Clean Technique Help

Training Powerlifting
1

Hey guys. I’m posting because I need help with one of my athletes. I’m a S&C grad assistant, and generally a good coach of the Oly lifts. No one will confuse me for an elite level coach any time soon, but most of the kids I work with can perform the lifts with a mod/high degree of competence.

The athlete I’m referring to is one of my most talented kids, and generally a hard worker in the weight room. The issue is, whenever she goes to “catch” a clean, she drops under the bar by sitting into her knees and keeping her torse damn near perpendicular to the floor. She used to have low back issues (weakness, tightness), but we’ve more or less corrected them (her technique on other lifts is fine), so I think it’s more of a confidence/trusting her body issue than anything physical.

Do you guys know of any drills that can help with this? Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

J

2

I’m not sure what you mean by “sitting into her knees” with the back near perpendicular. Is she leaning forward or backward? If it’s backward, then I think she is pulling the bar in too much at the top instead of whipping the elbows around, in other words, she is trying to reverse curl the bar into position. I would suggest tall cleans, basically cleaning the weight from the third pull. You have her stand up with the weight hanging down in front of her, then with nothing more than a forceful “jump/shrug” under the bar, she whips the elbows around and “catches” the bar in the bottom front squat position. Hope this helps.

If she is leaning forward, then the bar is either getting away from her during the pull, or she is not finishing the pull correctly. Again, tall cleans will help with this.

Maybe some other lifters will chime in also.