fingers tightly squeeze the handles. As the result the muscles of the arms get fatigued quickly, never mind how strong they are.

Causes:

• Incorrect position of the bells on the chest
• Upper arms and elbows are not connected to the body

Correction.

• Pay more attention to the starting position: find the most comfortable position of the bells on the chest, elbows must be sitting on the body.
• Make sure the grip is correct and the handle is sitting on the heel of the hand. Fingers can be closed but not tensed.

Mistake 2. At the beginning of the pushing the bells fall off the chest. As the result the arms get involved at this stage and get fatigued.

Causes

• The upper arms are not properly connected to the body and the bells are not connected to the forearms.
• The chest is positioned too low at the beginning of the jerk.

Correction.

• For better friction between the arms and the body Russian gireviks train in a wet t-shirt. I never tried it, and the posts on GS forums vary in opinion.
• Timed holds of bells up to 10 seconds in starting position with the pelvis moved forward more than dictated by the technique.
• Half-jerks for high reps

Mistake 3. The legs are not fully straightened at the end of the lift. As the result the bells get pushed up to insufficient height and deeper dip is necessary, leading to the fatigue of the legs. It may also tip the athlete off balance.

Causes.

• Weak leg extensors
• The first dip is too low

Correction is achieved by strengthening the legs with the following exercises.

• Squats, either with a barbell or kettlebells
• Half-jerk with slight dip and getting to the tiptoes
• JUmp squats with a barbell or kettlebells, done “softly”

Mistake 4. Insufficient, shallow second dip. As the result the straightening of the arms and holding the bells in top position is difficult.

Causes.

• Mistakes during learning the technique
• Insufficient flexibility in elbow and shoulder joints

Correction.

• Static overhead holds in semi-squatting positions of varying depth
• Same as above but moving forward
• Perform exercises to improve shoulder and elbow flexibility

Mistake 5. In the top position the bells are “pulling forward”. This makes maintaining the position difficult.

Causes.

• In overhead position girevik shifts the center of gravity forward
• Insufficient flexibility of the shoulders and arms

Correction.

• After the first dip the push is done from the heels. Getting on the tiptoes is done only after the knees are fully straightened. The following exercises are recommended.
• Semi-squats with the bells in the starting position. Pay attention to keeping the center of gravity on the heels.
• Half-jerk from heels, without getting on the tiptoes.
• Semi-squats with the bells in overhead position

Mistake 6. The first dip too low. As the consequence big leg extensors are working excessively and get fatigued. The jerk becomes “soft”.

Causes.

• Inability to utilize the springing properties of the chest, spine and abdominal muscles in order to reduce the load on the legs
• First dip too slow
• Weak leg muscles

Correction

• Static holds in starting position with the legs slightly bent, 10 seconds
• Half-jerk doing small first dip, paying attention to the “spring” action of the chest
• Jump squats with a barbell
• Pushing the bells up using the chest, without bending the knee joints

Mistake 7. In top position the arms are falling to the sides.
The main problem here is the flexibility of the shoulders and elbows. The following exercises may be helpful.

• Semi-squats with the bells overhead and touching
• Walking with the bells overhead and toughing

Mistake 8. When lowering the bells to the chest the legs bend excessively when absorbing the shock. This causes the fatigue of the legs.

Cause

• Incorrect shock absorbing technique

Correction

• Jerk light bells. When lowering, simultaneously get to the tiptoes and shrug the shoulders. As soon as the bells touch the chest. Lower the shoulders, move the pelvis slightly forward and get back onto the heels. Do not bend the knees.