The remarkable power found in the snatch, clean and jerk can be attributed primarily to a single, surprisingly brief portion of the entire movement: the final leg and hip extension performed from the power position. In the power position, the feet are directly under the hips to keep the legs as vertical as possible laterally, the position in which they are the strongest—they are not yet at squat width. Only the knees are bent, with the hips directly under the shoulders for a vertical torso—there is no forward lean of the torso or backward displacement of the hips. It's this explosive movement from the power position that imparts the necessary vertical force on the barbell to allow the lifter to transition underneath it.

The mechanics of this movement greatly resemble those of a vertical jump: the legs are bent rapidly to a small degree, transition immediately at the point of greatest flexion, and violently extend to generate vertical force. This is a utilization of the Stretch-Shortening Cycle (SSC), the combination of the myotatic reflex and the energy storage capacities of the musculotendinous units as is seen in plyometric training.

The mechanical contribution to the SSC is due to the elastic nature of parts of the musculotendinous unit, collectively termed the series elastic component (SEC), the primarily active of which is the tendons. As does a spring, the SEC temporarily stores elastic energy when stretched. If this stretch is reversed quickly enough through voluntary contraction of the muscle, the stored elastic energy will contribute additional force. If the stretch is not reversed quickly enough, however, the elastic energy will be converted to heat and will no longer be available to contribute to mechanical work.

Neurological factors contribute to the SSC along with the mechanical. Among the intrafusal fibers of the muscles lie the extrafusal muscle fibers, or muscle spindles. Muscle spindles are proprioceptive units that sense both the degrees and rates of changes in muscle length and report to motor neurons for appropriate response. Extension of a muscle to a great enough degree at a great enough rate will stimulate an immediate, involuntary contraction of that muscle, known as the myotatic reflex. Although this reflex is presumably in place as a method of protection, it can be used to potentiate voluntary muscle contraction. As is the case with the elastic energy of the SEC, if voluntary muscle contraction is delayed following the initiating stretch, the summative benefit of the myotatic reflex will be lost.

Most muscles act through levers at a mechanical disadvantage—that is, the moment arms on which they apply force are shorter than the moment arms against which they resist (A notable exception is the action of the calf muscles during plantar flexion). In a standing position, the closer the knee is to full extension, the greater the force against the ground the quadriceps can generate through the legs; likewise, the closer the hips are to full extension, the greater the force the hamstrings and gluteals can generate through the lever of the torso. This is why the most effective power generation is seen in the latest stages of leg and hip extension (consider how much greater a load an athlete can partially squat relative to his or her full-depth squat.).

These three considerations lead to a single conclusion: this final extension is and must be remarkably fast yet controlled. The eccentric (lengthening) phase must be quick enough to stimulate the myotatic reflex yet not take the knees and hips into excessive flexion; the amortization (transition) phase must be quick enough to capture both the elastic energy and reflexive contraction; and the concentric (shortening) phase must be quick enough to impart adequate power on the barbell.

Consider again the vertical jump comparison. When an athlete jumps naturally, there is limited preparatory knee bend—no athlete unless explicitly instructed to do so will drop into a deep squat in preparation for a jump. The athlete's countermovement is through a limited range of motion and very brief. This is simply the body's inherent understanding of its own mechanics—it will naturally take into consideration the stretch-shortening cycle and mechanical advantage. Defying nature will result in a dramatic reduction in performance. The actual depth of the power position will vary among athletes as does leg length—most will naturally find through practice their ideal power position.

It's important here to clarify that the lifts are not actually vertical jumps—this comparison has been challenged by some in the coaching community. While the mechanics of the legs and hips are similar between the two movements, there are very significant differences, the most notable of which is of course the minimal vertical elevation of the body in the lifts. This limited elevation, however, is more a result of pulling or pushing the body under the bar than the mechanics of the leg and hip extension that elevate the barbell. That considered, the vertical jump analogy remains sound and is often helpful in getting lifters to correctly rely on their legs and hips instead of their arms to elevate the bar. For other lifters, however, the analogy may prove counterproductive by resulting in the lifter to "float"—that is, to jump too high off the platform when lifting. As is the case with any coaching, the appropriate cues for each lifter must be determined.

