Critique My Snatch

[ChickenBrother]

With that being said I disagree with the coaches telling you not to pursuit snatch.

Things that seem to work are power snatches combined with OHS's, progressing the weight on the bar and the depth of the catch in the power position. You should be able to handle 3 sessions per week or more for sure. Sets of 2's and 3's with ~50-60% of a training max is a great start.

Might want to limit your volume on bench press training initially.

Thanks, yeah I'm going to try to drill the movements with an empty bar 3 x week on top of regular workouts instead of just dropping into a deep OH squat with a PVC pipe like I've been doing. Interesting you mention limiting bench press because that was another disagreement I had with the coach. She thought I should continue training everything and that benching heavy has no adverse impact to learning snatch. But when I was benching heavy, I found my chest and shoulders would be tight and that impeded my ability to drop into a deep OHS. So while I've been trying to learn snatch, I'm deliberately benching light and have stopped doing DL entirely because that was confusing my form for the snatch pull off the ground.

But because snatch is such an unforgiving lift, I also have a sense that learning it properly will improve my form on SBD. For instance I've switched from low bar back squats to high bar with my shoulders pulled back, and that's led to a more upright posture with less rounding of my back. I also feel like learning to pull off the ground with shoulders and traps pulled back promotes better posture - and that's something I want to apply to DL when I eventually start doing those again, though with hips starting lower than for snatch pull of course.

 

[maximus__]

Have been working on this about 3 months with proper lifting shoes (Asics 727) and can finally sink into an OH squat on a flat surface. Still ugly as hell and I almost lost control on 2nd rep and couldn’t go all the way down. 3rd rep is probably the best one but that’s not saying much.

All comments welcome. I’d like to work toward a 1 x BW (170 lbs) snatch and this is the heaviest I’ve gone at 70 lbs. From the side view, I’m off balance at the lock out and my lack of thoracic ROM is evident at the bottom. I'm not showing the uniform back arch throughout shoulders, upper and lower back - which is why I'm struggling to maintain control of this hilariously light weight.

Have been doing these as a warm up for my main workouts. Natty 48 yo who lifts twice/week on top of BJJ/Judo. Have been attempting this lift for awhile and feeling like I’ve had it with this MFing snatch on this MFing plane.

It's a mobility issue but you are actually pulling the bar too high and standing up to catch it, then squatting back down. You need to tighten up your start position and you are fully extended already by the time you try to bring the bar overhead. You are basically just using your arms to lift the weight with a lirrlw hip bump. It's making it so you effectively do a snatch high pull into a over head squat.

Can you by any chance power snatch more than your full snatch? The general snatch is there, you are just a bit off in the execution.

olymnpic snatch - Google Suche

Look at old mateys start position and where he is when he does the hip extension part. Youre missing that part and starting from more hunched over,, but ending up straight way before him.
You kinda deadlift then do a snatch pull, but your shoulders aren't locked back at the start. You are catching without them being ready to catch the weight and shifting back because of it. When I used to snatch it felt more like a wide squat, just holding the bar in the snatch position, Pulling to chest height and then dipping in under the bar to catch.

I actually don't think you are far off a reasonable snatch though to be honest man. Mine these days would look exactly the same and I had a good snatch back in the day.

 

[ChickenBrother]

It's a mobility issue but you are actually pulling the bar too high and standing up to catch it, then squatting back down. You need to tighten up your start position and you are fully extended already by the time you try to bring the bar overhead. You are basically just using your arms to lift the weight with a lirrlw hip bump. It's making it so you effectively do a snatch high pull into a over head squat.

Can you by any chance power snatch more than your full snatch? The general snatch is there, you are just a bit off in the execution.

olymnpic snatch - Google Suche

Look at old mateys start position and where he is when he does the hip extension part. Youre missing that part and starting from more hunched over,, but ending up straight way before him.
You kinda deadlift then do a snatch pull, but your shoulders aren't locked back at the start. You are catching without them being ready to catch the weight and shifting back because of it. When I used to snatch it felt more like a wide squat, just holding the bar in the snatch position, Pulling to chest height and then dipping in under the bar to catch.

I actually don't think you are far off a reasonable snatch though to be honest man. Mine these days would look exactly the same and I had a good snatch back in the day.

Thanks bro, you responded to the OP which is almost 2 years old but my form still doesn't look much better lol. I bumped the thread last week in post #52 because I finally got fed up, found an oly coach and just had my second session yesterday. Feedback they've given me so far are that my mobility is more than adequate but I need to flare my toes out more to allow me to drop down quicker into the hole. They're also having me drill my first pull so it's less of a DL (as you note) and gave me the cue that I should pull bar up to my chest and then pull myself under the bar vs. pulling it over my head which is what I've been doing (as you also note). This seems to have been caused by my toe positioning preventing me from dropping down quicker, but more flared out toes in theory will help me tighten up this MFing snatch.

 

[maximus__]

Thanks bro, you responded to the OP which is almost 2 years old but my form still doesn't look much better lol. I bumped the thread last week in post #52 because I finally got fed up, found an oly coach and just had my second session yesterday. Feedback they've given me so far are that my mobility is more than adequate but I need to flare my toes out more to allow me to drop down quicker into the hole. They're also having me drill my first pull so it's less of a DL (as you note) and gave me the cue that I should pull bar up to my chest and then pull myself under the bar vs. pulling it over my head which is what I've been doing (as you also note). This seems to have been caused by my toe positioning preventing me from dropping down quicker, but more flared out toes in theory will help me tighten up this MFing snatch.

Haha that's what happens when I go on Sherdog in the early morning. Glad I can still spot some technical aspects in the snatch even though I don't do them anymore.

I had a similar issue in that I could power snatch competitive weights because my starting position was strong, but couldn't drop under the bar.
it's not a bad issue to have because it means when you are pulling heavy enough the bar stays lower, all you need to do is drop under. I should have clicked when I saw the lighter weight, but just assumed you were starting all over and working on technique.
Enjoy the journey mate, coaching is the way to go. A good snatch is much more enjoyable than grinding out a heavy squat or deadlift. You feel like an absolute beast when you start throwing up the weight with good technique.

 

[ChickenBrother]

Haha that's what happens when I go on Sherdog in the early morning. Glad I can still spot some technical aspects in the snatch even though I don't do them anymore.

I had a similar issue in that I could power snatch competitive weights because my starting position was strong, but couldn't drop under the bar.
it's not a bad issue to have because it means when you are pulling heavy enough the bar stays lower, all you need to do is drop under. I should have clicked when I saw the lighter weight, but just assumed you were starting all over and working on technique.
Enjoy the journey mate, coaching is the way to go. A good snatch is much more enjoyable than grinding out a heavy squat or deadlift. You feel like an absolute beast when you start throwing up the weight with good technique.

Thanks man, yup I'm still doing more of a power snatch than a full snatch but the coaching is helping and hopefully I'll be dropping under the bar properly soon. Definitely feels satisfying when you stick the landing after whipping the bar up.

 

[mr.sandman]

Nice snatch bro

 

[ChickenBrother]

Nice snatch bro
View attachment 1041847

Thanks bro, but no need to have your mind in the gutter. Just because I'm exploding my ramrod straight steel bar toward the heavens doesn't mean it's anything dirty.