Advice of the day 35 Ever since I wrote about hip action during the pull, I have been receiving e-mails from many people who said it fixed or really helped their snatch or clean. Im super happy to have been helpful. I figured I could drop another tip/description...this time for the jerk. Basic Description The jerk can be a complicated movement if it is not well taught or understood. I have seen so many athletes with strong cleans and really poor jerks. So frustrating for the athlete... The drive of the legs matters the most. Most people try to split too early which breaks rythmn. When you dip, the bar should not move forward or backward and you should have the weight on your midfoot/heel (not in your toes). The same is true for the ascent. Also, when you dip, you should feel like you are sitting in between your heels (ie : the hips should move down in a vertical line, rather than in a J line...A J line means you go down vertically and then let the hips move forward). Feet movement is important and can only happen in the context on a good leg drive. The knee of the forward leg should end up being over the ankle or a bit behind...and not forward of it. The back legs needs to be bent and heels turned out. The tip : As for feet movement, the most important thing about an efficient jerk is that the back foot lands first. Doing so will propels the lifter under the bar. In other words, a lifter who lands with the back foot first will step through the bar easily. The reasoning is similar to what we can observe in other sports. For instance, a good sprinter uses the back leg to propels the front leg forward. All efficient jerkers jerked that way for this reason, yet it is often not coached... However, if you land with the front foot first, the lifter will either be slightly pushed behind the bar or have all his weight on the front foot. This results in the lifter not being able to stabilize the weight and loosing it forward. Very rapidly (ie in a session or two), I have fixed jerks with basic foot drills that focuses on landing with the back foot first. There is no reason you should not jerk your best cleans, so get to it! Credit to hookgrip for the videos I took screenshots of.
Posted on: Thu, 06 Nov 2014 20:16:42 +0000