Olympic Snatch

Alright guys, this should be interesting. What type of scaffolding do you use when implementing the Olympic Snatch? If you don't implement the snatch into your programs, why not? If you do use it, what have you found to be the most difficult aspect of it to teach?


Rob Livingstone MS, CSCS, SCCC
Head Strength and Conditioning Coach
Norcross High School Football

I just started teaching it to my kids and it is not as difficult as I thought. Roughly half of my kids can do it now, after 3 weeks.
I went through this progression
1. OH Squat
2. Pressing Snatch Balance
3. Snatch Balance

I felt like the heaving snatch balance was a waste of time.

Then I go through my snatch progression from the hangs and work down to the floor.

We have been doing the pressing snatch balance. Even after going through the certification process, I am still unsure about if and how I am going to go about teaching the full snatch. We may not complete the full progression until after the season. I will always be wary of large amounts of overhead pressing and lifts during the season. I guess I am going to feel my way through it and play it by ear. Good topic Coach.

On Fridays the only athletes to lift are the 10th grade FB players due to the fact that most of our 11 and 12 graders play varsity FB. I started our 10th grade FB players last Friday and they were able to pick it up in one class period. I only have about 10 kids lifting in each class on Friday, so it creates an ideal learning environment. I started with PVC and finished with a full Barbell Squat Snatch within 35 minutes. After the hands-on training I showed them some video clips of the Snatch and the C&J which really got them fired up, especially since the Beijing Weight Lifting had just concluded.
I had a bunch of kids come in today wanting to do more snatch, which is always a good sign. Couldn't do it today because of a Heavy Squat Clean and Push Jerk for 4x4.


Rob Livingstone MS, SCCC, CSCS
Head Strength and Conditioning Coach
Norcross High School Football

Not only have I become a fan of the snatch, but I have also become a fan of all the lead up exercises as I feel they can all contribute to strength and athleticism. I love the snatch balance variations. We do those and overhead squats as a warmup before every lifting session and spend longer periods of time on off days. Our off days consist of going through the progressions for the clean, jerk, and snatch with the bar only.

We have 75 to 80 in each class. Individual instruction is very limited. It usually consists of me watching a kid perform a rep, giving a single correction or piece of advice, watching the next repetition or two and then moving on to the next rack. We are moving slowly with the progression, especially with the snatch. We have 24 stations going on at one time and I like to patrol each of them as often as possible. Obviously, when a new skill is introduced, I will spend the bulk of my time in that station. I have a renewed interest in the o lifts and how they can benefit my kids, but they are not the foundation of my program. Having said that, we definiitely emphasize the power clean, just not the snatch as much.

I love the snatch, and like to teach it first. It has the same basic mechanics of the clean, so once they have the snatch down, the clean is a breeze.
Glenn Pendlay came down one day and we worked with our kids on an easy three step process to teach the snatch.
1.Knee bend with bar in power position
2. Bend from the waist
3. Second knee bend until bar is mid shin, then go back up. Squat
Sorry I can't explain it better, but it was a really simple way to teach the kids. Not too many cues to confuse them, and they picked it up pretty well. Once they have the form down, we slowly add weight until they get to about 95# and then we just go from the ground.

When I teach the snatch or the clean I go through a 4 step process.
Clean
1. Shrug
2. Shrug and Jump
3. Shrug, Jump, and pull elbows up.
4. Shrug, jump, pull elbows up and flip it over.

I go through the same process with the snatch. The only thing that changes is the grip. We spent the entire first week doing that over and over. They hated it but it really helps. Now on short days, off days, and game days, I go through the same progressions with no bar just for practice. All reps are done from the 0 position (at the waist). After we get that down, we start working our way down the legs until we get below the knee. Most of my practice reps however are done right above the knee.

Jay,

I teach the RDL before anything else when it comes to scaffolding cleans and snatches. I believe it teaches the proper hip flexion when pulling from the knees. I truly believe that without a solid hip position and angle, power output is severely comprimised. Well, that's it for me today. I have to go get our kids ready for North Gwinnett. Good luck to everyone tonight!



Rob Livingstone MS, CSCS, SCCC
Head Strength and Conditioning Coach
Norcross High School Football

That is a great idea. One of the hardest things to teach is a flat back, knees slightly bent, shoulders past the bar at the above the knee position. People always teach to squat down instead of bending over. Lift with the legs. Bullcrap. If you want to pull any amount of weight, you better be bent over(with an arched back, not rounded).