In the snatch and the clean, in a sense the purpose of the first pull from the floor is simply to bring the lifter into the power position, from which the most explosive phase of the lift occurs. This transition from the first to second pull, in which the knees re-bend slightly and drive forward, placing the lifter in the power position, is called the scoop, double knee bend or transition. It's this re-bending of the knees that acts as the countermovement for the stretch-shortening cycle. The power position of the jerk is identical to that of the snatch and the clean, although the countermovement of the knees is far more obvious in this case with the elimination of a previous lift of the barbell from the floor.

Whether or not the double knee bend can be taught to a lifter is a point of contention among coaches, partially, I believe, because there is no consensus on what exactly is being taught. Some argue that the double knee bend is an unavoidable product of simultaneously extending the legs and hip—the bi-articular hamstrings are being shortened through hip extension while being lengthened through leg extension. The notion is that this phenomenon forces the legs to re-bend as hamstring tension reaches a threshold near the end of leg extension. Whether or not this is true may not even be relevant. If it is true that the double knee bend is an unavoidable action, then attempting to teach it will ultimately make no difference. If it's not true, however, teaching it becomes necessary.

When I discuss teaching the double knee bend, what I'm referring to specifically is ensuring the athlete enters the power position at the correct time and converts any horizontal forces created by the body into vertical forces—in other words, preventing the athlete from utilizing the catapult motion of hip extension and instead relying on entering the most advantageous position from which he or she can apply vertically oriented leg and hip extension.

Teaching any segment of a complex movement in isolation is inherently risky. Breaking the whole into such segments can potentially create segmented lifting in which the athlete attempts to consciously control each phase of the movement, and in doing so completely destroys its efficiency and potential success. Ultimately the double knee bend must occur involuntarily. This segmentation is a temporary stage, however. Once the motor patterns of the segments have been learned and ingrained neurologically, they can be incorporated into the whole movement, which can in turn be refined and ingrained into muscle memory.

Because of their speed, the durations of the lifts are extremely brief—the second and third pulls in particular are far too brief for conscious decision making or voluntary adjustments to be possible during those movements. An athlete can be provided coaching cues immediately before a lift, but once it's been initiated, the mechanics of the lift are essentially dependent on muscle memory. A coach cannot, then, teach the double knee bend during the lifts themselves. Other methods are necessary to familiarize the lifter with the positions and transition to be then integrated with the whole lift. Introducing the power position to a new lifter is the first step in that process—for many, it will be wholly unfamiliar if not uncomfortable initially.

Because of the mechanical demands of initiating the SSC as described above, the transition and remainder of the second pull must be a rapid movement. The drills described in this chapter clearly remove the rapid initial stretching that occurs in the transition, making these movements somewhat contrived. Keep in mind, however, the point here is teaching the positions and sub-movements first, not the entire movement. Once a lifter is accustomed to these, they can be integrated more successfully into the complex movement pattern.


Teaching the Power Position

Introducing the power position to a new lifter is remarkably simple in principle, yet often proves surprisingly difficult, particularly with athletes who have spent time developing common deadlifting technique, which typically involves complete leg extension followed by complete hip extension.

The key point can be described in two words: knees only. All that happens to bring a lifter from a normal standing position into the power position is bending of the knees. Again, as straightforward as this appears, getting a new lifter to do this can be extremely difficult. Most athletes with typical squatting and deadlifting backgrounds will initiate any movement by pushing the hips back and consequently leaning the torso forward. This will usually be the habit that must be broken.

As with all coaching, it's wise to default to a minimalist approach and attempt to keep things as simple as possible. It will always be easier to bring in greater detail if the simple approach is inadequate than to withdraw superfluous instruction after confusing an athlete.

