3-Position Snatch and Clean Critique

[Clayton Mac]

Below are a couple of videos from my last training session. Looking for any critique that would help me get better. Things to tweak, deficiencies to correct/address.

From past critiques I know I tend to let my butt rise too fast and then row the bar back into my kips prior to the jump. Both videos have the loads at 70%. I'm trying to work on maintaining back positioning, not tipping over, and not rowing the bar.

Also, my recieving position in the clean I know is sketchy. I have terrible ankle flexion and tend to sit behind my feet instead of come down directly on top of my feet. Any suggestions or tips to improve in that area would be greatly appreciated too.

Thanks!

Snatch - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BFIcnnrgEJU

Clean and Jerk - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bMCMW...eature=related

[Steve Pan]

Cleans - Not bad. Keep working on those ankles. Sitting in a squat and trying to stretch the ankles with your body weight (forearm over the knee) or a barbell over your quad will help. The positions are pretty good for the clean, I would focus on trying to change directions faster from that extension to pulling yourself under, I have heard Greg say to think about it as one movement rather than splitting them up, I think this is the best way to think about that transition. The quicker you are there the better chance you have of racking that bar and resisting the weight. I would also suggest holding that high hang/mid thigh position for a second before going. In both of the videos you dipped down and went, and I feel that caused some problems and made you a little unstable.

Snatches - The main problem here was your posture under the bar. You have a tendency to dip your chest or "dive" through as you pull yourself under. You want to focus on that posture under the bar and keeping that posture up as you pull under, punch up, and sit in. This can be fixed with some tall snatches and snatch balances where you focus on keeping that posture tight and upright as you receive the weight and squat down. I would also suggest setting that top position for a second on that third snatch.

Overall pretty good, it seems like an improvement over the last videos I saw you post from a while ago.

Good luck with training, I hope this helps!

[Clayton Mac]

Thanks for the critique Steve. I really appreciate it. I never thought of using loading my thigh to increase the stretch in the bottom on my ankles. I will definitely try that.

I see what you mean about diving my upper body under the bar on my snatch. I will definitely be working on maintaining more of a vertical posuture in the bottom. I wonder if my lack of ankle flexion might be causing me some problems with being vertical. I hope increasing flexibiblity there will help both lifts.

Here is a Clean and Jerk from this morning. I didn't quite feel "on" this morning. Not sure what my deal was. You will notice the instability in the jerk. I took it for a bit of a walk. It was my first set with a belt. Not sure if that had anything to do with it. Load is around 91-92%.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gwjTZ..._order&list=UL

Here is a miss from last week. It was around 97% of my best clean and would have been a PR for the Clean and Jerk. Pardon the tantrum I threw afterwards...I noticed that my elbows drop during the dip and the bar slides a little down my chest. Do you see any other nuances in either lift that I need to address?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hrfp3..._order&list=UL

Thanks again for taking the time to critique my lifts. I really appreciate it!!

[Steve Pan]

Basically same things to work on with those cleans, keep working those pulls and that change of direction from the top.

With the jerk it seems your legs collapse in a little during the dip. This leads to that bar getting kicked out because your dip ends up getting a little crazy. A few exercises that would be good are jerk dip squats and really focusing on pushing out with the legs and getting the dip depth consistent and straight. You can then combine those with jerks, a few Jerk Dip Squats while keeping them consistent followed by a jerk. Another exercise that I feel is effective to correct this is a pause jerk. Basically you hold the bottom of your dip for a few seconds and then drive it up to jerk it. These are difficult because you will feel like you are going to pass out on them, so be careful.

[Clayton Mac]

Awesome..thanks for taking the time to look at it so closely. I went back and watched the videos. I see what you mean about my dip. I have been focusing so much on my rack that I neglected the technical aspect of the dip. I had never noticed my poor knee position, but I see it now. Thanks. What percentages do you recommend for the jerk-dip squats?

Also, any recommendations for drills that are useful for changing direction faster? Or is it just something that I need to focus on during my normal routine?

Thanks again Steve!

[Steve Pan]

For the dip squats you can go heavy as long as you keep good positions. As for the changing directions from the bottom of the dip, it is something you will have to work on while you jerk.

[Clayton Mac]

Thanks for the advice. I was actually referring to changing directions to receive the bar on the clean portion of the lift.

Any drills or mental cues to help?

Thanks again!