Hard versus Soft Style for Kettlebell Lifting

[Shellynfree]

Someone once posted a question on why Scott Sonnon in his Foundation of Kettlebell Dvd did his swing with his head following his swing i.e looking down through his leg which is a no no in kettlebell lifting. Now I understand what is the difference. One is using a hard style while the other is using Giveroy style. Here is an article written by Steve Cotter on the two different styles and the benefits of using whichever style.

http://www.fullkontact.com/pdfs/Methods.pdf

And a video to show the difference:

http://media.crossfit.com/cf-video/CotterKBvidJuly.wmv

 

[Gayle]

Thanks for posting this Shelly. I had seen the Steve Cotter video a while back, but never really understood the soft style until I tried it while doing a long set of heavy swings. I get why you'd use it for endurance.

 

[Shellynfree]

Hi Gayle, you are welcomed.

I have both Steve Cotter and Scott Sonnon foundation dvds and I do notice that there were something not quite the same in the style but could not tell what it was about. Steve Cotter teaches the hard style in his encyclopedia of kettlebell lifting while Sonnon is using the soft style. It was after reading Steve's writeup that I now understand it.

Did not realise kettlebell can be kinda complicated in techniques too. I like both their teachings very much.

 

[kathryn]

Thanks for the links and the info on the two styles.
If the soft style is just as effective, it looks like something I would actually prefer because it's not as rough-looking on the body.