The Snatch - Part 2

‍

The Snatch – Part 2

‍

As with the Clean and Jerk, this guide alone won't teach you how to Snatch. But it might provide you with a handy check-list of pointers you've already forgotten.

Learning the movements correctly (in person), with a qualified coach, will progress your weightlifting exponentially quicker than an online session with an Olympian or 15 hours worth of HKG training hall videos.

The snatch is a highly intricate, technical movement - requiring you to listen to your coach, 'feel' the correct positions, move both quickly and deliberately... and practice - lots.

‍

1 - The Setup

The goal is to get into a position where you can perform the first pull properly. Get everything set now and it won’t get in your way later on when things get fast.

• Take the stance you would use to vertical jump as high as possible.
• Take your snatch grip on the bar, using hook grip, with relaxed arms.
• Come down closer to the bar by bending the knees and hips, setting the knees out and back.
• Keeping tension in the back, lower your hips until they’re just above your knees.
• Keep a proud chest, pushing it through your arms, squeezing your shoulders into your back and keeping your chest as upright as possible without compromising other positions.
• Take a big breath and brace your core, setting your back to neutral or a mild arch in the spine.
• Keeping the chest big, core braced, and back tight, start the lift…

2 - The First Pull

If you get this wrong, everything else is just compensation. A lot of technical problems occur before the bar gets to the knee, so patience and discipline here will pay off. The goal is to put the lift in the legs and let the hips keep control of the angles. Very little should change before the knee.

• Keeping the setup position, begin driving against the floor with the legs, driving through the mid-foot.
• Ease the knees back as you push down, keeping the hip-shoulder line roughly the same.
• Ease the bar back – keep it as close as possible without dragging it against the shins – and do not let the bar come forwards.
• Continue driving against the floor, hips open and chest big/back tight, until the bar is at / just above the knee

3 - The Second Pull and Turnover

This is where the magic happens. Everything before this was about doing this right, so now isn’t the time to ruin your lift. Accurate, precise aggression is key in the second pull and turnover.

• With the bar at/above the knee, keep the knees out and back, with your weight in the mid-foot (or slightly behind).
• Bring the bar to the hips by keeping your chest big and shoulders back, hinging at the hips.
• Maintain tension in the legs as you become more upright – do not straighten the legs.
• Bring your chest up without coming behind the bar until you’re stood upright and the bar is in the crease of the hip with slightly bent knees and hips.
• Extend forcefully against the ground, driving your hips up through the bar without losing back position.
• As the bar has momentum, pull yourself down as the bar comes up (it’s 50/50), letting the shoulders rise and pulling the elbows up and out until the bar reaches the chest.
• From the bar-at-chest position, it’s all pulling down. Pull the elbows back and rotate the bar up and back until it is above the base of your neck / over your shoulders.
• Maintain the overhead position by pushing up on the bar and keeping the shoulders back, with the core and back tight.

‍

4 - Catching and Standing

You’ve got it overhead, theoretically. Where you catch it decides if you made it or not. Just stand up with it – it’s that easy, and that hard.

As you improve, the distinction between the turnover and catch disappears. It’s a learning tool that weightlifters don’t actually do. The movement of pulling down into the catch and pushing up on the bar is simultaneous.

As you improve, you’ll realise that the snatch is just one movement, not an up and then a down. It’s an up-down.

• As you perform the turnover and you’re pulling yourself down, bring the feet off the floor.
• Pull yourself down into your hips, bending the knees and bringing them up towards your chest.
• Replant your feet flat, trying to keep the weight in the same mid-foot (or just behind) position as the pull.
• Actively maintain a tight back and strong upwards pressure on the bar to keep it above the base of the neck/shoulders as you receive it.
• Keep your chest proud and hips active, driving the floor away to stand up again.
• Stand stable, with your feet in line, for a few moments to complete the lift.

That’s a lot to take in. And they takeaway is.. you won’t learn to Snatch by reading this article. But working with your coach, practicing consistently and often.. You’ll be performing every movement we’ve outlined above, without even thinking about it.

Remember - The Snatch is a QUICK movement. If you have time to think about doing something. You’re moving too slow. Learn the movements first, correctly, and in stages. Overhead squat, hip snatch, hang snatch, low-hang snatch and eventually… the snatch.

If you need some additional help with your technique, contact us by email on hello@stashweightlifting.com or via our social media channels. We'll be happy to help.

We'll cover some typical errors in Part 3.