Although I have used "How" in the title,
I must say that you won't find a 5 or 10 step deconstruction of what is otherwise a whole movement.
If you are someone who is looking for the most "bang for your buck", I must tell you that you won't find any bang.
Neither am I interested in your buck.
This article is not for the average.
This article is not for the curious.
This article is for the serious.
This article is for the genuine.
With that out of the way, let us begin ...
You know how to walk, right?
The Snatch is a simple movement.
What makes it "complicated" or "difficult", is one's lack of a knowing.
Confused? I'll use an example
Imagine a planet where humans did not learn to walk or run by themselves. As infants, something within them didn't function the way it functions on earth.
And as such, they were content just laying at one spot until their parents picked them up and moved them.
And that, after a certain age, they were taught to walk, run and jump by their parents.
The parents will pass on the "technique" and "cues" for these simple movements to their kids.
And until their death, one would continue to use these cues to run, jump and walk.
Consequently, there will be different "techniques" for these basic movements. There will be schools, drills, debates (about the best "way" of walking) and other such nonsense.
In such a world, all humans would never know how to walk, run and jump. Ever
Coming back to earth, barring a few, this is the case for almost all athletes in all sports.
Coming back to lifting, very, very few know to lift.
The what and the how
For any movement, there is the what and then there is the how
The "what" is a high-level description or "a stating" of the movement.
The "how" represents the details and the nitty-gritty.
Again, I have no interest in giving you a "how".
Not because I cannot.
Because, if I do, it will act as a barrier, forever keeping you from knowing.
I will, however, assist you in knowing what you don't know.
Because that is the only way through which you can reach a knowing
The "whats" of the Snatch and the Clean
The Snatch and the Clean are movements where a weighted barbell is propelled upwards and then received on one's shoulders (clean) or overhead (snatch).
The line above is actually enough for you to go start playing with an empty bar and to see what your body can come up with by itself.
However, it would help to also keep the following reminders handy, especially if you plan on adding some weight to the bar.
- Prime movers throughout, are the legs.
- The spine stays in a neutral position at all times.
- The bar stays really close to the body at all times
- The person stays connected to the barbell at all times.
- The extension leverages the ankle, knee, hip and shoulder joints, in unison. With most of the power coming from the lower body.
- The overall movement will appear fast and aggressive although CONTROL is the genesis of both.
Note that the statements above are not rules or tenets that limits your natural talents. They are guidelines to nourish them instead.
They are not the walls of a closed off room, they are like a wooden fence surrounding a wide area where you are free to play and come up with your own "technique".
Realize that ...
If these six statements are the foundational pillars of ones' understanding of these movements, the person does not need any "how" or "technique" to begin to learn these lifts.
If you read all of that and reflexively agreed, then your snatch must look similar to ...
And if you made mental check marks on all six of the points as you pictured your Clean "technique", however your clean does not come close to looking like ...
... then I am afraid you have missed the essence of my message.
But don't worry, I will tell you why precisely your lift doesn't look like Liao Hui or Lu Xiaojun's.
The reason your lifts don't appear "Chinese style" or any of those Legends from China is because you lift with a "technique".
The sad reality for you and most other Olympic lifting enthusiasts today is that you have been corrupted with a "style" or "technique" of performing these lifts.
Either by your "coach" or the "tutorial" you have been following online.
This "style" or "technique" forever keeps you from knowing your true abilities ...
It keeps you from knowing how to maximally relax your arms during the first pull.
It keeps you from knowing how to maximally use your legs during the pull.
It keeps you from knowing how to literally make the barbell fly.
It keeps you from knowing the perfect back angle for your starting position.
It keeps you from knowing the perfect position to execute the extension.
It keeps you from knowing how to best leverage your entire body during every segment of the lifts.
Understand that the best technique is no-technique.
Only when you don't have a technique, you can begin to know how to Snatch or Clean