How to Snatch - Updated Version

This is another tutorial for snatching. More specific I feel, as I see a lot of people pulling incorrectly, which leads to an ugly Snatch. My main issue is people that start with their shoulders way over the bar, then after the knees they have to swing their torso upright whilst using the lats to bring it in, this overuse of lats can cause arm bending if the timing of hips and torso verticality are off. This also result in a lot of bar banging, instead of brushing the hips, resulting in an arc motion, meaning the lift is very often lost behind them, as well as a lot of bruising and pain.

Some people have adapted to this, and got strong enough to muscle the bar into place, but I feel if you learn it the way I will describe, you will make more progress consistently.

Now, why should you listen to me? Don't, it's fully your right to ignore, there are hundreds of weightlifter that have much higher lifts and totals than me. But My status has had lots of downs, and the most recent being a Stroke in Vietnam. This reduced me to basically nothing. Now, I can just about Snatch (but it causes pain in my right arm) and my ability to clean is gone. I will work on bringing these things back, but I think it's safe to say my goal of becoming a British Weightlifter is over.

However, throughout my weightlifting career I have done absolutely insane amounts of research and theoretical work. I never had a Coach, because they weren't available, so I had to become my own coach, filming analysing myself, catching fractions of things being off, and forever tweaking and changing small things. So, this should give me a fair bit of Theoretical knowledge, particularly in the Snatch. So now, my goal is to become a Coach, but potentially through Email, as I will live out in Vietnam instead of England.

So, lets get down to snatching 101.

Alex


The start of the Snatch, the initiation of first pull. This is a good place to start, if your first and second pull are incorrect, the entire Snatch will be off.

The optimal Start Position will vary, depending on Shin length, Femur length, Arm length, Torso length.. but there are some simple Key Points that help us hit good positions regardless of these variables.

The most important part, should be your Shoulder joint. When viewed from the side it should directly above the bar. This is not the muscle of the shoulder, but the central joint system within. The actual outside shoulder will be slightly in front of the bar, more or less depending on the amount of muscle the lifter has in the shoulder. So as you progress in Weightlifting, if your shoulders grow, this will visually change, but fundamentally stay the same.

This position largely decides the Hip position. You want them as low as possible so that your torso is quite close to vertical. If you are a larger lifter with a longer torso, or femurs then you will want to move your feet out so that you can sit your hips right down between your femurs. You can also (and should) point your toes outwards, and your knees out to facilitate this. (Pulling with knees out also shortens the distance of the femur that the bar travels, ideal for all lifters, but especially for people with long femurs. It allows you to keep your torso more vertical whilst pulling.

The bar should be close, or touching your shins. Having your knees outwards also lessens artificially the length of the shins, reducing the distance the bar travels in the 1st pull. Making the overall pull shorter. When you initiate the pull, your knees should travel back to allow a vertical pull of the bar. You should practice this section of the pull a few times.

When the bar passes your knees, if you keep it out like this it will pull you onto your toes, you will likely fall forward. So, the knees should begin to come forward, at the same time your back will approach a more vertical angle. Your Lats will act isometrically simply to keep the bar in balance. It's not something you need to think about doing most of the time, as it will come naturally. Your shoulders will still be above the bar.  Your arms will start to feel a bit of tension now, as a result of the Lats activating, it is a chain system of muscle, so it's fine. The only problem is if your torso is vertical, this Lat system will have to active strongly, this is why many horizontal back lifters have problems with their arms bending, it's unconscious but a reaction of the Lats firing aggressively and the arms being affected as it is a chain system.

This movement should be fairly quick, the distance of bar travel is not far. When the bar is an inch from the hips, you begin the extension. Your feet should still be flat on the floor until they are pulled onto their toes by the extension. Your shoulders should still be above the bar at this point, this is commonly called 'The Power Position', as this is the point you generate the most power, even slow pulling can be fine, Chinese and lower weight classes do pull slowly, because they do not have very far for the bar to travel to their hips. But heavier weight classes unfortunately do have a fair distance to travel. So they need some momentum from a fast pull. But as a beginner, you should pull slowly whatever your weight class, so you know that you pull correctly, you can speed it up once you have it down.

Now you should tug upwards and backwards with your head and upper back. This should automatically result in 'Triple extension' if you pull hard enough.

Then, you begin to pull with arms. With a light weight, this is pulling the bar up, but the same movement with a heavy weight, is pulling you under. You should attempt to pull your elbows up towards your neck. This doesn't doesn't actually happen, but should be the mental attempt.

As you pull the bar up,  your  body will be pulled down and under the bar simultaneously. If you are not attempting to power snatch, you should get into the bottom catch position as fast as possible.

When the bar is close to the overhead position, your back should be tight and ready to receive the load. Your legs should be tight, but not too tight, enough to absorb the impact,  you should be able to sink a little when the bar is caught.

Your elbows should be fully extended, your shoulder blades pinned back, your back tight and you head through. The weight should be on mid to back foot, but not entirely heels, as you will likely lose it behind. If it is on your toes it is too far forward and you will have to fight to get it back.

Now it is caught. You should take a moment to check the balance, check everything is ok. Then simply stand up. Your torso will lean slightly forward when you stand up, but if everything is ok in the bottom, it will be ok standing up.

That's all there is to it. Now, depending on different lifters, certain positions may feel optimal. This is simply a basic guide, after you get used to it, feel free to start tweaking and making adjustment tailored to your preference and body type. I hope this was helpful, if you have any questions please post them in the comments, or send me an email at agram@hotmail.co.uk.

Thanks
Alex