When performing a snatch, there is nothing more irritating than elevating the barbell high enough and committing to getting under it, only to miss it because of some foolish mistake. In the sport of weightlifting, the snatch is deemed the ‘finesse movement,’ so there is very little room for error when executing the lift. If a lifter wants to improve their snatch, they can choose to just squat snatch from the floor more often. This is what the SAID principle suggests, right? While snatching more frequently has merit and can increase one’s snatch, this could lead to undesirable movement patterns, strength discrepancies, and sometimes overuse injuries. One technical error that can arise is receiving the barbell overhead with soft elbows, also known as a press-out, which will not pass as a successful lift in competition.  
 
Variations of the snatch movement itself, particularly ones that most closely resemble the competition lift, can provide a new stimulus, prevent training staleness, and could ultimately be the missing tool to help correct a lifter’s specific snatch ailment. In 2015, I was introduced to a helpful supplemental lift called the Bottoms Up Snatch Balance by my coach, Jonathan Teague. He helped me see the purpose this snatch variation serves, which is to build confidence catching the barbell overhead in the bottom position and encourage a lifter to be more aggressive in receiving the bar. The Bottoms Up Snatch Balance aims to teach a lifter to engage the barbell with locked elbows in the receiving position or squat depth of a snatch unlike that of a Snatch Balance where a lifter is locking out their arms well above parallel in an overhead squat.
 
Don’t get me wrong. Snatch balances or heaving snatch balances have their place in a training program when needed and are great exercises to overload the snatch and overhead squat, however in those lifts a lifter locks the elbows in a well above parallel squat. The beauty part of the Bottoms Up Snatch Balance is that the lift is deemed more sport specific in that the lifter is locking out the elbows at a similar depth when performing heavy snatches from the floor. I remember demonstrating the movement at a USA Weightlifting-Level 2 coaching certification where Dr. Kyle Pierce was the instructor, and he said he had never seen the movement and was really intrigued. Anyone who knows Dr. Pierce knows that he is one of the most well respected and most experienced weightlifting coaches in not only the United States but in the world, so finding out he had never seen the lift was quite a surprise.
 
Other than giving pertinent feedback, I sometimes also like to ask my athletes a simple question when they miss a snatch, which is, “What do you think went wrong?” An athlete needs to have the ability to dissect their movement to a certain degree, and if they say that what they did wrong did, in fact, cause them to miss the lift, then you know that their kinesthetic awareness or proprioception is improving. This enhanced proprioception will help an athlete respond properly to coaching cues because they have an advanced awareness of where their body is in space. Given the margin of error associated with the lift, I tend to give more coaching cues for snatch than any other exercise. Let’s face it, taking a heavy barbell from the floor and throwing it overhead in one continuous motion is a difficult and daunting task. If a lifter is timid or hesitant in aggressively engaging the barbell overhead with locked elbows, then he or she may benefit from incorporating the Bottoms Up Snatch Balance into their training.
 
How to perform the Bottoms Up Snatch Balance
 
The lifter will un-rack a loaded barbell from a squat rack with the bar carried high on the traps, just like that of a high bar back squat. Next, the lifter sets up their feet in their squat stance and then moves their hands outwards to set their snatch grip. The lifter will then tuck the elbows downward towards the platform, which will put in him or her in a more advantageous pressing position. The lifter will take a deep breath, brace their core, squat down as deep as he or she can get comfortably and safely, pause briefly (two or three seconds at most) in the bottom and then start to ascend or squat up. When the lifter reaches a parallel to slightly above parallel depth, he or she will then separate themselves from the barbell by actively pushing upwards on the barbell with the arms and dropping down into a deep overhead squat with the elbows fully locked out.
 
The lifter can choose to have the feet remain in contact with the platform and even go into slight plantar flexion if they are not used to actively lifting up the feet when performing the snatch. On the contrary, if a lifter does actively lift their feet up when performing the snatch, then they should practice that here, except here the lifter is simply lifting the feet off the platform and punching up against the bar the same time the feet reconnect with the platform in the squat stance.
 
After receiving the bar in the bottom, the lifter will stand all the way up, bring the barbell back onto the traps and simultaneously bend the knees and hips upon contact that the barbell makes with the traps. The lifter will repeat the above steps for the remaining repetitions in the set, if any.  If a lifter maintains the hook grip in the turnover of the snatch, then they should use a hook grip when performing the Bottoms Up Snatch Balance.
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vuyHhZIvdrY
 
Programming the Bottoms Up Snatch Balance
 
The Bottoms Up Snatch Balance is not an overload exercise by any means; rather, it is a drill meant to reinforce an aggressive and complete lockout of the elbows in the bottom of a snatch. A lifter will not be able to match their Snatch Balance personal record in the Bottoms Up Snatch Balance. If a lifter presents adequate overhead mobility and is able to get into a full overhead squat with no problem whatsoever, then he or she should be able to safely perform the Bottoms Up Snatch Balance. I suggest that a lifter starts off with 50% of their best snatch for three reps and go up if he or she is moving fast, sharp and is successfully locking the elbows out on each repetition. The lift can be used as a separate drill at any time of a workout, it can be used as a technique primer prior to snatching, or it could be used as part of a complex (e.g., Power Snatch + Bottoms Up Snatch Balance + Snatch).
 
Final Thoughts
 
As cliché as it sounds in the strength and conditioning field, there is more than one way to gain strength and power. This adage directly applies to training for the sport of weightlifting even though from a distance it looks like most weightlifting coaches are programming quite similarly. From the beginners to the elite, each lifter is unique and presents their own set of weaknesses and challenges for their weightlifting coach. A coach has a number of jobs to do, and one of the most vital ones is to program specific exercises they see fit to safely enhance a lifter’s performance on the competition platform and consequently help them become a more balanced, confident and efficient lifter. I encourage every weightlifting coach reading this article to always keep an open mind, especially when it comes to programming and potentially broadening your exercise pool. The mind is like a parachute; it only works when it is open.