Deanna Asks: I have a fault with both the snatch and the clean, which I think is so ugly and I am very desperate to get rid of it, I just don't know the cause. Basically, when I perform both lifts, on receiving, my left leg only stomps/slides out and the right stays firmly planted. It’s very consistent and happens every single time. I've tried warming up the snatch onto plates, but whenever I focus on either moving both feet, or moving neither, everything else goes to sh**. What do you think the cause of this is? Is it a weakness in one leg? And which leg would be the weaker? The moving or the non-moving? Or is it just bad technique I've picked up and just need to drill it out of me—if so please suggest some drills!

Greg Says: Not an uncommon problem. The first question you really need to ask is whether or not this is actually a problem, which I know sounds strange, but give me a second: Aside from being ugly, is it actually limiting your lifts or increasing your risk of injury? If not, I wouldn’t lose sleep over it. Usually in my experience people obsess over this issue and it’s extremely minor and inconsequential, and once they get over it and focus on bigger issues, they end up making more progress.
 
If it’s a dramatic difference and actually limiting performance, then it needs to be corrected. First, let me just be blunt because diplomacy is exhausting… the plate-jumping exercise is stupid. For so many reasons. And as you’ve found, it doesn’t help you anyway.
 
Next, which leg is weaker? I don’t know, because we don’t know if one is weaker at all, and if so, what part is weak, because there are different ways of lifting and moving the feet. Could be hip flexors, but you may not even really be moving at the hip at that point. But the problem is the non-moving leg if the desired action is moving the leg, although the underlying problem may have nothing at all to do with this actual motion.
 
Understand that in order to lift and move the feet, you have to have great enough and abrupt enough acceleration at the top of the pull. Try lifting your feet at the end of a deadlift… you won’t be very successful. So the first place to look is actually in the finish of your pull—are you explosive enough, and specifically, are you getting an adequate push with the legs at the very top? If not, you won’t be able to get separation. This is why so many lifters move their feet as they’re warming up, and then their feet remain planted with heavier weights—they don’t finish as well as the weights increase. If you then add some asymmetry in the legs/hips, you get one moving more than the other.
 
Unfortunately, another possibility is nearly the opposite problem—pulling too long. If you try staying planted on the floor and pulling well past the point of maximal bar speed, you’re going to get stuck against the floor.
 
What I would suggest is this: Add to your warm-up some knee raises—either standing or walking, lift one knee as high as possible toward the chest while keeping the other hip stable, i.e. not leaning or collapsing to one side.
 
Add drop snatches to your snatch warm-up. Not snatch balances—drop snatches. You can do a few sets of 3-5, and then add 1-2 reps in after whatever snatches you do as you’re warming up with snatches themselves. Focus on lifting the knees, i.e. hinging at the hip, to move the feet, not lifting the feet themselves. Make the foot motion just as forceful and aggressive as the punch of the arms into the bar, and try to plant the feet flat at the same time you lock your elbows overhead.
 
Then, add dip snatches to your program a couple days each week. Stick with sets of 2-3 in the 65-75% range—they MUST be explosive, and you MUST finish and move your feet exactly the way you’re supposed to, or it’s pointless. Keep them as light as needed to make this happen. Again, plant the feet flat and forcefully at the same time you lock the bar out overhead.
 
Finally, pay attention to your warm-up snatches. Don’t take the light weights for granted. Make every single rep as close to perfect as your present ability allows. All of that practice adds up, so you can either practice how to snatch poorly, or how to snatch well.