Hang clean form help

[JJFigure]

One of the athletes I'm working with is jumping forward to catch the bar when doing hang cleans. Last night he told me he didn't use to have this form problem until he hurt his back last year.

Watching him from the rear, I can see he's not shrugging the weight - he's basically throwing it forward and hopping forward to get under it. I had him switch to high pulls to get him focused on shrugging the weight up instead of throwing it forward. His last set of these started to look good, but what else can I have him do? I think he's just got a mental block right now; subconsciously, he's still probably hesitant to not re-injure his back.

 

[Nonerz]

The book I read [Explosive Lifting (or was it Training?) for Athletes] tells you to start from the top down. So using blocks or rack pins, you can have him work on form in progressive steps.

I started by just shrugging the bar and jumping to my toes (but not off the ground). Then I worked on putting that together with the rest of it.

Oly lifing is sooooooooooooo mental! Every time I start my oly lifts, I have to really think about every thing I am supposed to do...and then I have to do it without thinking about it! It all comes together (or at least it should) so fast and it is so easy to screw it up.

 

[slinky]

JJ: good call on high pulls.

This is such good timing as I just went through a Oly-lifting workshop with Christian Thibaudeau this past Saturday.

Have him work with "shrugging" with just the bar. As he shrugs, his upper torso should be moving away from the bar and he should be lifting his heels up as he does this. Then incoorporate bringing the bar up. Take it in steps.

A hang/power clean is such a explosive movement that he almost or does hop back. And when/if he does hop the landing should be SOLID.

 

[slinky]

As far as the jumping forward is concerned, is he pulling with his arms to make the bar travel out that direction?

Good question!

The bar should be staying close to the body. There should be no wild arch that pushes the bar outward. It's a literal "snap" that the bar goes up - elbows out.

 

[IronLion]

I agree with nonerz, break the lifts down into chunks he can 'digest' and do correctly, then slowly put it back together.

As far as the jumping forward is concerned, is he pulling with his arms to make the bar travel out that direction?

 

[IronLion]

JJ: good call on high pulls.

This is such good timing as I just went through a Oly-lifting workshop with Christian Thibaudeau this past Saturday.

Have him work with "shrugging" with just the bar. As he shrugs, his upper torso should be moving away from the bar and he should be lifting his heels up as he does this. Then incoorporate bringing the bar up. Take it in steps.

A hang/power clean is such a explosive movement that he almost or does hop back. And when/if he does hop the landing should be SOLID.

When working with someone I usually make them start at shoulder width (or their best vertical leap position). When they pull I make them slam their heels down as hard as they can about 6-8 inches farther out on each side. I have them drill this with just the power shrug/ stiff arm pull. He has to learn to rack with elbows high and sitting back because when you start to do full cleans it is a huge part of the lift. When you are too far forward it is almost an automatic dump, and if the elbows aren't clear it gets really ugly.

come to think of it the way he racks the bar could be what is making him walk forward into it. Tell him that his arms are like ropes, even shake them out and try to be as loose as possible. Some people (me included) are not flexible enough in the wrists to rack the bar with their whole hand on the bar. I typically rack with just my first two fingers holding the bar. See if he can keep his elbows up higher if he racks like this.

 

[JJFigure]

This is a college athletic program and they only do hang cleans in their program, so I don't have to worry about the full clean position. He is getting his elbows high at the end and actually has a good sitting position - he just doesn't seem to want to shrug the bar.

He's definitely pulling with his arms, and by pulling out he's traveling forward. On his last set of high pulls, he was hopping slightly backward, so I think we're on the right track.

I like the idea of the power shrugs too; we'll have to try that. I'll also work on getting him to keep the bar as close to his body as possible. I wanted to start with re-inforcing the shrugging portion and move on from there.

Thanks for the help!

 

[coolcolj]

stiff armed pulls is the answer

One stiff armed pull from the hang and then 2 hangcleans

 

[slinky]

Something else that'll help in teaching someone to explode back and to get up on their toes: have them place the balls of their feet on two 10lb plates (one under each foot).

Has worked wonders for me.

 

[JJFigure]

Cool Slinky. I'll give that a try too. Merci beaucoup!