clean/power clean technique

whenever i do either a clean or a power clean ive noticed that my legs dont fully extend, and sort of do a frog leap. i havent had any problems with cleaning in general but ive been told that this is wrong and the legs should be straightened. but when i conciously try to straighten i end up holding them for to long and end up missing the drop and clean, or mistiming it. im wondering is what im doing right or wrong and if so has anyone else had the same problem and how did they fix it.

 

dont concentrate on extending your legs so much as thrusting your upper back and head backwards and your hips forwards. if you drive with your heels into the floor your legs will straighten but you will be missing out on your hip drive. it sounds like you might be hovering over the weight too much.

 

Is the bar staying close to your body?

 

You shouldn't consciously think about straightening your legs, it's something which will just happen, in any case it sounds like you have your timing a bit messed up. Try to think of the clean as 3 movements (obviously flowing once you get it right, and don't think of it consciously):
-You straighten your legs in the first pull while maintaining a constant back angle (same angle as you started with in the starting position), this is the first pull and it's aim is to setup the bar and get some basic speed in the pull, not explosive and stuff, just controlled
-The second pull is really two parts, you straighten up the back and push your hips through at the same time, this is where you can really get a ton of power on, just try keep the arms straight like strings so you don't lose power through them (and believe me you will).
-You finally shrug with your traps and stand on your toes at the same time, it's the final piece of the movement and helps to set you up to catch the bar.


That said this is all useless without a video, just post one of your lifting and it would be much easier to give proper advice.

 

thanks, ill see if i can get a video done. the 2nd pull is really where im weak technique wise and i think thats whats holding my snatch back. the 'frogs legs' thing is even more apparent in the snatch. i think it might be partly down to confidence. the area specifically being the transition from the pull to the dip. anyways im off to the gym now for some light snatching practice. thanks again

 

i spend about an hour and a half just snatching, what a killer. i fiddled about with a few things over the course of the workout to see what would happen. i actually started to improve technically at the end of the workout even though i was shattered. i found a proper build up was very helpful. taking a bit of time on foot and hand placement. also deliberatly holding the bar as close to my body as possible. i focused on pushing away from the floor with my legs and it really helped.

in general im pretty happy with how my cleans are progressing but the snatch just isnt happening. i cant seem to lift 55 kg, even though ive lifted 50 kg a few times, 55kg just feels too heavy. at the end of the workout i did a few attempts on 55 kg and did manage to get it to around the solar plexus, but couldnt imagine getting under it, yet. we'll see next time.

 

Alon,

When I do hang cleans I pull the weight up but instead of doing a deep dip I kind of jump out to the side, my legs go out and are not close together. Is this horrible form or do others do it this way too?

 

Haha those sessions are killers, you're so close to getting it right so you have to keep training but it just doesn't seem to work

Don't worry about the weight, in weightlifting 5kg under might be quite easy, it doesn't mean you should keep trying for 55 since it'll get down your confidence, just remember what worked and what didn't and save it for another day.

 

Nah that's really really common, it's fine as long as it isn't hugely wide, you do however need to be wary of it if you want to do full cleans, since you can't get into a full squat with a wide stance (you'll just bury yourself in the bottom).

 

there's an article in t-nation entitled mastering the power clean. its worth a look

 

alon have you ever practiced in mirrors? because i do. maybe thats the reason behind my lagging 2nd pull.

 

Whenever I do powercleans I always get a bruise on my sternum/chest area. Is this normal, or am i doing the technique wrong?

 

Are you really skinny?

Alon, Thanks for the heads up, I wasn't sure if my form was way off. Do you have any video of you doing Cleans? Do you find it easied to keep a close stance and do the deep squat clean? From listening to the way you describe it, I am concerned that my form is way off. I feel like i pull to much with my arms. I worked up to a 290lb hang clean and could never hit 300. I stopped because I cant drop the weight after so when i lowered it from the clean position it kind of jerked my shoulders and made them sore. Any tips to lowering it without injury. Thanks man and sorry for the flood of questions.

 

I have but I try avoiding it, usually it just distracts me and puts me off, there's enough to think about without having to also look at yourself.

 

If you mean just on your collarbones where the bar rests then it's totally normal. It usually happens to skinnier people, and although it's a pain in the ass it's is kinda useful when you get to bigger weights since it acts like a nice stable rack for the weights. Eventually all the banging and bending thickens the collarbones and they'll be fine, I have this problem pretty bad and I just get people commenting about it when I have my shirt off (and very occasional bleeding).

I'll try upload something later today. I think you'll find that for a squat clean you can't have a wide stance at all, the mechanics of a wide powerlifting squat don't really work in a full clean since the back is more upright, bar is infront etc. I guess the only way you can tell about the arms is if you post a video, but a good way of telling is if the bar is slowing down at that point (which it will do when you use the arms). Pulling with the arms is kind of inevitable with a heavy hang clean if you aren't using straps since your hands will be squeezing damn hard to hold onto that bar, perhaps try straps but be careful the first time since it'll be a bit akward when you rack the bar, especially for a full clean (which most people won't do with straps).

Hmm I don't know how you dropped the weight but it sounds painful, try using straps I think you'll find they're useful also in dropping the weight properly. As for the questions keep em coming this is interesting.

 

I think what I am going to do is just get back to the basics. Maybe 135 and just drill form. What sucks is that nobody at my gym does Oly LIfting, or powerlifting for that matter. I have nobody who can really look at or judge my form. I know I need to work on form right now, I need to concentrate on not relying so much on pulling with my arms. I need to thrust my head back and my hips forward and dip quickly. Does that sound right?

 

That video of the pro you showed was awesome. His form for the jerk was the smoothest I have ever seen. How explosive was that, damn. That guy is definatly an athlete.

 

did some full cleans today, and was quite smooth. i lowered the weight slightly, doing triples instead of singles, from both floor and hang. 2nd pull is improving, but still not where i want it. the shrug and tip toe-ing helped.

alon, do you fling your head back when fnishing your 2nd pull? i tried a few times but found the bar falling away from my body. is it necessary?

 

The flinging the head back isn't something you should consciously be doing, and there's some debate whether you should at all. Personally I think flinging the head back is a bad idea, I know Dimas does it but I think it's a bad thing.

 

YOu don't think it adds any momentum? I was wondering the same thing but guessing he did it is kind of a momentum builder. Who knows, maybe he's just done it that way for so long that it's become ritual for him.