Rocking To The Heels In The Snatch & Clean
Rocking back to the heels as you pull a snatch or clean is a common problem—here’s how to fix it.
This error is usually caused by either believing you should be on the heels in the pull, or that you have to force your knees way back to let the bar pass or put your shoulders farther over the bar.
This rock to the heels puts you in a position with the knees too straight, hips too high and shoulders too far forward to be able to finish the pull well with the leg drive you need. Instead, you end up driving the hips straight forward into the bar and rocking to the toes, meaning less bar elevation, more bar swing, forward imbalance, and instability when receiving.
So how do you fix it?
First, understand that we want even balance over the whole foot, not to be more on the heel. Simply push straight into the floor with your legs with even pressure over the foot, similarly to a squatting motion.
If the foot pressure is shifting as you pull, it’s because you’re sitting back, tipping too far over the bar, letting the bar pull you forward, or allowing some other incorrect change of position.
Brace the trunk forcefully before you start, initiate the pull from the floor by pushing with the legs like a squat, and maintain approximately the same back angle from the floor to above the knees.
Practice this motion and strengthen your ability to do it with heavy weights by using floating halting deadlifts—use a relatively slow tempo until you can execute the motion correctly, and focus on feeling consistent, even foot pressure all the way through the motion up and down.
You can also do slow-pull snatches and cleans and use the extra time in the first pull to focus on feeling the even foot pressure and controlling your posture.
And of course, you can perform complexes combining one or both of these exercises with a conventional snatch or clean.
This error is usually caused by either believing you should be on the heels in the pull, or that you have to force your knees way back to let the bar pass or put your shoulders farther over the bar.
This rock to the heels puts you in a position with the knees too straight, hips too high and shoulders too far forward to be able to finish the pull well with the leg drive you need. Instead, you end up driving the hips straight forward into the bar and rocking to the toes, meaning less bar elevation, more bar swing, forward imbalance, and instability when receiving.
So how do you fix it?
First, understand that we want even balance over the whole foot, not to be more on the heel. Simply push straight into the floor with your legs with even pressure over the foot, similarly to a squatting motion.
If the foot pressure is shifting as you pull, it’s because you’re sitting back, tipping too far over the bar, letting the bar pull you forward, or allowing some other incorrect change of position.
Brace the trunk forcefully before you start, initiate the pull from the floor by pushing with the legs like a squat, and maintain approximately the same back angle from the floor to above the knees.
Practice this motion and strengthen your ability to do it with heavy weights by using floating halting deadlifts—use a relatively slow tempo until you can execute the motion correctly, and focus on feeling consistent, even foot pressure all the way through the motion up and down.
You can also do slow-pull snatches and cleans and use the extra time in the first pull to focus on feeling the even foot pressure and controlling your posture.
And of course, you can perform complexes combining one or both of these exercises with a conventional snatch or clean.
