Snatch critique

[Kenny Westerman]

Hi All,
Here is a video of an attempt at a 130 lb. snatch triple:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wxdo2ZMde3Q
Any tips would be much appreciated. I know I have the strength for the triple because I was able to complete it afterwards, but in the last rep here I dump the bar forward, which happens in most of my snatch misses though I can't figure out the cause.

[Spencer Mackay]

I think you lose it forward because you're not sitting into your bottom position consistently. When you catch the bar, you still have a bit of forward lean with the torso; extend your arms in a straight line following from your torso and they are going to be pointing 45 degrees forward, you won't be able to sit down in this position. Catching the weight here will be taxing on your shoulder flexibility.

The bar may be contacting slightly low on the hip, it could maybe be slightly higher, this improve the vertical line of the bar.

Do some t-spine, hip and ankle mobility work to iron out your bottom position. Mix in snatch balances, 1-1/4 overhead squats and things to sit deeper.

[Keith Miller]

You're not sitting into the bottom, period. Get yourself down, and sit into the bottom position. If you catch it high, stop where you catch the bar, then ride it down into the bottom, then recover. Whatever you need to do to get there!!

[Kenny Westerman]

Thanks for the help, guys. I posted that video because it was the most recent, but here is a link to another triple where I catch in the full bottom position. As you can see I am pretty inconsistent, so any tips to help consistency would be great.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bEQRdYfNJSQ

[Spencer Mackay]

Kenny, it's hard to see from that angle but you are maybe pulling around your knees a little. You look quite tall so this will (kind of) be a given. Work hard to drive your knees back as part of the pull from the floor. I think the pull line would probably be good after this point.

A key point for you to catch it in the bottom would be to re-flex the hips immediately after punching them through. The quicker you can do this, the better. If you re-flex the hips and sit back, you will sit down. Think of a back squat. If the hips don't sit back and down you will probably jam the bar and push it forward, which is what you seem to do when you miss.

High hang work heavy weight will force you to be quick going down, and the movements I mentioned above will ingrain the bottom position.

Nice work, stick in.

[Greg Everett]

The lifts are quite good. You just aren't good at that bottom position. More practice. Sit in all the way on every single rep you do, no matter how light and how high you catch it. Sit in the bottom for 3 sec. Every time.

When you recover, push up on the bar and follow it with your body. In the second video, you're pushing your hips back excessively as you stand - stand up not back.

[Kenny Westerman]

Thanks again for the help. When looking over the videos, I realized that I look up during the end of the pull, I think because it helps me feel like I'm getting full extension -- is this a problem?

[Greg Everett]

Originally Posted by Kenny Westerman

When looking over the videos, I realized that I look up during the end of the pull, I think because it helps me feel like I'm getting full extension -- is this a problem?

Not necessarily, but I discourage it. Throwing your head back usually does 2 things: 1, it encourages the hips to move too far through the bar, and 2, it prevents you from maintaining a consistent focal point throughout the lift, which means it's more difficult to orient yourself and maintain balance.