[quote]lordstorm88 wrote:
[quote]You aren’t getting under the bar that fast - Kroll is right. You hang a lot at the top and end up racing the bar down. You’ll notice it more on your cleans; its not an issue of arm speed - you basically start coming underneath as the bar starts to fall. In a race like that, only gravity wins.
Worrying about your shoulders or arms right now is a bit moot, I think. It looks like you are trying to do something with them, and that makes you look slow at the top of your second pull. I think you should focus on leg speed/power as your extension looks sluggish. Your explosion needs to be bigger![/quote]
well a) I’m lifting more weight this way, at least on the snatch.
b) what would be the point of that for a beginner? I think its more important to learn to get a big good shrug, feet up, and generally extend the body as much as possible and as straight up as possible and not cut the pull short. Once I’m feeling confident that with heavy weights that 90%+ of my pulls will be straight up and be using all I can technique-wise, I can focus on nothing else but speed speed speed. I have tried doing what you say, not caring that much about shoulders or arms and I lift less that way. Even though I’m racing to catch the bar when the weight gets heavy, again I lift more weight this way right now. Besides, who doesn’t race the bar when they max out?
I don’t think there was much wrong with the snatches(the ones I got!), the 80 one was a bit front, the 85 could have better lockout but otherwise I think they were pretty good. Speed under the bar will come in time. But you are right about the cleans. It wasn’t an issue of arm speed or leg explosion, but rather arm/shoulder technique.[/quote]
Just because you can lift more weight this way at the moment does not mean it is proper. I’m not telling you to cut your pull short - in fact, I am telling you to be more explosive with your hips/knees (as in, finish your pull harder with your lower body) and worry about the shrug/pull under a bit later. Speed is the goal of the lifts, and in the upward direction that is generated by your legs, not your shoulders/arms.
Its not that there is a lot that looks wrong with the snatches. They just look sluggish. Positionally, its hard to tell from a front angle. If you took a side view shot, it’d be easier to pinpoint where you are getting out of position. But I still think that, instead of focusing on smaller points, you need to get used to being faster and more explosive with your legs. Sure, you could worry about how far you extend your knees in the first pull, or trying to tighten the bar up with your lats, but until you learn to really be powerful in the lower body, those things are not going to do a lot for your lifts.
And, for the record, I don’t race the bar down on my heavy lifts. At least the ones I make. If I am racing it, I am missing it.
