Critique My Snatch

[ROcknrollracing]

I'm not great at oly lifts even though I've been doing them a while now. Personally, I'd want to see how your high hang snatch looks with a bar or very light weight. Then maybe a hang from below knees. I know you are older, as am I (40), but it looks like you have some clear mobility issues and your lift looks very segmented. I think you'd be better suited working from the top down. Maybe even starting with just getting more comfortable with overhead squats and then maybe drop snatches.

you cannot tell somebodies technique flaws with light weights

 

[Rob Rain]

Only read the title and didn't think to check which subform. Leaving disappointed

 

[Oblivian]

you cannot tell somebodies technique flaws with light weights

With oly lifts? Lol - yea, you are wrong as usual. A lot of people cannot correctly perform an oly lift with a bar. There are loads of issues with the lift he posted and my guess is that he's not able to perform a proper snatch with light weight. Mobility, positioning, triple pull, etc. can all be identified from a bar or very light weights.

 

[ROcknrollracing]

With oly lifts? Lol - yea, you are wrong as usual. A lot of people cannot correctly perform an oly lift with a bar. There are loads of issues with the lift he posted and my guess is that he's not able to perform a proper snatch with light weight. Mobility, positioning, triple pull, etc. can all be identified from a bar or very light weights.

Nope

 

[ChickenBrother]

I respect you chicken brother but is this post a joke?

How do you mean? My posterior delts are indeed sore as hell with full on DOMS today, and all I did differently was that 1-hour session with the coach doing high hang snatch pulls and OH squats with a PVC pipe and empty bar, and then doing more light reps when I got home with 20 lbs on the bar.

If you're talking about my references to elite athletes, of course I will never be anywhere near as smooth, explosive or jacked as any of them lol. But I'm trying to keep this thread going because I appreciate the discussion and feedback from you guys.

 

[ROcknrollracing]

To simplify things for you you are trying to break up the lift when it is supposed to be one continuous motion. You are pulling to your hips then snatching. Make it one fluid motion and use the cue “pulling your shorts up”. If you can snatch correctly with a pvc pipe then you can do it with heavier weights.

 

[Oblivian]

To simplify things for you you are trying to break up the lift when it is supposed to be one continuous motion. You are pulling to your hips then snatching. Make it one fluid motion and use the cue “pulling your shorts up”. If you can snatch correctly with a pvc pipe then you can do it with heavier weights.

Judging by his initial post, I'd be surprised if he can snatch proficiently with an empty bar or a PVC pipe. Hence, why I asked to do it and you disagreed lol.

 

[ROcknrollracing]

Judging by his initial post, I'd be surprised if he can snatch proficiently with an empty bar or a PVC pipe. Hence, why I asked to do it and you disagreed lol.

Snatching with a pvc pipe is not going to tell you anything that you wouldn’t be told with heavier weights. If it is too heavy that technique is breaking down you simply lower the weights.

 

[shunyata]

Misleading title.
Ban

Needs a @TribalDrumz threadjack and a move to P&M if we want to go that way.

 

[TribalDrumz]

Needs a @TribalDrumz threadjack and a move to P&M if we want to go that way.

 

[shunyata]

Beautiful form.

 

[TribalDrumz]

hehe

 

[ChickenBrother]

Judging by his initial post, I'd be surprised if he can snatch proficiently with an empty bar or a PVC pipe. Hence, why I asked to do it and you disagreed lol.

Snatching with a pvc pipe is not going to tell you anything that you wouldn’t be told with heavier weights. If it is too heavy that technique is breaking down you simply lower the weights.

Agree with both of you. For context, I started this thread almost 2 years ago and the earlier lifts are from when I could barely do the empty bar without falling over. Obviously they look like complete shit.

Here’s a more recent one from last September which is still where I’m at now. I think this is the best I can do without in-person coaching and having been stalled at this point for almost a year is what prompted me to finally do that. This is what my form looks like with a PVC pipe up to around 85 lbs.

