How To Make Your Kettlebell Snatch Better
I’ve been spending a good portion of my strength training routine performing kettlebell snatches lately.
My last snatch session saw me complete 120 kettlebell snatches. While it wasn’t heavy — I was snatching only 20kg — a few technique tweaks have made the weight feel heavier, as I am putting more power into the kettlebell, and the movement has become more efficient as a result.
If improving your kettlebell snatch is important to you, keep reading. You’ll be sure to pick up some helpful hints.
The goal of the kettlebell snatch, and any strength exercise, really, isn’t about simply doing more reps. It is about getting more out of less.
More (effective and productive) out of less (reps and/or sets).
Don’t mistake doing more as equating to better. Don’t get it twisted: better is better.
Now, onto the good stuff! How to make your kettlebell snatch look and feel better.
Now that you have the underlying key concepts behind the kettlebell snatch, along with how and why it is different from a kettlebell swing and a kettlebell clean, we may continue.
Here is some practical advice to make YOUR kettlebell snatch better and more effective.
Firstly, “bell down”. Meaning, go lighter than you think you need to, or currently snatch.
Most people who I see kettlebell snatching — and this is true for StrongFirst instructors and “kettlebell coaches” online — are snatching too heavy and/or with inefficient technique.
That’s because the hardstyle kettlebell snatch is actually ‘a clean that finishes overhead’.
I first learned and truly understood this concept after discussing and unpacking it via paid kettlebell lessons, many texts, and audio messages with my mentor and coach, the Snatch Overlord, Tim Almond.
If you want to know why or how the kettlebell snatch (and clean) differs from the hardstyle kettlebell swing, I have something that will help paint the picture. Not with words, but with actions…as they tend to speak volumes.
Watch this video for a breakdown of the difference in the projection of force between a kettlebell snatch and the kettlebell swing.
FYI: Tim is a 3-time Tactical Strength Challenge winner. He holds the TSC Classic Division snatch record of 165 reps in 5 minutes with a 24kg kettlebell and is the man I looked to when learning how to kettlebell snatch.
While I can’t (yet) snatch 48kg for reps like Tim used to, I aspire to have technique solid enough to one day be able to, without ego lifting a kettlebell that heavy.
I am humble enough to know my limits and not delude myself into snatching beyond my skill or strength.
That’s because the snatch is a submaximal lift designed for power development. Meaning you need speed, not just pure strength, or muscling the weight up because it’s beyond your current capabilities.
Below are some clips of me performing the kettlebell snatch. Look at my technique and how it has evolved through the years. From 2021 all the way to my most recent kettlebell snatches last week, in November 2025.
If you’re new to the kettlebell snatch or simply want to improve your current technique and refine your mechanics to get more out of it, then the kettlebell half snatch might be worth considering.
This is where you snatch the bell on the concentric (up phase), then lower it into the rack position, before guiding the bell down between the legs on the eccentric (down phase) to re-snatch again, or park the bell.
This isn’t just a regression but a great exercise in its own right. It will teach you how to be powerful on the up phase and how to keep the kettlebell close to you on the way down. These are all good things when it comes to snatching heavy and/or for high volume.
Here are two videos, from 2023 and 2024, respectively, showcasing the kettlebell half-snatch and a variation/progression using a band. This is employed to encourage more power from your lower body and to make your snatch hip-dominant, promoting a vertical projection of force (VPOF).
After reading the book Kettlebell Axe, by Pavel Tsatsouline, I decided to try out some of his kettlebell snatch protocols, using a 24kg kettlebell. You can see that below.
If you don’t like doing one side, resting, and then snatching the other side, you may consider the hand-to-hand (H2H) switch, as shown below.
Most recently, I have begun using the “face-the-wall” snatch to promote an even greater vertical projection of force. The goal is simple: don’t hit the wall.
Make the kettlebell travel in the shortest distance possible, by travelling up and down, and not being cast forward and away from your body.
It is a very wise idea to video your training sessions and lifts so you get an accurate assessment of your technique. Review footage of your kettlebell snatch, from various angles. Front on, side on, 45°, and even from behind, as shown below.
This will help you understand what you think is happening and what you are doing, and where the kettlebell is in space, versus where is actually is (perception vs reality).
As you can hopefully see, my snatch has changed and improved over the years, becoming MUCH more powerful, as demonstrated by the faster kettlebell speed.
It has gone from the traditional kettlebell swing hinge — where the bell is behind you, with a large arc, travelling a larger distance, and finishing overhead — to now, a much tighter, more efficient snatch where the kettlebell travels primarily up and down rather than backwards, then forward, and finally, up.
I hope this inspires you to think more deeply and critically about the kettlebell snatch and look beyond the standard technique that is shown and discussed online.
The hardstyle kettlebell snatch does NOT have the same hinge as a kettlebell swing. It simply can’t…for it to be the most efficient movement possible, which means travelling the shortest distance possible.
As I have argued, the kettlebell swing has a horizontal projection of force (kettlebell travels FORWARD), whereas the kettlebell snatch has a vertical projection of force (kettlebell travels UP).
I hope this enlightens you to the best way to begin, or continue your kettlebell training, and journey towards a better and more powerful kettlebell snatch.
Whether you are preparing for the dreaded 5-minute snatch test, the SFG1 or SFG2 kettlebell certification delivered by StrongFirst, or simply want to become more powerful, learning how to snatch safely and efficiently is paramount.
But more important than that alone, I want to teach you HOW to think — not just WHAT to think.
Kettlebell training has evolved considerably over the years and has advanced since Pavel Tsatouline first introduced it to the West over 25 years ago. I have learned a tremendous amount from reading and watching Pavel, in-person coaching and ongoing communication with Tim Almond, and from the teachings of many other StrongFirst instructors over my coaching career.
That is why I urge you to think about the kettlebell snatch critically. Don’t get caught up in the hype or drawn into how difficult, mentally and physically exhausting it is. It can (and will) produce incredible results for you when done efficiently and with the right dose.
It was Tim who first enlightened me to the fact that the kettlebell snatch is different to the kettlebell swing, so I am in part paying homage to the man who helped me, and hope this article serves as a way to “pay it forward” to someone else.
I help you, and then you send this article or share this with someone else, and the cycle continues.
That way, you can improve what you know, so you too can enhance the quality and then quantity of your kettlebell snatch. That’s because when you know better, you can do better.
Now, go and do some snatches.
How many?
All of them!