CrossFit Skills – Olympic Snatch (week 1)

A number of members have asked form some help to improve their Olympic snatch technique. Over the years Tom and I have both done multiple Olympic lifting courses and trained with different lifting coaches, the most recent being the Catalyst Athletics course.  Every single one of them has taught the snatch in their own different way.  Some like to teach it from the bottom up, and others like to teach if from the top down.  Personally, I feel that the top down approach made more sense to me.  So over the next month we plan to teach the snatch form the tip down.

Position, movement, volume, speed, and then intensity

Athlete must learn to feel and to understand the body positions that are required to achieve movement.  With a good idea of the correct position the movement can be improved with repeated repetitions (i.e. volume).  We can then increase the speed of the movement before the final addition of intensity (weight).

Feeling and Understanding the Position of the Snatch

It’s always best to start with a PVC pipe or a wooden stick. Position before intensity!  The first thing to know is how/where to grip the bar?

The how is easy – hook grip all the way baby!!

The width is an individual thing, the length of you arms, legs and torso will dictate the width of your grip. The correct width for a tall person will be different to that of a short person.

There are a number of ways to determine the grip width of the snatch and most of them will produce the same outcome.  It’s down to personal preference which one you prefer.

Get a grip 1

1. Stand up straight and hold the bar with a hook grip at arm length
2. Adjust the width of the hands until the bar rests at the crease of the hips
3. To be sure that the bar is at hip height, the athlete can simply lift one knee to 45*. If the bar lifts as the thigh rises the bar was too low. The bar should contact the body just above the pubic bone

Get a grip 2

1. Again start standing up straight and hold the bar with a hook grip at arms length
2. Hinge at the hips and bow forward while keeping the bar pressed into the hip crease
3. With the bar pressed firmly into the hip crease adjust your grip width to find a comfortable hook grip on the bar
4. When you stand up straight the bar should sit in the hip crease above the pubic bone

Finding the OH Position

The next thing to look at is the overhead squat (OHS), the receiving position of the snatch.  It makes sense that if you cannot OHS with good form you will struggle to snatch with good form.

The easiest way to locate this position is:

1. Place a bar on you back as if you were going to back squat
2. Move your hands out to your snatch grip on the bar
3. Squeeze the top inside edge of your shoulder blades together (retraction and elevation of scapula) to create a shelf at the base of the neck on which to place the bar.  The aim is to keep the shoulders active when the bar is overhead to create a strong base and improve stability
4. The torso will lean slightly forward at this point due to the position of the bar
5. Press the bar straight up with no change in the torso position
6. The elbows should point approximately half way between down and back
7. The wrist and hands should be relaxed, with the lower potion of the palm facing the ceiling

NOW WOULD BE A GOOD TIME TO HAVE SOMEONE TAKE A PHOTO OF YOU IN THE BOTTOM OF THE OHS.

The weight of the athlete and the barbell must remain centered over the feet in order to remain balanced in the OHS.  Therefore, the bar must be placed over the center (front of the heel) foot.

Many strength coaches agree that the OHS is one of the best exercises to assess structural balance.  An athlete’s strength, flexibility, coordination and balance are all tested in the OHS.  Tightness and weakness can be quickly uncovered with the OHS, knees buckling inwards can suggest tightness in the adductors (inner thigh muscles) and weakness in the gluteus medius. Other examples:

What tightness and weaknesses do you have?  Get someone to film you performing an OHS.  Ideally the squat should take you 6second eccentric and 6second concentric to perform.  Performing the squat at a controlled speed will allow you to see the problem areas.

Just because your OHS position is not perfect does not mean you should not OHS.   You should OHS, work on your flexibility and use assistance exercises to increase strength in the lacking areas.  When performing the OHS fight hard to achieve the best position possible and hold the lowest position possible for 3-5sec.  DO NOT USE WEIGHT!

Working on tightness (flexibility)

Hold stretches for as long as you can stand it (2minutes is a good guid). Don’t stretch to the point of agony, but get comfortable with the uncomfortable. You can do some PNF stretching as well, holding the stretch for 30-45sec, then do 6 sets of 6-second contract/relax, then hold another 30-45 seconds.

When addressing mobility for the OHS its wise to take a bottom-up approach. A limited ROM in the ankle will certainly impact the overhead position.  Many athletes believe their shoulder position limits the OHS, when actually they need to work on ankle and hip ROM.

Ankles

Ankle flexibility can be a common issue.  Stretch the calves in both a bent knee position and a straight leg position.

Calf Smash:

Foot Smash:

Hips

Super Squat Pre-Sequence

Russian baby maker

Wall Squat (adductors) + Pidgin Stretch (glutes/piriformis) + Thoracic Extension

Hip flexor and tibialis

Coach stretch

10min Squat Test

Thoracic

Thoracic mobility is also very important in the OHS as hyperkyphosis makes the overhead position impossible.   Foam rolling can help improve thoracic spine position

Upper back lacrosse ball smash

Shoulder Flexibility

If ankles, hips and thoracic position are fine we can then start to take a look at the shoulder position.  More often than not it’s the pectorals and latissimus dorsi that can cause limited range of motion in the overhead position.

Lacrosse ball shoulder smash

Lat stretch and roll

Barbell Shoulder smash and Pec roll

These are just some possible stretched that may improve your overhead position. Always remembers to test and retest you position before and after doing the mobility drills. If the position improves you should continue performing this stretch as often as possible. If the mob did not improve your position you should not worry about it.

“Use what is useful, reject what is not” – Bruce Lee

To get stronger and improve on your weaknesses you need to continue to train a variety of movements. Deadlifts, squats, step-ups, lunges, good mornings, calf raises, pull-ups, bench press and other functional movements. It no good going to the gym everyday and doing the same exercises (bench and biceps) as you will quickly create a structural imbalance will cause limited ROM, bad posture and injury. For specific exercises to improve particular weaknesses please speak with one of our coaches.