Coach's Corner: Common Pulling Problems

Coach’s Corner: Common Pulling Problems Coach Shaun McCrary breaks down common pulling problems with Newbies learning the Olympic Lifts. In any sport, there is technique involved and, if you do not develop those skills correctly, it will make your chances of success that much harder, or even worse, frequent injury. USA Weightlifting’s club coach course teaches the top down approach, and this is the correct way to teach a beginner the Olympic lifts. There are four different points coaches use in teaching the lifts, and they are from the hip, above the knee, below the knee, and from the floor in that order.  If perfection is what the coach and athlete are seeking they will take their time at each of these positions, and if time is not an issue, it could be over a month before a beginner has even lifted the bar off the floor. In sports, coaches always stress to an athlete that when they are in the air, they lose control and gravity takes over. For example, in football once you jump for that pass or attempt to hurdle a defender and lose contact with the ground, you have lost control because the defender can then take your body in a different direction. When doing the Olympic lifts, you do not want to jump to catch a snatch or clean because you are more powerful and have more control when keeping contact with the floor because when the bar gets away from a lifter it is hard to control. So when coaches tell athletes to jump when doing the lifts, they are programming them to go vertical when in reality a lifter should only be extending at the top of the pull and sliding their feet back down on the platform as quickly as possible.]]>