The elusive snatch...a snapshot

I too like to snatch shirtless...

The lift that frustrates most kettlebell athletes is the snatch. I spend a lot of time thinking about my snatch and how to improve it. I dream about snatching. I ponder snatching while driving to Juno. I get nervous before every snatch training. I have been working on this lift consistently for almost 2 years, and it never EVER seems to get easier, some days I find my rhythm, most days I don't.
The snatch is broken down into what seems like a bajillion components, and here they are, as I  understand them, both in technical language AND what goes through my head at each part...

1. Technical speak: the swing:  the swing starts the pendulum movement of the bell, moving from your backswing (behind you) to the top of the swing, where the bell is weightless. Your hips MUST follow through, using them to move the bell without interrupting the pendulum.  My head: fuck me, the bell keeps hitting me in my ass. My stupid hamstrings are too tight to move out of the way, maybe I should do some yoga to stretch them. I hate yoga.
2. Technical speak: the acceleration pull/transverse rotation of the hips: right at the top of the swing, the bell is weightless. Right at this point you twist your hips a wee bit and...pull the bell, this is starts the throw of the bell upwards and helps it remain weightless until the top, basically pitching the bell upwards. Your upper body is slightly leaning back, this keeps the bell closer to your body, preventing it from pulling you forward. Note: this is not way up high, it is a low pull, right at hip level. My head: huh? what did you just say? like this??? ok, how about like...this? what the fuck, I don't get this shit at all. Stupid kettlebells. I quit.
3. Technical speak: insertion of your hand through the handle: this is catching the bell. You don't want to catch it at the top, because you don't want to wrench your shoulder. You insert your hand through the handle about a foot in front of you (the bell magically having turned around your hand rather than flipping over it) this makes the landing of the bell on your forearm soft, and prevents the shoulder wrench. You then ride the bell to the top, slowing momentum up to your lockout. My head: that was way to high, even I could feel that. Why can I do it with my right hand and not my left?

And now for bringing the bell back down:

1. Technical speak: coming out of the lockout to drop/deload the bell. This is done by leaning back a bit and at the same time "unlocking your arm" by moving it forward at the shoulder. While moving your arm you are also internally rotating the arm and body. You allow gravity to move the bell, you are not throwing it, you don't want to waste any energy hurling the bell down. At the same time, maneuver the bell around your hand (not flipping it) by a slight turn, again pitching and catching the bell. At the last minute, you move your torso forward again, move your hips out of the bells way and...voila, you start again. This is a very precise sequence to avoid pulling on your arm or wrecking your grip.  My head: the damn thing yanked my arm AND hit me in the ass again. How many more times do I have to do this? I should just put it down. Oh god, my grip is going. I'm really tired. Did I mention I quit?

I fully realize that this is just a smidge of the bajillion components. I haven't even touched on using bigger muscles in the back instead of the eleventy-thousand muscles of the shoulder or relaxing at certain points. This is a snapshot, after all.

S-N-A-T-C-H!!!

My client Nathan pointed out: "You know, maybe you should be a bit more positive about kettlebells, you do want people to come and learn them. Stop scaring them." to which my eyes rolled. But I suppose he's kind of right so here's the rah rah section:
This last week of training my snatch has been really good, especially with my right arm.
But I'm not holding my breath.
Stupid fickle snatch.

-juliet