Common Mistake
The thumb is pointing forward with an explosive or powerful clean. If the thumb is pointing forward and the elbow is back then the elbow receives stress and can hyperextended unless the elbow flexors start bending the arm early and/or keep the elbow slightly flexed during the pull to avoid stress on the joint.
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Solution
Point the thumb in so that the handle is horizontal. When working with two kettlebells, it’s pointing the thumbs toward each other. Forearm pronation is what points the elbow laterally which allows the arm to pull heavy weight without stressing the elbow joint.
Description
This issue can occur with a dead, hang or even a swingclean that is explosive or powerful, i.e. the intention is to perform the movement as fast as possible. The opposite is a pendulum clean, which is a clean in which this is okay.
Here’s a photo of what this looks like.
Here’s a photo of what it should look like.
As the elbow joint is a hinge joint, movement is in only one plane and the elbow only extends to a straight arm (or slightly past with some people). When pulling a heavy weight and the weight moves in or the shoulders move back then this will produce stress on the elbow joint, unless this stress is prevented by the elbow flexors flexing, which is not a good thing during a pull. The force will be transferred to the tendons which can lead to tendon issues.
The arms need to stay straight during a pull until the weight(s) enter the ballistic flight.
Related Exercises
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