Meet Tips from Coach Fedorenko

Fellow Kettlebell Lifters,

I have been a Kettlebell Beginner Student, Professional Athlete, Team Captain, Coach, Physical Instructor, Judge, Organizer, and even President of a National Federation and Vice President of the International Federation in the former USSR. In that time, spanning over 20 years, I have seen my fair share of rules and regulations. I've even been part of creating and implementing such things and continue to do so as Chief Advisor of World Kettlebell Club. Something I know for sure is the job of a Judge is not an easy one. Kettlebell Sport is fast paced and the Judge must keep the Lifter as safe as possible, because the Lifter is working as hard as they can and don't always use good judgement when they have practiced months for this one special performance. The Judge must also keep the competition as fair as possible, because the Lifters on the other platforms are taking this as seriously as can be and want to know there are rules that everyone must abide by.

Still, no system is perfect and neither are the Rules or even "Laws" for that matter. I have seen the Rules for Kettlebell Sport be altered many times over the years. Some good, some not, but regardless of that I familiarized myself with them and did my best to follow them because I wanted to win, and most of all because I wanted to be professional. Judges are not perfect either. After all, this is a "judgement" call by one human of another. In Power Lifting and Olympic Weight Lifting there is a judgement of 1 rep. It's either good or not. Sounds fairly simple, but even in these Sports there are close calls, and even wrong ones. In Kettlebell Sport it's possible to have a hundred, two hundred or more reps from one performance! In a way you could say compared to other Lifting Sports that each rep in Kettlebell Sport is of less value. 1 vs. 100 for example. But, Kettlebell Lifters value every rep and want what I've always considered "payment" for the repetition. 1 rep could mean the difference between 1st and 2nd place, or worse, Champion or "that other guy". Understand now that the Judge is impartial and they are even nervous to give no-counts, but it's a normal and needed part of the Sport and we must respect and accept the call of the Judge if we agree to step onto the Platform.

Over the course of the next few weeks I'll be going over some needed clarifications and details about Kettlebell Sport and what to expect at Meets in general, but for now I have put together a short clip of some of the major points of the 3 Lifts, Jerk, Snatch and LongCycle and what to expect from the Judge at a Meet. I understand that women use 1 kettlebell, but for the purposes of explaining a good rep and bad rep, I have used 2 kettlebells where appropriate and you can use this information (man or woman) for basically any Kettlebell Lifting you do on or off the platform. Acoustical quality and lighting in the video are a bit low because this is shot a few weeks ago in my original gym in Kyrgyzstan where I trained before I was a Professional. I happen to be visiting my family right now but I wanted to give a few tips that will not only improve your numbers in a Meet, but make your experience more meaningful and enjoyable. Please pass this video clip around to anyone you know of going to the Arnold or any other Kettlebell Lifting Meet. While a 14 minute clip can't replace a good Coach and dedicated practice, I hopes it helps you!

Valery Fedorenko
Head Coach AKC