It’s pretty clear that (among many other things), I’m not getting under the bar quickly enough so am basically muscle snatching the bar over my head, limiting the weight I can do. I’m hopeful the coach’s feedback about flaring toes out more will speed up my level change, along with clenching traps and lats back for more stable and upright lockout.




I’ll update this thread as I make progress and do more sessions with the coach. The fact that I’m still snatching less than I can OHP is just pathetic and is really fucking pissing me off.

 

[KBE6EKCTAH_CCP]

Agree with both of you. For context, I started this thread almost 2 years ago and the earlier lifts are from when I could barely do the empty bar without falling over. Obviously they look like complete shit.

Here’s a more recent one from last September which is still where I’m at now. I think this is the best I can do without in-person coaching and having been stalled at this point for almost a year is what prompted me to finally do that. This is what my form looks like with a PVC pipe up to around 85 lbs.

It’s pretty clear that (among many other things), I’m not getting under the bar quickly enough so am basically muscle snatching the bar over my head, limiting the weight I can do. I’m hopeful the coach’s feedback about flaring toes out more will speed up my level change, along with clenching traps and lats back for more stable and upright lockout.




I’ll update this thread as I make progress and do more sessions with the coach. The fact that I’m still snatching less than I can OHP is just pathetic and is really fucking pissing me off.

Big Bro I don't think your form is that bad but while I am in no position to correct you, what i notice is that:
- you lack tension in your upper back prior to lifting (you shoulders are rounded)
- the above seems to compromise the explosivity of your pull and the verticality of the overall movement, thereby giving the impression that your snatch is decomposed in various movements
- you keep on talking about your mobility but it seems OK to me. Interestingly I find that your stability (or lack of tension?) appears to be the issue. How much weight is on that bar ? 10 Kg per side? We talked about this. For some reason your snatch seems to be WAY below your natural strength.

So there ya go. Not sure if it helps.

EDIT: i looked again and it's really not bad for someone who never had a coach. You'll definitely bag the movement under adequate surveillance. Something I definitely noticed and it is related to the tension point above: you lift too quickly in the sense that you don't give yourself enough time to build tension. You seem to lift the bar from the floor in a sort of slightly bouncing motion. Maybe if you give yourself more time to build tension your explosivity will be better? Again IDK shit but I am pretty sure I could hear this from one of my trainers...

 

[ChickenBrother]

Big Bro I don't think your form is that bad but while I am in no position to correct you, what i notice is that:
- you lack tension in your upper back prior to lifting (you shoulders are rounded)
- the above seems to compromise the explosivity of your pull and the verticality of the overall movement, thereby giving the impression that your snatch is decomposed in various movements
- you keep on talking about your mobility but it seems OK to me. Interestingly I find that your stability (or lack of tension?) appears to be the issue. How much weight is on that bar ? 10 Kg per side? We talked about this. For some reason your snatch seems to be WAY below your natural strength.

So there ya go. Not sure if it helps.

EDIT: i looked again and it's really not bad for someone who never had a coach. You'll definitely bag the movement under adequate surveillance. Something I definitely noticed and it is related to the tension point above: you lift too quickly in the sense that you don't give yourself enough time to build tension. You seem to lift the bar from the floor in a sort of slightly bouncing motion. Maybe if you give yourself more time to build tension your explosivity will be better? Again IDK shit but I am pretty sure I could hear this from one of my trainers...

Fully agree bro. I think vid above was just 10 lbs bumper plates on each side but I can keep that form up to around 85 lbs total before it starts turning into a muscle snatch. Looking at the vid, it’s also apparent I was flaring my toes out while dropping into the overhead squats so the coach this week was spot on telling me to start the first pull like that, so my feet are already in position to drop down quickly.

