Snatch Technique

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Was: No Bulgarian Supplementary Exercises?

Kim Goss wrote:

<Finally, getting back to pulling under the bar, I believe that as soon as

the bar hits the power position and just before the knees are fully extended,

maximum velocity occurs, and using the arms and traps to help pull the bar

higher is going to reduce the pulling speed under the bar. You want to start

pulling when the barbell is the lightest. [Likewise, in running, working on

full extension of the back leg is pointless as maximum power is produced

before the knee is fully extended]. So, instead of using the arms and traps

to help pull the bar higher, use them to pull yourself under the bar.

*** The arms and traps don't pull you under the bar to any significant

extent, as is commonly believed. Biomechanical analysis shows that the

lifter needs to start the drop before the bar reaches its zenith, otherwise

no amount of " pulling under " is going to significantly facilitate the descent.

It is really quite simple - if you start dropping before the bar starts

dropping, you will reach your low squat position before the bar prevents

you from completing the whole movement. Continued pulling does not pull the

lifter under the bar, although this action slows down the bar down slightly as

it

falls towards the platform, thereby providing the lifterwith a little more time

for completing the drop and catch.

At the same time, when the bar is just above the top of the head, the lifter,

depending on his individual skill, may push against the bar to make use of

Newton's Third Law so as to produce a reaction against the bar which can speed

up his drop.

<Here's a simple test to prove this. If you can clean 200 pounds, stand with

135 pounds at the mid-thigh and try pull yourself into the squat position

from a dead stop. It's very difficult to do this as the bar starts moving

downward immediately. Now apply just a small amount of force with the legs as

see how much easier it is to get under. Further, you'll find that the more

force you apply, the faster you can move under the weight.>

*** As I noted above, if you provide upward force to keep the bar moving

upwards for a short while, you can start your drop before the bar starts its

drop. The greater ease of executing your test exercise has little or nothing

to do with " pulling yourself under " the bar, but more to do with the

processes which I described earlier, as well as the fact that you are using far

more back and hip extension power if you start the lift from the hang. Sorry,

but that test does

not test what you were aiming to prove! Among other texts, Zhekov's

Biomechanics of Weightlifting, gives more information on this process.

Dr Mel C Siff

Denver, USA

Supertraining/