Hey Coach,
A long time ago, or so it feels, you gave me advice back in this thread here:
Along with your suggestions and articles, 6 months after fixing my back and being able to squat again I hit 275# for 5, weighing 140 lbs.
So first off, thank you for your help and time spent on articles, it has been greatly appreciated. Apologies on the bad gym music in the background, it wasn’t up to me sadly.
Now then; I’m looking for feedback on my snatch and my clean & jerk.
As of now, I’m 2 months into Olympic weightlifting. Unfortunately, due to life and time constraints, i.e. work and going to school full time, I don’t have the money to get a coach just yet, and as such I’m self taught. I film all my lifts and exercises every training day.
Looking past having no coach and being underweight for my height;
I’m running the Classic Life Position/Technique Cycle from George Everett’s book, Olympic Weightlifting. Thus far, I have made no modifications and I’m doing the program as written. This is my first week of singles. My current bodyweight is 65.7kg.
Snatch Singles:
61kg, 63.5kg, 65.7kg, 68kg, 70.3kg, 72.5kg, and a miss at 74.8kg where my feet got in the way.
Clean and Jerk Singles:
61kg, 65.7kg, 70.3kg, 72.5kg, 77kg, a blooper 84kg, 84kg clean
Transitioning:
Still trying to figure out how to navigate my knee. From what I’ve read, some coaches feel that long legged lifters are ok with some shooting up of the hips prior to the pull, but I’m not sure if this is something I need to work on preventing or not.
I’ve been working on my hip mobility along with ankle and adductor flexibility and it’s gone a long way into letting me push my knees out and let my knees come forward in the receiving position. My knees coming forward actually almost cost me my bottom position in a couple of lifts because I’m still getting used to my hips not being shifted back so much.
In the jerk:
The blooper pull with 84kg I actually didn’t even brush my thighs, I somehow pulled it straight up and just had to commit to it. The missed jerk at 84kg, the bar rolled forward on my shoulders and cost me my position.
Concerns:
Lockout:
I feel my lockout and upper/mid back stability needs more work. I was thinking of replacing jerk sessions with push press sessions in order to better facilitate coordination of my body for the jerk. I realize it was more of a power jerk; I came across a video of Kendrick Ferris (coach calls it a splot or something like that) and realized that’s what I do. I personally prefer this way of jerking as it’s more comfortable and stable for me.
Starting Position:
Some coaches said that when you set the bar down, it gets most people very close to what their start position should be; in my case, it looks to me that my hips are a bit too high.
Overhead:
It was easy to stand up with 72.5kg in the Snatch, however, my elbows weren’t too fond of it and I could feel that it was my upper back and not my legs that was struggling. I feel continued work on my bottom position and push presses will help with this, as well as with supporting my jerk overhead.
My plan going forward is mobilizing of my hips, more stretching of my adductors and ankles to try to establish a better bottom position, and making more money so that I can afford to buy more food and get a coach.
Apologies for the long post, but I tried to succinctly convey my own observations and critique.