As per CT’s recommendation/request, I went to the gym and had my friend record me in the middle of our neural charge session.
Here is the front view - my very first set.
Here was my 2nd set: a side view.
Here was my 3rd set. It was also my last recorded set, but not my last set in the Neural Charge Session.
This is a back view. All of these were done with 65lbs. 65lbs felt better than just the barbell.
don’t worry about the front or back views (they don’t really show anything at all). On the side view hwoever, you can clearly see the bar coming really far away from you body as you try and pull up. It should stay in contact with your thighs until you are fully extended. Speaking of which, it doesn’t look like your extending fully, instead you’re cutting it short. You’re starting to pull yourself under before reaching full extension. Last thing, I can’t tell but it looks like your grip isn’t quite wide enough. Make sure you’re gripping the bar wide enough that the bar is right in line with the crease of your hip.
[quote]nkklllll wrote:
don’t worry about the front or back views (they don’t really show anything at all). On the side view hwoever, you can clearly see the bar coming really far away from you body as you try and pull up. It should stay in contact with your thighs until you are fully extended. Speaking of which, it doesn’t look like your extending fully, instead you’re cutting it short. You’re starting to pull yourself under before reaching full extension. Last thing, I can’t tell but it looks like your grip isn’t quite wide enough. Make sure you’re gripping the bar wide enough that the bar is right in line with the crease of your hip.[/quote]
Okay so few things noted from re-watching my side view video while reading what you wrote:
- It should look more like a high pull until the catch, not a swing.
- Keep the bar closer - this was actually something I’ve been working on on the snatch-grip high pull.
- Jump… harder?
- Grip the barbell as wide as possible. Today at the gym I varied with my grip width and found that literally having my hands all the way out touching the notch put it at the crease of my hip.
I realize now that the Power Snatch is essentially a SG High Pull with the continuous motion until the catch. Gotcha. I feel like I was attempting to learn the Snatch like it was a completely different lift. It always looked like people were swinging the bar as well, not pulling it.
I now see how the subtle details make the world of difference. Thanks so much!
Colby
Kudos for the awesome t-shirt! 
Try thinking of your power movements like performing a vertical jump. Keep everything as close to a vertical line as possible, and stay balanced when you catch, with your hips back just a touch.
It’s not as bad as I expected from your earlier posts.
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as it was mentioned earlier, the bar is too far away from your body during the whole pull. Try to keep it within a maximum of 2" away from your body at all times.
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You are jumping forward and you should avoid that. But it is likely due to you letting the bar move away from you, so you have to jump forward to catch it.
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You catch the barbell in a good position, but you catch it too “soft”. You should catch it in that position but as soon as you catch it, you should tense the whole body to make the catch rock solid… you should be just as aggressive in the catch as you are in the pull.
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From watching it in freeze frame, you are not extending your legs fully during the pull… you have a good 15-30 degrees more of leg extension left. You compensate by punching the hips too much forward, this is likely the reason why the bar is moving forward. As it was mentioned earlier, focus on exploding upward with your legs.
I just did about 20 minutes of technique work this morning before school.
Does this look like it’s improved? Some of the 2nd pulls feel like a high pull and some do not.
Thanks for all the replies and tips guys!
I’ll check the form later…
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It’s pretty bad ass to do snatches in the dark before school
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do not start the bar from the floor yet… only when your technique is very solid from the hang. And even then, you will need to raise the plates a bit, the bar is starting too low and it’s impossible to take a good starting position which negatively affect the whole lift
Ok, I’ve held back as long as I can. I’ll make this short so as not to interrupt this thread…all I can say is SUPER RESPECT Colbstar! I’ve been watching your posts, and I’ve been impressed by how smart and well thought out they are: you’ve obviously been reading and learning.
I’m 52 and grew up in the 70’s. At 16 I was a fat lazy ass laying around smoking pot and not giving a flying F about school. Sure I eventually got my shit together…years later. However, it took me YEARS to become a mature, disciplined person capable of giving my all to anything other than myself.
All I can say is you must have some very proud parents! Whatever you decide to do with your life you’re going to be very successful.
Crowbar
[quote]Christian Thibaudeau wrote:
2) do not start the bar from the floor yet… only when your technique is very solid from the hang. And even then, you will need to raise the plates a bit, the bar is starting too low and it’s impossible to take a good starting position which negatively affect the whole lift[/quote]
I had two main reasons for starting the bar from floor:
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After watching my first video from the side at the gym and taking the advice I got from all you guys here on the forum, I pinpointed the main “swinging” issue to the way I was trying to pop the bar with my hips from the hang. I figured if I started from the floor, it’d be harder to pop and swing the bar and it would ‘force’ me to pull the bar up instead.
