Pull Under Fast... Not Early
In the effort to get under the bar quicker in the snatch or clean, a lot of lifters cut their pulls short. This means less bar speed and elevation, which means less time and space to get under the bar. In other words, it’s achieving the opposite of the intended purpose—being able to get under more weight.
There are a few important things to understand.
First, aside from the final segment of the pull contributing needed bar acceleration and elevation, it also improves balance and bar proximity. Cutting the pull short doesn’t just make the bar go up less—it makes the bar and often you go forward, and the lift less stable. The bar moving away from you also means you can’t pull under as quickly—so it’s a double whammy backfire.
Second, understand the difference between pulling under fast, and pulling under early. We need to be fast—to execute the complete movement at maximal speed, and with no hesitation in the transition between extending up and pulling under.
Pulling under early feels faster because the entire motion takes less time—but again, it’s less effective, so it’s a net loss. It’s like being exited that your 90m sprint was quicker than your 100m sprint—yes, you finished faster, but you didn’t finish the race: so you lose.
Third, finishing the pull does not mean prolonging the pull—it means completing productive extension to maximize bar acceleration and elevation, and then starting under before the bar begins slowing down.
As an exaggerated example, we can pull a bar really high with a snatch high-pull, but the bar speed drops very quickly past the threshold that allows us to get under it; the detriment of that loss of upward momentum is far greater than the benefit of the additional elevation.
And finally, a violent, complete extension actually makes it easier to transition and pull under faster. And that should finish off the last of your potential excuses.
So, some simple rules:
Pull faster, not shorter.
Pull under fast, not early.
Change directions quickly, not early.
And accelerate the bar maximally, don’t lift the bar maximally.
There are a few important things to understand.
First, aside from the final segment of the pull contributing needed bar acceleration and elevation, it also improves balance and bar proximity. Cutting the pull short doesn’t just make the bar go up less—it makes the bar and often you go forward, and the lift less stable. The bar moving away from you also means you can’t pull under as quickly—so it’s a double whammy backfire.
Second, understand the difference between pulling under fast, and pulling under early. We need to be fast—to execute the complete movement at maximal speed, and with no hesitation in the transition between extending up and pulling under.
Pulling under early feels faster because the entire motion takes less time—but again, it’s less effective, so it’s a net loss. It’s like being exited that your 90m sprint was quicker than your 100m sprint—yes, you finished faster, but you didn’t finish the race: so you lose.
Third, finishing the pull does not mean prolonging the pull—it means completing productive extension to maximize bar acceleration and elevation, and then starting under before the bar begins slowing down.
As an exaggerated example, we can pull a bar really high with a snatch high-pull, but the bar speed drops very quickly past the threshold that allows us to get under it; the detriment of that loss of upward momentum is far greater than the benefit of the additional elevation.
And finally, a violent, complete extension actually makes it easier to transition and pull under faster. And that should finish off the last of your potential excuses.
So, some simple rules:
Pull faster, not shorter.
Pull under fast, not early.
Change directions quickly, not early.
And accelerate the bar maximally, don’t lift the bar maximally.
