How To Stop Swinging Snatch & Clean Pulls
Pulls are the perfect opportunity to improve the way the bar and body interact in the extension of the snatch and clean, so take advantage of it and avoid the most common mistake—swinging the bar away after contact.
There are a few causes for this:
First is excessive horizontal contact of the hips with the bar. We want powerful hips, but that power has to be contained in the correct motion. Direct the hip extension upward by continuing to push vertically with the legs until the hip extension is complete.
Next is failing to keep the bar close enough to the legs prior to contact. The farther away the bar is before that contact, the more that contact will push it away. Keep the bar as close to the legs as possible without dragging.
Weak leg drive, or quitting on it too early, will mean the hips will naturally travel too far forward through the bar and push it away. Continue to forcefully drive through the floor with the legs until hip extension is complete.
Even with proper leg drive, there will be at least a little horizontal force put into the bar as it contacts the body. Actively guide the bar up against the body by shrugging the shoulders up and back, and using the back and shoulders to push the bar in against the body. Keep it close enough to move your shirt a little, not peel off your skin.
Finally, locking the elbows is a guaranteed way to get the bar to swing away. You’re putting upward momentum on the bar, so it has to keep moving when you finish extending the body—if your arms are locked, the only way it can continue moving up is by swinging out. Keep the arms relaxed until you complete leg and hip extension, and then pull the elbows up and out to keep it right against the body until its upward motion is complete.
There are a few causes for this:
First is excessive horizontal contact of the hips with the bar. We want powerful hips, but that power has to be contained in the correct motion. Direct the hip extension upward by continuing to push vertically with the legs until the hip extension is complete.
Next is failing to keep the bar close enough to the legs prior to contact. The farther away the bar is before that contact, the more that contact will push it away. Keep the bar as close to the legs as possible without dragging.
Weak leg drive, or quitting on it too early, will mean the hips will naturally travel too far forward through the bar and push it away. Continue to forcefully drive through the floor with the legs until hip extension is complete.
Even with proper leg drive, there will be at least a little horizontal force put into the bar as it contacts the body. Actively guide the bar up against the body by shrugging the shoulders up and back, and using the back and shoulders to push the bar in against the body. Keep it close enough to move your shirt a little, not peel off your skin.
Finally, locking the elbows is a guaranteed way to get the bar to swing away. You’re putting upward momentum on the bar, so it has to keep moving when you finish extending the body—if your arms are locked, the only way it can continue moving up is by swinging out. Keep the arms relaxed until you complete leg and hip extension, and then pull the elbows up and out to keep it right against the body until its upward motion is complete.