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To utilize more leg drive - the ‘jumping’ sensation. From the hang, I felt like it was much harder to power through the floor.
But I completely understand that the lift from the floor is MUCH more technical than from the hang (especially when the weight plates like you described make the bar start much lower than normal), and everyone has to start somewhere - including me.
I do NOT have any problem with starting learning from the hang.
It takes practice, and I understand that. That’s why I’m here.
Thank coach, Colby.
[quote]crowbar46 wrote:
Ok, I’ve held back as long as I can. I’ll make this short so as not to interrupt this thread…all I can say is SUPER RESPECT Colbstar! I’ve been watching your posts, and I’ve been impressed by how smart and well thought out they are: you’ve obviously been reading and learning.
I’m 52 and grew up in the 70’s. At 16 I was a fat lazy ass laying around smoking pot and not giving a flying F about school. Sure I eventually got my shit together…years later. However, it took me YEARS to become a mature, disciplined person capable of giving my all to anything other than myself.
All I can say is you must have some very proud parents! Whatever you decide to do with your life you’re going to be very successful.
Crowbar[/quote]
Thanks man! I understand that it’s my RESPONSIBILITY to be a leader in all aspects of my life. Even if what I do does nothing to benefit me, there is a chance that I will inspire another person. It can be as simple as giving a high five and a smile to someone that’s having a bad day - even if they really are just a jerk. Or it can be as time consuming as always doing your homework without fail. People notice, but it isn’t about them. It’s all about your own inner journey!
THAT is beautiful to me.
Thanks for the uplifting post, Crowbar. If you have any critique or suggestions regarding me practicing and learning the power snatch, please feel free to reply again. I’ll take anything into consideration.
Colby
the second vid did look better IMO, however I would echo CT about staying with the hang variation till you learn your positions properly.
you got up early to snatch in the cold before school, kudos, that kind of work ethic and effort will take you far dude.
[quote]Colbstar wrote:
[quote]Christian Thibaudeau wrote:
2) do not start the bar from the floor yet… only when your technique is very solid from the hang. And even then, you will need to raise the plates a bit, the bar is starting too low and it’s impossible to take a good starting position which negatively affect the whole lift[/quote]
I had two main reasons for starting the bar from floor:
-
After watching my first video from the side at the gym and taking the advice I got from all you guys here on the forum, I pinpointed the main “swinging” issue to the way I was trying to pop the bar with my hips from the hang. I figured if I started from the floor, it’d be harder to pop and swing the bar and it would ‘force’ me to pull the bar up instead.
-
To utilize more leg drive - the ‘jumping’ sensation. From the hang, I felt like it was much harder to power through the floor.
But I completely understand that the lift from the floor is MUCH more technical than from the hang (especially when the weight plates like you described make the bar start much lower than normal), and everyone has to start somewhere - including me.
I do NOT have any problem with starting learning from the hang.
It takes practice, and I understand that. That’s why I’m here.
Thank coach, Colby.[/quote]
As an addition to what Coach said, the “pop” you speak of and the leg drive are supposed to be instantaneous. Obviously the “pop” is not what you were doing and Coach corrected that–it needs to be vertical by leg drive. However, the hip explosion/leg drive need to be instantaneous. They need to be like a gunshot–from nothing to everything in the blink of an eye. Like a sprinter out of the blocks.
That’s one big reason to practice from the hang or the hip crease: you need an explosion not a push, and along with the other technical reasons for not starting at the floor it allows you to compensate by gradual accelerated pushing of the legs instead of an instant explosion of drive.
x2 on what CT said about snatches before school!
This was my last set of power snatches from the hang in today’s neural charge workout.
Please let me know if this looks like it has improved.
[quote]Colbstar wrote:
This was my last set of power snatches from the hang in today’s neural charge workout.
Please let me know if this looks like it has improved.[/quote]
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Learn to lower the bar, you’ll hurt your back or shoulders when you have any kind of weight! First slowly lower the bar toward the clavicle (as if lowering a military press) then quickly turn over the bar keeping it close to your body… at the same time bend your knees so that you can have the bar “land on your quads”.
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The bar is still a bit far from you. It’s better though. After you jump, focus on pulling the bar through you, not straight up… punch the elbows back as if trying to pull through your chest.
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