[quote]blooey wrote:
When you do a push jerk, should your grip be loose (like it is when you’ve just caught a clean), or should it be tight (like just before doing a military press)? Also, should your elbows be pointing forward, down, or something in between? And how wide should your grip be?
I’ve looked at some videos online and read some articles, but have yet to find a good solid answer to any of the above (it’s hard to see the answer to the above questions, especially the first, in a grainy online video). The problem I’m having is that I currently push jerk with my elbows forward because I can’t rotate my arms after catching the clean without dumping the weight in from of me or losing my grip altogether. Since my elbows are pointing forward, I get no power from my arms at the beginning of the thrust, which leads me to start the press with a loose grip.
Sorry for the long post. Thanks in advance for your help![/quote]
It seems for most lifters, the elbows point downwards slightly in preparation for the jerk. I keep mine straight ahead of me. If I let my elbows come down, I have a tendency to try to push with my arms. With my elbows forward, I have to use all leg drive to get that bar moving.
You can keep your hands around the bar, but you shouldn’t be holding it so tight.
In response to your last sentence, you shouldn’t be pushing with your arms at the start of the jerk (if that is what you meant to say). The drive should be all legs and during the split, you are pushing yourself UNDER the bar and catch it overhead with straight arms. I have a vid of me lifting and when I was just a touch from having straight arms in the catch of the jerk, I lowered my split by a half inch or so while my arms straightened out under the bar.
It took me a bit to catch on, but after I clean the weight and the bar is on my fingertips of all the fingers, I keep it in that position for the jerk. During the jerk when I drive the weight up, I grasp the bar fully at the catch. Probably sounds strange, but it feels natural.
As far as hand spacing, some lifters like to widen their grip after the clean to lessen the distance (height) needed for a successful jerk. I guess it depends on where your strengths lie. If you are a dominant jerker, it may not be necessary. I started out widening my grip a bit after cleans, but as I got more experienced, I narrowed it a bit and found it worked better! Don’t be afraid to make subtle changes in hand spacing.
Good Luck.