Tonight I wanted to dig into some actual analysis, as opposed to Spencer’s destruction of David’s “My Way” Snatch. The irony of the Snatch is that while it is a massively complicated lift, when performed by novice lifters, its flaws usually boil down to one of two things, and those two things are usually related.
1) Loading Sequence Disfunction.
Many of you have been taught to “jump” as you guide the BB through the second pull, and begin to try to elevate it on a vertical pathway. There is no problem with this cue, and I will not debate the merits of the “triple extension style” vs. “the catapult”. They both have there place, and both may work for different lifters. The inherent issue, however, with the jump cue is that if the “jump” begins too early, the BB is not only nearly impossible to pull to the pelvis, but the full destructive ability of the massively powerful hips will be muted and left to be made up for by the massively puny gastrocs. I see this issue with 90% of my clients and competitive athletes, in fact, I’d say at some point I see it with every person I coach on this lift. The beauty of lifting off blocks is that, especially off the hip height version, we can completely eliminate any early loading of the balls of the feet, and focus solely on the athlete bringing the hips to the bar before elevating. The same holds true from the high blocks, except now we can add the element of having to execute a pull to the pelvis, without allowing for any mistake that may be involved in clearing the knees from the first pull. Here are a couple of examples of sequencing:
Klokov, almost through the 2nd pull, feet still flat:
Hui, nearly the same position, feet still flat:
Klokov, BB in the pelvis, and now the balls of the feet are loaded:
Hui, BB in the pelvis, and loaded the same:
The thing you may have noticed about both of these lifts is that the shoulders are directly over the bar, and the feet are still flat. When the shoulders/torso pull behind the BB, then the lifter’s weight slides forward onto balls of the feet and the ankle extends. If the BB doesn’t reach the pelvis, and the lifter attempts to load the balls of the feet, then the barbell will be left away from the body and the lift will be missed forward. How many of you miss forward—often? Again, I’m not arguing that ankle extension is unnecessary. I am, however, arguing that ankle extension—out of sequence—is a frequent and major flaw for novice lifters. Here is footage taken from Spencer’s Hi-Hang that was posted last night. It demonstrates the loading sequence piece by piece, and should allow you to see a moving example of the shoulders passing behind the bar, THEN the ankles being loaded.
2) Failure To Contact The Pelvis.
To be continued…
WOD 120706:
BB Gymnastics
5X3 Split Jerk off Blocks – heavy but clean, rest 90 sec.
Notes: You may use racks, but blocks are absolutely the suggestion. These do not have to be UB reps, and are designed to be dropped on the blocks after each rep.
Strength
1a) 10X2 Banded Deadlifts @ 50% Bar Weight + 25% Band Tension – rest 45 sec.
Notes: The bar should be loaded with 50% of the 1RM Deadlift. Band tension should equal 25% of 1RM at the top of the lift. Judging band weight and setup is explained in this DEMO VIDEO
1b) 5X5 Seated BB Shoulder Press – heaviest possible (all sets), rest 2+ minutes
Notes: These should be performed between every other set of Deadlifts. These should be done sitting on a box or bench with no back. Feet should be in contact with the floor as the BB is locked out overhead. Make sure to absolutely lock out every single rep. Do not allow feet to break contact with the floor and “float”.
Conditioning
15 minutes Row for Meters.
20 seconds ALL OUT – 40 seconds Active Recovery
Notes: Active Recovery should be enough to keep the flywheel moving, but should allow the athlete to return to normal breathing and lower heart rate by the next all out effort.
