“Great drive off the floor requires strong legs (especially quads) and powerful glutes” C.T.
“Get your glutes involved early in the lift to compliment quad drive and your deadlift will climb” C.T.
Let me quote some information about the two pulls (YES, NOT ONE YOU STUBBORN NICE PEOPLE). Please read and learn this stuff is interesting.
From the Floor â?? The First Pull:
The initial pull of the bar off the floor is called the first pull phase and is essentially a deadlift.
Stand with your feet straight and hip width apart. The bar should be close to the shins with your hands (hook or double overhand grip) just outside shoulder-width apart on the bar.
Push your butt back, stick out your chest, retract and pack your shoulders, and slightly extend your neck. Your shoulders should be slightly over and in front of the bar. Look forward, take a diaphragmic (belly) breath of air and create full body tension. Stay tight and push the floor away.
What’s really important here is to maintain your spine angle with the floor until the bar just passes your knees, known as the “transition phase.” Do not attempt to lift the bar off the floor fast â?? you’ll lose the constant back angle.
You’ll notice the position of the bar at the top of the kneecaps is now the jumping position described above, but this time, the bar has some acceleration from the first pull.
Explode into the second phase by pulling yourself under the bar, controlling the receiving position in a quarter squat. If more weight is on the bar, you’ll have to pull yourself deeper under the bar because your first and second pulls will only get the bar so high off the ground, meaning that you’re pulling yourself into a deep squat to receive the bar.
With either the quarter squat or full squat, the bar should be inline with the mid-foot as you receive the bar. Stand and lock it out. You may have noticed the bar brush against your thighs during the second pull, this is known as the scoop.
The idea now would be to practice, practice, and practice. Dan John quotes Dan Gable, a wrestling Olympic gold medalist, in Never Let Go: “If it’s important, do it every day.”
Use sub-maximal loads and focus on timing and the smoothness of the lifts. Don’t worry about weight until you’re competent with the mechanics of the clean. Sets of five would be sufficient to start.
Second Pull
Time to shoot the arrow. From this “loaded” position, jut your knees forward as you start to stand. Keep your chest over the bar as long as possible. You’ll reach a point where you’re in the “pocket” position with your torso just approaching a position behind the bar. At this point, jump!
Explosively extend your hips, knees and ankles! Let the bar travel upward but keep your arms straight. Let your shoulders shrug as in the description for the “pocket position” above. This is known as a “low clean pull.”
The “triple extension” is the driving force behind the clean. If you haven’t already figured it out, the bar is the arrow, which shoots straight up. Practice this sequence, now letting the bar float up toward the shoulders by allowing the elbows to bend. This is known as a high clean pull. Do not try to upright row the bar!
This is one of the trickiest maneuvers to master â?? going from the hang position to the pocket position in one smooth motion.
This article is by T-Nation Contributor Jon-Erik Kawamoto published on 02.15.2012
