lift critique

[Christian Mendoza]

Please check out clips under "competitions" at
http://icecold.exofire.net/media.html

Side views of the same lifts can be seen at
http://kirkwoodweightlifting.info/ under "2008 Behemoth Open"
Just look for "Mendoza" under the "mens" on page 2.

All help is appreciated!

[Yuen Sohn]

You dip and drive forward in your jerk (from the side, if you trace the path of the barbell, it makes a 'V' shape when it should be pretty much straight up and down). A cue I find helpful is to get a big chest/good posture and try to maintain it through the dip and drive. Also, keep the weight near the heels throughout.

Also, you could use a bit more depth in your split position -- right now you're landing with your rear foot flat and your leg straight.

Your 3rd snatch actually looked the best out of all of them (I think you hopped back a few inches on the 2nd attempt).

Just keep working on getting a faster, more powerful extension. And keep squatting

btw, congrats! This is your first meet right?

[Christian Mendoza]

I appreciate the detailed critique. For the snatch, it seems the lighter the weight, I tend to full squat less, and do more of a power snatch. I'm trying not to do that when I train, so that I get the correct muscle memory locked in my brain. I'm still working with only 40-45kg when training so I can be more conscious of that triple extension, as well as the other phases of the lift. I could be over-analyzing, but it does feel like I'm improving. It's definitely an improvement from just over a month ago - I didn't used to brush the bar against my thigh.

As for the clean and jerk, the dip and drive seems to be the more difficult issue now. I'll continue to press (no pun intended!) on and post more videos for more help. Yes, that was my first meet. I was intending 60 for my 3rd snatch, but was feeling pretty confident. I could probably do more than that, but haven't tried yet. Thanks again!