One of the most frequent problems that I face when coaching athletes is that they have problems bringing the barbell into the hips during a snatch. This raises the first question: Why is it a problem if an athlete does not bring the barbell into the hips during a snatch? It could cause a whole lot of problems. For example:

1. By not bringing the barbell into the hips it makes it very hard for the lifter to keep the barbell close to the body.
2. By not bringing the barbell into the hip there is no “contact point” with the hips which makes it impossible to reach a full and powerful extension
3. By not bringing the barbell into the hips the lifter will end up falling or jumping forward on the extension and pull under fase of the lift.

And so on and so forth..

Conclusion: We need to bring the barbell into the crease of the hip.

So how do we do that?

Step 1: Finding the proper Grip width to bring the barbell into the hips

This maybe a bit of a beginner step. However I’m often quite surprised when during teaching a workshop I see experienced lifters with a grip that is too narrow.

Lifting Fix: The proper grip width means that the barbell is in the crease of the hip when you stand tall with the barbell in a snatch grip with your arms extended.

Step 2: Staying over the bar long enough to bring the barbell into the hips

One of the main reasons why lifters cannot bring the barbell into the crease of the hip is because they start coming up too early and bring their weight on the heels and thereby also bringing the shoulders behind the bar.

Lifting Fix: Keep the shoulders over the bar until the barbell has reached the middle of your thighs. During this time and during the whole pull your weight should be directly over the mid-foot. After you reach the middle of your thighs you bring the chest more upright. Because you open up later the barbell will not hit the thighs but will be able to reach the crease of the hip. Finish the lift by pushing hard with the legs and extending the hips, knees and shoulders fully.

Step 3: Moving the body around the bar instead of the bar around the body

A problem that often presents itself is that lifters want to move the barbell around the body. This creates a bar path that is inefficient and makes it unable for a lifter to pull the bar in a straight line. When the bar trajectory is curved it makes it harder to bring the barbell into hips and makes lifters skip the hip entirely.

Lifting Fix: Try to move the body around the bar, thereby clearing a path for the barbell to move upwards in a straight line. Especially when passing the knees the knees should move back and to the sides to clear a path. After the barbell passes the knees it should be as close to the thighs as possible. Not touching though in order to prevent friction to slow the barbell down.

Step 4: Do not row with the arms: “When the arms bend the power ends”

This is more of a technique reminder than it is a step in the actual process of bringing the barbell into the crease of the hip. Often lifters that do not get the barbell into the hip at first, row the barbell into the hip by bending the arms. This is called an “early armbend”. An early arm-bend causes loss in power and should be prevented. Try to keep the arms extended until after finishing the second pull. After the body is full extended and the legs have done their work, you use the arms in the third pull to actively pull yourself under the bar.

Final words

No matter what your body type might be or how you have done your lifts all along. Bring that barbell into the hips and you will get great results in your lifts. With the clean it is quite similar. Yet during the clean the point of contact is not in the hip but the upper thighs. I will write another lifting fix about the clean at some point.

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May your goals be big and your Clean and jerk bigger

Tobias van Leeuwen
Get Under The Bar