The Snatch

[Polevaulter2012]

I have seen snatches done but have never performed them myself, so My friend and I were talking about them and he told me to make sure I hold fairly wide when I do them. This is what led me to this question. Why not hold shoulder width apart? Is there a certain reason to hold wide?

[bel142]

***Olympic lifting has a very real danger to it when not done correctly! Having a teacher is a must when starting or learning how to do them.***

The wideness of the grip changes the angle of the arms and distance that the weight has to move. If you hold shoulder width you you have to move the weight the distance that your arms displace going down and up. The weight will start lower and need to move higher. One of the goals of Olympic lifts is to train the musculature to have maximal contraction, for a very short amount of time. The goal create explosive power, allowing a shorter distance can help with that ability have maximal contraction.

This is not to say that shoulder distance snatches are bad... But you must use a far lighter weight to avoid injury. Vaulters can get a great deal of benefit from shoulder width snatches, but having a base, and knowing how to execute a snatch is most important first.

[Polevaulter2012]

Thanks I have been wondering why I dont see people go shoulder width apart. I am a very cautious person when it comes to training. I am a perfectionist so I for sure would make sure I was doing them right. Thanks for answering this question.

[Lax PV]

Snatch is a great exercise IMO for vaulters (great power output, full body motion and posterior chain activation) but yes, you need to know what you are doing. Ask your strength coach to take you through it (and invariably, every strength coach will have a different approach to teaching it, so I won't even go into that).

I use Clean Grip Snatches with my guys all the time, but it is usually with light weight, and is more used as a CNS wake up rather than an exercise that is going to produce any legitimate force.

In my personal experience (which is just going to expand on what has been previously stated) with a close grip, the range of motion is just a little too large. You end up having to pull with your arms (due to the bar path and mechanics etc) rather than letting all the motion derive from your traps and hip motion. Furthermore, oftentimes the weight is not fully moved by the time the arc of the bar-path is complete, and somewhat of a shoulder press is then used to finish the rep. This is a very subtle movement, but and experienced lifter (and one who has a little bit of humility) can definitely feel it, and should know to decrease the weight for the best result. I have found that these things begin to happen when you increase over about 60-65% of your 1RM in the exercise (again, for an experienced lifter).

[Polevaulter2012]

Ask your strength coach to take you through it (and invariably, every strength coach will have a different approach to teaching it, so I won't even go into that).

I don't have a strength coach. I am all on my own this year. I will probably stick with power cleans anyways until I am being coached by someone that puts them into my weights training program. I was just wondering why I never see people hold shoulder width apart. I feel like you could use light weight and end up being more explosive in the long run. I just don't like lifting with anything wider then shoulder width because I vault shoulder width apart, and think I should incorporate that into all my training.

[rainbowgirl28]

I definitely do not recommend doing snatches unless you are an experienced lifter and have good supervision. You can get pretty seriously hurt doing them if you have poor form.

[Polevaulter2012]

I am an experienced lifter and realize the importance of good technique. I was just simply wondering why I never see people do them with shoulder width grip. I would use just the bar to learn the form if i were to try them, but i don't plan on doing them this year.

[LHSpolevault]

If you do decide to practice them without a strength coach I would recommend video taping yourself going through the motion with just a bar, or even a long wooden dowel. You can then compare the video to the proper technique. I had to do this last year as I train by myself, and it worked out pretty well and my form ending up being pretty good after a couple of weeks.

Good luck!

[Lax PV]

So now I have been looking... does anyone have some hard numbers on the snatch?

Of what I have found, research tends to just say, "power clean and power snatch are very similar in peak power output curves," but without any data. I have searched the journals that I have access to and have found nothing. I am looking for relative loading differences for both the snatch and the hang snatch. The "holy grail" questions I am looking to answer are, "at what relative load is max force produced in the power snatch and hang snatch?" and "at what relative load is peak power produced?" If there is any hard biomechanics on it (including impulses, VGRF compared to say a CMJ, bar speeds, total displacement of bar path before 'the catch' etc.)

Anyone have anything or know of a place that is doing research on this stuff? I would rather not have to do the study myself, but have talked with a couple guys about putting something together (that is, if has not already been done, and published)

anyone....? Bueller???

[professor]

dumb bell snatch is the way to go... much safer