Joint pain from overhead squats

[Marshall Adam Pecsek]

Hey guys. I'm new to this site and glad I found it. I've been doing power cleans and power snatches on and off for about three years. About two months ago, I started working on full-on snatches and cleans. The cleans are coming along well, but I've been having some trouble with my snatches, particularly the overhead squat. I don't have a full time coach, but there are several oly lifters at the gym I use. I've had two say that my form overall looks good, but that I'm not getting deep enough and this will eventually come.

Anyway, my problem is that when I go past parallel on OHS, I get a sharp pain in my left hip and it radiates down to my knee. It feels, in nature and severity, a lot like a rotator cuff impingement I was diagnosed with about a year ago (and fixed through PT). So, I imagine something is getting pinched. It's not severe, but it's nagging. The best way for me to avoid it is to squat really duck-footed, with my feet pointing out at 45 degrees. I've also been working with the bar, trying to get 10 reps with the bar alone. I've been working on stretches and body weight squats, like the pistol, for the past week. If it keeps up, I'm going to an ortho, but I wanted to ask you guys - have any of you had this sort of trouble from OHS before? Is it a flexibility thing?

[Greg Everett]

You may be squatting too narrow and not externally rotated enough. That it clears up when you toe out more suggests that you just don't have enough hip space in less rotated positions at that depth. All the same, keep working on your hip flexibility and get someone to have a look - might even be an issue in your lower back.