The Problem with the Donkey Kick in Olympic Weightlifting

The Problem with the Donkey Kick in Olympic Weightlifting
Written by Bryce Smith

The famous Olympic lifting coach, Bob Takano, wrote a Crossfit Journal article in October of 2011 where he described the importance of technique in Olympic Weightlifting. He emphasized that, “Many CrossFit WODs are calculated by the number of reps performed or the amount of time taken to perform them, efficient technique is going to save energy on each rep, enabling one or two more reps to be performed during the course of the session. Each rep will also be performed with greater speed, so time is saved as well. Both of these reasons should be enough to convince Crossfitters to hone technique so that it is most efficient.” [1]

Takano also pointed out that another factor that is often overlooked is that optimal technique minimizes the chance of injury. When the technique is well executed, the muscles involved are in balance and do not create imbalanced forces around the joints. This stabilizes joints and puts them in less jeopardy [1]. A safe athlete will be a better athlete because they can spend more time in the gym honing their technique, getting stronger, and optimizing proper motor recruitment patterns.

The issue of topic for today is the donkey kick. The donkey kick takes place when athletes lift their feet off the ground before reaching triple extension (at the ankle, knee, and hip) in order to enhance the noise made by their feet hitting the ground. The problem lies in the fact that when your feet are off the ground, force is not being put into the ground. Once the load on the barbell gets heavy enough, there must be constant force being put on the bar until the bar hits a float phase. At that point, the athlete can pull himself or herself under the bar.

Many strength coaches use the cue to “jump” when performing Olympic lifts; I sometimes use the cue myself. In some cases, it can help certain athletes to be more aggressive with the lifts, but in other cases athletes spend too much time in the air with minimal force production. Newton helped us to understand that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction and using this logic we must push into the ground with the legs until they reach full extension. Once in full extension the feet can leave the ground by skimming the floor and moving from the jumping stance to the squatting or receiving position.

In college, some of my classmates who came from the aerobic world of running, swimming, and biking believed that the fittest athletes were those with lower heart rates. You would have thought they were paramedics with how often they were checking each other’s heart rates. Over time, they became less concerned with the meaning of a low heart rate, and more concerned with the outcome of having a low heart rate. As a result, some of them began taking supplements like beta blockers so they could lower their heart rates as opposed to understanding what a low heart rate signifies [1]. Typically, low heart rates are seen in well-trained individuals who have low blood viscosity. The heart is very strong and can pump a sufficient amount of blood to the body and all of its organs and working muscles extremely efficiently in these athletes.

The donkey kick in Olympic weightlifting is very similar to the analogy above. Someone, at some point, decided that if an athlete’s feet made a sound, that an athlete could lift more, lift faster, and lift for a long period of time [1]. That reasoning is like saying the guy grunting in the corner of a globo gym while benching on the smith machine with no weight on either side is the strongest guy west of the Mississippi. Let’s be real and look at the facts; more often than not, the donkey kick accentuates the fact that the lifter did not reach full extension and is not making full use of the legs to maximize their ability in the lift.

So how do we fix this problem? I have found a couple of ways. First, help them understand that the feet need to continue to put force into the ground until triple extension is achieved. At that point they can hover over the floor as they slide from a jumping stance to a squatting stance. If the explanation does not work, have the athlete work on tall cleans or tall snatches. In both of these drills, they utilize light loads and begins in triple extension with the heels off the ground. The athlete can only pull the bar with the arms and slide the feet from hip width to shoulder width. Due to the athlete only pulling with the arms, there is no time for a donkey kick, which makes for a faster and more efficient transition under the bar.

References

[1]Takano, Bob. “Ditching the Donkey Kick.” Crossfit Journal (2011): n. pag. Web. Aug. 2015.