Foot positioning should be the same for the pulling phases of the snatch and clean and driving phase of the jerk. In general, this will be directly under the hips with slight external rotation. As discussed previously this is the leg orientation that will allow the greatest force generation. Variation will of course exist among athletes in terms of what is most productive, but the starting point for new lifters should be consistent. This stance will most often be narrower than the athlete will want to take.

From this pulling stance, instruct the athlete to bend the knees only to dip the hips slightly, returning immediately to a stand. The actual depth of the dip will depend on the athlete, but it will certainly be less than a quarter squat.

The best vantage point from which to monitor the lifter will be to his or her side. Correct any forward leaning of the torso or pushing back of the hips. Ensure the lifter's feet remain flat on the floor. The heels lifting from the floor is an indication that the depth of the dip is far too great.

A length of PVC can be held vertically between you and the lifter to allow a reference for checking for proper positioning. This will also prove to be a useful tool for monitoring the bar path once the lifter progresses to other movements.

This is a simple foundational drill to which multiple layers may be added as appropriate. The most obvious addition, of course, would be a bar in the lifter's hands in either a snatch or clean grip, or in the rack position for the jerk. With a new lifter, however, this may be more distracting than helpful initially—if the athlete is unable to consistently dip without driving the hips back or leaning the torso forward, there is no reason to add another element.

With lifters who have particular difficulty maintaining upright torsos when dipping, have them stand with their backs against a smooth wall. Instruct them to maintain contact with their backs and the wall while they dip—this will give them instant feedback if they drop the chest or try to push the hips back.


Teaching the Transition

Once the power position can be achieved correctly and consistently by an athlete, it's time to move on and add more layers. The next step will be teaching the transition from the first pull to the second—that is pulling the bar from above the knees and transitioning into the power position.

A length of PVC is appropriate at this stage—there's no need to introduce any load yet. Have the athlete hold the PVC with a snatch grip. This will be covered in greater detail later, but for now, the grip width should be such that the bar is 6-10 inches above the head when held overhead.

The athlete should be in the pulling position—feet under the hips as described previously. When standing upright with a snatch grip, the bar should rest approximately at the crease of the hips. Later, when considering adjustments to grip width, the location of the bar in this position will be an important consideration.

Step one is having the athlete return to the power position again, but this time with the bar in hand. When the athlete dips, ensure he or she keeps the arms long and loose, but maintains contact between the bar and the body. At this point, there should be no leaning of the torso, and therefore no reason for the bar to drift away from the hips. But always reinforcing the idea of keeping the bar close is important.

The athlete will now move to the end of the first pull by performing the transition in reverse. To do this, instruct the athlete to simply drive the hips back and allow the torso to lean forward, letting the bar slide down the thighs until it is positioned at about mid-thigh level. This position will commonly be one the athlete is comfortable with as it exactly like where deadlift would place him or her at this point. The shoulders will be slightly in front of the bar with the arms actively pulling the bar into the body.

Instruct the athlete now to return to the power position—the knees and hips will move forward, the torso will return to vertical, and the bar will slide up the thighs into the crease of the hips. Initially have the athlete perform repetitions of this transition slowly, pausing momentarily at the end points to help him or her become accustomed to each position.

It's critical to note here that the bar does not move down during the transition (or during any other part of the pull). Its vertical speed will be somewhat reduced as the hips shift forward, but the bar must continue to rise. A common mistake made by new lifters at this stage is transitioning the hips and then settling lower, allowing the bar to drop somewhat. If this is occurring, it's most likely due to the lifter extending the hips too much before shifting the hips forward—they'll need to scoop earlier to ensure continued elevation of the bar.




Moving On

Once the athlete is familiar with the power position and the transition, they can begin to integrate them into increasingly extensive movements until the complete lifts are performed. At any stage of teaching the lifts, returning to the power position and transition drills will be helpful if an athlete is having trouble. This, along with the mechanics of the complete pulls, will be discussed in greater detail within the context of the lifts themselves.