Snatch

The classic (or full) snatch is commonly abbreviated as “Sn.”

The snatch is the first of two events in the sport of weightlifting. The athlete performs the snatch by lifting the barbell from the floor to overhead in a single motion.

The athlete performs the snatch by grabbing the barbell with a wide-grip, known as the snatch grip. The snatch grip is found by placing the barbell at the athlete’s hip crease then extending both arms out evenly from the center. The athlete will know they’ve found their snatch grip by standing straight up and the barbell should be comfortably in their hip crease, roughly where an athlete’s short/pant’s waistband would rest.

To properly execute of the snatch, the athlete should set up in an upright squatting position. The middle of the shoulder, from a profile perspective, is directly above the barbell which is above the middle of the foot. Using only their legs to initiate the lift off from the floor, the athlete will maintain the same torso angle as a snatch pull to hip until the barbell reaches a height above the knees. When the barbell is above the knees, the athlete must aggressively and violently extend their legs then hips to propel the barbell vertically. As the barbell reaches and makes contact with the hip, the athlete will use their upper body to continue the vertical momentum overhead. After fully extending their lower body, the athlete shall move their feet from the starting position to their squatting position. Making sure their knees and hips are bent, the athlete should focus on keeping the barbell close to the body and aggressively pulling their body under the barbell as it travels overhead ready to receive the barbell in the bottom of the overhead squat position. The athlete must learn to land in their squat position flat-footed at the same time as the barbell is locked out overhead.

The correct sequential order for body involvement in the snatch is legs, hips, toes, shoulders then arms. Notice how the athlete in the video achieves a vertical bar path and great acceleration and velocity by using the correct order of body part involvement.

We recommend performing the snatch as 3-8 sets of 1-4 repetitions.