This video demonstrates the difference between a more common kettlebell swing and a pendulum swing. The differences can be subtle to see, but they are there.
I refer to the first kettlebell swing variation as the most common one, only because it’s the one that most people will be familiar with when not participating in the kettlebell sport world.
There are hundreds of different kettlebell swing variations but I’ve chosen to demonstrate these two as the differences are subtle but the results for the kettlebell snatch and clean efficiency are huge.
In the first kettlebell swing the bell is pulled out, the trajectory is out, the weight then drops and is inserted between the legs from where it’s then pulled out again. This swing is great for resistance training, i.e. it creates as much resistance as possible. In the second kettlebell swing that I demo, the bell is falling back, followed through with a push, the trajectory is up, the weight then drops and the hips move (knee extension) to prevent abrupt stopping of the kettlebell. This is what a true pendulum is, a weight swinging freely, hence, less pulling and more use of momentum. This last type of swing is for cleans and snatches, i.e. the first part of an efficient clean or snatch is this.