Here are a couple pictures i have on my desktop that i have used to show people certain positions that they are missing. I hope this helps as i feel positions are the most important thing to understand especially when coaching people in the lifts.
In this picture you can see the different styles of initial pull off the ground in the snatch. The lifter to your left has a more straight leg position with the shoulders more forward of the bar. The lifter to your right has a more upright torso and more bend in the legs. The lifter to the left is not what i teach but doesn’t mean he is wrong. In fact he is one of the better lifters in the county and his father (who lifted the same way) was one of the best in the world. The lifter on the right is what i try to get people to look like off the floor and just above the knees. Weight is shifted back in his heels, chest is more upright, bar is close to his body, and shoulders are over the bar. Both are good positions, i just prefer to teach the one on the right.
In this series, the first lifter (Natalie Burgener) is in an ideal position as she starts to explode from the jumping position. Notice how her feet are flat on the ground and shoulders are behind the bar but it is as close to her body as possible. This is Called the high hang position and is crucial for lifters to go through. This isn’t something i teach specifically as i feel that if i can get someone into the previous position in the first picture and stay back in the heels then this position is naturally found during the lift.
The second picture in this series is a dear friend of mine (Jordan Morchat, head trainer at Black Box S&C/Crossfit ATM). I was showing her position compared to Natalies and i think she got it. I actually have this same problem where we let the bar forward and rush into the high hang position. As you can see it pulls her into her toes early and allows the bar to drift away from her. You can also see that her shoulders are still over the bar when, in fact, they should be behind the bar and her feet should be flat.
Can you see how nice and balanced Natalie looks compared to Jordan? Jordan will be there soon!!
This last picture shows the ideal position in the dip portion of the jerk. This is something i see people miss all the time. The dip is not a squat. You do not push your butt back as you do in the squat. Notice the knees out, feet flat on the ground and butt going straight down between the heels. If the bar travels forward at ALL this will be an impossible lift to make.
As a coach these are some of the position i look for. You have to have a good eye to be able to see missed positions or at least have a good camera to slow it down a bit. I encourage everyone both lifters and coaches to video lifts so both can see good and bad things about each lift. Since i train alone (without a coach present) i take plenty of video to send out to powers stronger than me. This is very helpful for me to both see faults and get quality feedback. Don’t have a coach?
Get one Here!!!
Dutch,
Interesting post. I was talking to Jordan about my wife noticing I don’t fully extend when I do cleans or snatches from the ground. She told me about the picture of her and Natalie, but this is my first time to see them. I imagine my high hang position looks similar to Jordan’s. What are the drills, lifts, or lift-complexes to fix this? Thanks.
Awesome post!!
Jack,
Try snatching from the hang. Also get video so you can watch what you are doing and be able to visualize what you need to do.
You can also really focus on trying to stay in the heels as long as you can before you explode.
Hey Dutch heres a question I hope you can help me with. I took 6 months off of CrossFit and the last 3 from lifting, semester killed me this time around. Anyways what would you recommend I pick up with after this length of off time. Here are my maxes when I stopped.
C&J-235#
Snatch-190#
DL-450#
FS-315#
BS-305#
Shoulder Press-220#
Michael,
I don’t know what to tell you. Do what makes you happy. If you aren’t motivated your training will suffer.
Hey Dutch!
Great post man, really informative. I was wondering what kind of camera and software you use for video? I never video myself and think it would really help. Thanks!
Charlie,
Any camera you can pause and advance frame by frame would be money. I use Imovie on my Mac. If you don’t have one, you should get one…