The other cue the trainer gave me was to pull the bar in a straight line up to my nipples, and that should be the highest point of travel. From there I should be pulling myself UNDER the bar into the receiving position. That sounds obvious but it really clears up the mechanics for me.

For now, trainer told me to work on just high hang snatch pulls and OH squats with tension in traps with empty bar but not to combine them until next week’s session. But of course I’m going to try it anyway.

 

[Oblivian]

Fully agree bro. I think vid above was just 10 lbs bumper plates on each side but I can keep that form up to around 85 lbs total before it starts turning into a muscle snatch. Looking at the vid, it’s also apparent I was flaring my toes out while dropping into the overhead squats so the coach this week was spot on telling me to start the first pull like that, so my feet are already in position to drop down quickly.

The other cue the trainer gave me was to pull the bar in a straight line up to my nipples, and that should be the highest point of travel. From there I should be pulling myself UNDER the bar into the receiving position. That sounds obvious but it really clears up the mechanics for me.

For now, trainer told me to work on just high hang snatch pulls and OH squats with tension in traps with empty bar but not to combine them until next week’s session. But of course I’m going to try it anyway.

Lol @ROcknrollracing. His trainer literally told him to do exactly what I said and you disagreed with it.

My guess is your trainer is also critiquing items with just the bar. Many people still have major technique flaws, mobility issues, positioning issues, etc. with just the bar.

I'm not great at oly lifts even though I've been doing them a while now. Personally, I'd want to see how your high hang snatch looks with a bar or very light weight. Then maybe a hang from below knees. I know you are older, as am I (40), but it looks like you have some clear mobility issues and your lift looks very segmented. I think you'd be better suited working from the top down. Maybe even starting with just getting more comfortable with overhead squats and then maybe drop snatches.

you cannot tell somebodies technique flaws with light weights

 

[Fahcough]

Here for the super fast improvement that's gonna come in 30 days. Coaches seem to have you dialing it in already.

 

[ChickenBrother]

Lol @ROcknrollracing. His trainer literally told him to do exactly what I said and you disagreed with it.

My guess is your trainer is also critiquing items with just the bar. Many people still have major technique flaws, mobility issues, positioning issues, etc. with just the bar.

I’m no expert and now have exactly one session with a proper oly lifting coach. But after 2 years trying to learn snatch on my own, I agree with you that light weight i.e. empty bar can be enough to assess basic technique. And with the glaring form issues I've had up to now, is appropriate for my current level.

But I also think it's possible to be too light to assess form. FWIW the trainer had me use a PVC pipe to evaluate my high snatch pull, but had me use a ladies (35 lbs) oly bar to evaluate my OH squat. Having worked with both on my own, I think a PVC pipe is too light to "keep you honest" on an OH squat because you can have the bar off-center and still be OK. But an empty bar or heavier is enough to cause you to lose your balance if you're not centered under it.

There's also the issue of pulling yourself under the bar when it's at nipple height. With a PVC pipe, it's very hard to do that because it's too light, and you end up pulling it over your head instead. And looking at my earlier lifts, that's what I've been doing with the empty bar because I got used to doing it that way. One of the other trainers told me that trying to get as low as possible (which is what I've been doing) is thinking about it the wrong way. You should worry about getting under the bar as quickly as possible and the weight of the bar will push you down as low as you need to go.

 

[ROcknrollracing]

Lol @ROcknrollracing. His trainer literally told him to do exactly what I said and you disagreed with it.

My guess is your trainer is also critiquing items with just the bar. Many people still have major technique flaws, mobility issues, positioning issues, etc. with just the bar.

Yes technique in the olympic lifts is best learned by doing hundreds of reps with a broomstick for your "trainer" to see and never touching a weight above that until technique is perfect with a broomstick instead of loading it so that you can see if the technique actually works with a loaded barbell.

 

[KBE6EKCTAH_CCP]

It should also be said that @ChickenBrother looks barely 40 YO while he's pushing 50.