Dodgy Jerk, Help a Brother Out

Not claiming that the clean is great either, but my jerk feels decidedly dodgy. Dipping too much and not getting through enough? Any help much appreciated.

Any clean help would also be awesome:

You seem to be leaning forward a little bit during the dip. Focus on keeping your torso completely vertical. Remember also to control the speed of the dip, you seem to be dipping too fast which in turn causes you to pause a little while transitioning from the dip to the drive. The depth of the dip is more of an individual thing, whatever depth gives you the most power.
Overall your jerk technique is pretty decent and I wouldn’t get too worried about it. Focus on getting strong as hell and the technique will fall into place as long as you practice it.

Dave 284,

First, funniest commentary I’ve heard lately. Got to get back to England.

Now, the clean.

  1. at the Set position, have your arms vertical to the bar and the bar over the base of your big toes.
  2. Learn to sweep the bar in (see my article on Pendlay’s forum).
  3. Make sure at the start of the drive(pull) from the floor that the balance on your feet goes from the front to the rear foot area.
  4. Keep your chest up as you leave the floor.
  5. check out Dirty Dancing Don McCauley and Rock and Roll Don McCauley vids on youtube for a bit of help, in general.

The jerk:

As supa said above, you have just a little lean (or toppling) going on as you switch from dipping to driving the bar. You must learn to dip and start the drive up in the Jerk as if your back and but were against a wall and had to stay in contact with it throughout.

  1. Set up for the jerk with your tailbone out a bit and your torso vertical.
  2. dip through the heels and start up through them as well. (lifting your big toes n your shoes at the start of the dip can be helpful teaching you to stay back in the feet longer.)
  3. go up onto the forefeet only to finish up a bit and move your feet.
  4. get your feet down as quickly as possible.(in the correct split jerk positions)

In general, never get the thought that the split has to be a certain length or that you have to overthink getting in under the bar. If you drive the bar correctly, your arm punch will put you in the position that is correct. I agree with supa that your jerk really isn’t that bad. I think the clean needs more basic, technical work.

(and, get some food)LOL

CoachMc

Thank you for the replies.

Coach - I agree that my clean set up isn’t great. I’ve been playing around with it a lot recently but I cant seem to land on a comfortable position that doesnt involve my arms touching my knees to the extent that they bend a little. I guess I need to widen my grip perhaps?

Don’t let my smart-arse training partners fool you, I’m massive!

[quote]Dave284 wrote:
Thank you for the replies.

Coach - I agree that my clean set up isn’t great. I’ve been playing around with it a lot recently but I cant seem to land on a comfortable position that doesnt involve my arms touching my knees to the extent that they bend a little. I guess I need to widen my grip perhaps?

Don’t let my smart-arse training partners fool you, I’m massive![/quote]

Dave,

If the arms are hanging vertically to the bar and are beside the knee joints, a little bend at the start is no problem. You simply allow your arms to be relaxed and sweep the bar inwards towards you as you drive it from the floor. Unless you tense your arms, the bend will disappear as you drive upwards.

CoachMc
(cameras must take pounds off in the UK, instead of putting them on, as they do in the US.)

[quote]coachmccauley wrote:

[quote]Dave284 wrote:
Thank you for the replies.

Coach - I agree that my clean set up isn’t great. I’ve been playing around with it a lot recently but I cant seem to land on a comfortable position that doesnt involve my arms touching my knees to the extent that they bend a little. I guess I need to widen my grip perhaps?

Don’t let my smart-arse training partners fool you, I’m massive![/quote]

Dave,

If the arms are hanging vertically to the bar and are beside the knee joints, a little bend at the start is no problem. You simply allow your arms to be relaxed and sweep the bar inwards towards you as you drive it from the floor. Unless you tense your arms, the bend will disappear as you drive upwards.

CoachMc
(cameras must take pounds off in the UK, instead of putting them on, as they do in the US.)

[/quote]

It’s just something I’ve been conscious as coming from a PL background originally deadlifting like that is a great way to hurt your elbows/biceps. I’ll have a play around with some different positions this week. If I get another video would you mind taking a quick look?
Many thanks for your time.