I am in the process of learning olympic lifts…I’ve read a few articles on this site and reviewed the video’s on exrx.net…but I am still wondering about the “explosiveness” of the moves. How far do you actually jump off the ground? (clean- transition into the squat, jerk- transition to press/spilt). The video on exrx.net is small and a bit fast, does anyone have a link to a better video?
Thanks.
When I first learned olypmic lifts, I was taught that it’s not so much of a jump as getting your feet out tot he side. So I guess you should think more ‘out’ than ‘up’.
www.crossfit.com/cf-info/excercise.html
http://www.uwlax.edu/strengthcenter/videos/video_index.htm
enjoy
Actually, I heard the exact opposite, that you should jump up and not jump out.
As for how far you leave the ground, I think that depends. If you look at the above picture, you see that you do leave the ground a little bit.
My guess is that if you leave the ground too much, you’re jumping by pushing up you ass (bad) as opposed to pushing your feet through the floor (good). Or you’re using too light of a weight.
I personally find that the heavier I go, the less I actually leave the ground.
[quote]blooey wrote:
Actually, I heard the exact opposite, that you should jump up and not jump out.
As for how far you leave the ground, I think that depends. If you look at the above picture, you see that you do leave the ground a little bit.
My guess is that if you leave the ground too much, you’re jumping by pushing up you ass (bad) as opposed to pushing your feet through the floor (good). Or you’re using too light of a weight.
I personally find that the heavier I go, the less I actually leave the ground. [/quote]
I don’t think it’s one or the other. The rule, as taught to me by one of the best pound-for-pound olympic lifters in the Northeast, is that you want your feet to go out a few inches, which simultaneously causes you to leave the floor.
This is done so that you are in a better position to catch the clean at its highest point and drop into a smooth transition for the front squat, which should be done with a slightly wider stance than a power clean anyways.
You are strongest when your feet are on the floor, so the shorter the time period is that your feet are off the floor, the better.
I found that if i try to actually jump up with my feet getting hang time, my form gets too loose. My biggest problem is not fully extending my legs in anticipation of diving under the bar.
[quote]bigblue244 wrote:
blooey wrote:
Actually, I heard the exact opposite, that you should jump up and not jump out.
As for how far you leave the ground, I think that depends. If you look at the above picture, you see that you do leave the ground a little bit.
My guess is that if you leave the ground too much, you’re jumping by pushing up you ass (bad) as opposed to pushing your feet through the floor (good). Or you’re using too light of a weight.
I personally find that the heavier I go, the less I actually leave the ground.
I don’t think it’s one or the other. The rule, as taught to me by one of the best pound-for-pound olympic lifters in the Northeast, is that you want your feet to go out a few inches, which simultaneously causes you to leave the floor.
This is done so that you are in a better position to catch the clean at its highest point and drop into a smooth transition for the front squat, which should be done with a slightly larger stance than a power clean anyways.
You are strongest when your feet are on the floor, so the shorter the time period is that your feet are off the floor, the better.[/quote]
Good point. I’m no expert, but I definitely do catch cleans and snatches with a wider stance than I start with. But it seems that the change is just a natural part of the movement rather than something I have to remember to do.
What surprised me was the OP saying you should focus on forcing your feet out. I just wanted him to remember to catch his cleans deep (in a deep front squat) rather than wide (in a split). Of course, those aren’t mutually exclusive, but it wasn’t natural for me to do the former, in any case.
Here you go, mate:
www.aceathlete.com/hatch/video.htm
Flash videos of Coach Gayle Hatch explaining everyting from the back squat to clean pulls, with all the O-lifts in between.
thanks for the replies everyone…those links look great! I am only using a body bar right now to learn, which almost makes it more difficult because of the lack of resistance. I should probably move up to an Olympic bar, even an empty one, so I can “feel” what I’m doing.
One of the things with working with a lightweight bar is that it becomes possible to lift the weight up using any technique that you want. Or once, I hit myself in the chin when practising on an empty olympic bar because I did the movement fully explosively.
ONe of the great things about working with the bar is practicing getting under the bar. You stand with the bar in a snatch grip and with a tiny dip forward, give a quick pull and jump under the bar…catching it in a full squat snatch. Keep doing it, trying to get faster faster.
[quote]Krollmonster wrote:
ONe of the great things about working with the bar is practicing getting under the bar. You stand with the bar in a snatch grip and with a tiny dip forward, give a quick pull and jump under the bar…catching it in a full squat snatch. Keep doing it, trying to get faster faster.[/quote]
I’ve done shrug cleans (an explosive shrug followed by a catch) with only the bar to practice dropping underneath to catch.
Your olympic lifting technique with an empty bar should be the same as when approaching maximal weights.
[quote]wressler125 wrote:
Krollmonster wrote:
ONe of the great things about working with the bar is practicing getting under the bar. You stand with the bar in a snatch grip and with a tiny dip forward, give a quick pull and jump under the bar…catching it in a full squat snatch. Keep doing it, trying to get faster faster.
I’ve done shrug cleans (an explosive shrug followed by a catch) with only the bar to practice dropping underneath to catch.
Your olympic lifting technique with an empty bar should be the same as when approaching maximal weights. [/quote]
Are you the wrestler who works in the RIT weightroom?
[quote]Miserere wrote:
Here you go, mate:
www.aceathlete.com/hatch/video.htm
Flash videos of Coach Gayle Hatch explaining everyting from the back squat to clean pulls, with all the O-lifts in between.[/quote]
Incredible SITE. Amazing Resource.
If it’s at all possible for you to get coaching from a real-life oly coach, by all means do so, even if only for a few sessions.
It can take a long time to unlearn bad habits, if they are ever completely unlearned, and the lifts are never as simple as they look in a video presentation, even in ones that are as good as Coach Hatch’s are.
Find a coach if you can. If not, Perfect your technique the best you can, and maybe video yourself to help you critique. At the least, keep your mind open so that if you do eventually pick up a coach and he tells you you have bad habits you can kick them easier.
Don’t move your feet out to the side a whole bunch. Arthur Dreschler has talked about this from time to time. Basically, feet moving out a few inches is fine, especially if you are a frog stance c&j guy. BUT, the natural temptation is to do what I’ve seen a lot of frat boys do and punch your feet out 24inches to catch it in a power squat position. This is not healthy technique. Get comfortable with some side out motion, but keep it toned down.
My .02
[quote]Kliplemet wrote:
different schools of thought
some say pull pull pull and just drop, i your feet were narrow they will adjust to a wider stand during the descend, but not imeadiatly
some say make an agressive jump for a stronger position[/quote]
Some say go to school and learn how to spell/type/form proper sentences.
[quote]Miserere wrote:
Here you go, mate:
www.aceathlete.com/hatch/video.htm
Flash videos of Coach Gayle Hatch explaining everyting from the back squat to clean pulls, with all the O-lifts in between.[/quote]
Hell, that kid Matt is incredible.
[quote]Krollmonster wrote:
wressler125 wrote:
Krollmonster wrote:
ONe of the great things about working with the bar is practicing getting under the bar. You stand with the bar in a snatch grip and with a tiny dip forward, give a quick pull and jump under the bar…catching it in a full squat snatch. Keep doing it, trying to get faster faster.
I’ve done shrug cleans (an explosive shrug followed by a catch) with only the bar to practice dropping underneath to catch.
Your olympic lifting technique with an empty bar should be the same as when approaching maximal weights.
Are you the wrestler who works in the RIT weightroom?[/quote]
Indeed. Sometimes I think I am spending too much time in the gym…