BostonBarrister, Funny? We did plyo as well ~ LOTS!
~ j
floobadoo, many OLers clean with weights that are close to their deadlifts… but there are certainly guys out there who have huge deadlifts who could never clean anything close. overall, deadlifts and cleans dont have much correlation, theres a much better correlation to squats and cleans, since the second pull (the important part) of a clean is very upright and not much like a pull. and yes, i believe 600lbs has been cleaned, but not in competition.
i dont think going on the toes a little early is really that bad. seems like it would be, but many, many of ;the top lifters do it. not something id worry much about if i was coaching someone. i would, however, worry about the shoulder/wrist thing. if someone is putting stress in these areas, they are probably catching the bar incorrectly, most likely with the elbows pointing too far towards the ground. your arms/elbows/wrists shouldnt really be carrying any of ;the load when you catch a clean, the bar should land on the shoulders with the arms in a position almost parrallel to the floor and they might even be relaxed, certainly the wrists are relaxed on most lifters, the lifter has to learn to relax the hand and actually let go of the bar to catch a clean correctly, the hand is usually open when the bar is caught on the shoulders.