Vaughn Asks: Beginner question - is the rattle of the barbell during hip contact indicative of perfect or ideal timing? I’m told that timing can’t be taught and is different for everyone. What can I do to work on my timing in the snatch and clean & jerk? 

Greg Says: That’s a definite oversimplification of the lift. Whether or not the bar makes noise during a lift, what that noise is, and how loud it is depends on several factors, only one of which is timing.
 
First, any correctly executed snatch or clean involves contact between the bar and body. An absence of contact will result in an absence of sound—in this case, that lack of sound indicates a technical error needing to be corrected.
 
Where the bar contacts will affect the noise somewhat as well. A snatch should contact in the crease of the hips, which will be the loudest possible contact point because it’s at the point of the body that’s moving horizontally at the greatest speed. Cleans will typically contact on the mid to upper thigh, which means less speed at contact and a somewhat softer surface, meaning less noise, although it may not be an easily noticeable difference.
 
How the bar is loaded change both how loud the bar is and the nature of the noise. A bar loaded with change and no collars will rattle loudly, whereas the same weight loaded with less change and tight collars will be somewhat muted.
 
The technical execution of the lift will have an affect as well, primarily two elements. First, the distance between the bar and body prior to full contact—the closer the bar stays before contact (this is what we want), the less noise it will make during contact because the less violent the collision even with maximal extension force. Second, the better the leg drive is during the hip extension, the more the bar and body will be moving vertical at the time of contact, so the less violent the collision. If leg extension is weak or cut short, the hip extension will be oriented more horizontally to slam the hips into the bar rather than meeting it and continuing to move up with it.
 
The idea that timing can’t be taught or improved is nonsense. Speed is something that training has relatively little affect on—it’s determined largely by genetics. But timing has nothing to do with top-end speed. It just has to do with when you execute certain segments of the lift relative to others. Most pertinent in this case is when you initiate the second pull, i.e. what point you keep the shoulders over the bar until. Opening the hips too early will result in the bar contacting early with less speed and dragging, reducing or eliminating noise.
 
Having said all of this, some lifters are able to execute phenomenal lifts with great speed and perfect bar proximity with essentially no bar noise. This is simply the result of the contact being extremely precise so there is so little horizontal collision that there isn’t any significant contact noise.
 
So in short, the presence of absence of noise alone isn’t adequate to determine a good or bad lift, and timing can absolutely be learned.