Bar Back Not Head Forward in Snatch & Jerk | Olympic Weightlifting Technique

In the snatch and jerk, there’s a critical difference between putting the bar over the back of your neck, and putting the back of your neck under the bar.

The proper overhead position involves a slight forward lean of the trunk to achieve this relationship of barbell over the back of the neck, but this needs to occur primarily as a result of trying to move the bar back into position.

Focusing instead on reaching the head and chest forward will tend to bring them too far forward too soon, causing the bar to stay too far forward and putting your body in an unbalanced and weak position.

In the snatch, this means instability overhead and imbalance in the squat. You may miss forward by being too imbalanced and the bar moving even farther forward, or behind because for the sake of balance your arms have to angle too far backward to be stable.

In the jerk, this means the hips moving backward out from under the bar, the front foot landing short, and the weight being too far forward to support properly.

Remember that as you try to push or pull the bar back into position, you will also be pulled forward to some extent naturally—rely on that natural reaction rather than adding to it and ruining everything.

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[smurug]

*Respected Sir, your videos help us in India. We can not afford a great coach like you but your videos are helping us in every possible way. We are greatful to you.* 🙏

[SarahGFryer]

“..and ruining everything!” 😄
Always the best commentary, along with the best instruction.

[kstoeb]

It is unbelievable, how concise your videos are. I am binge watching your stuff and understanding things within minutes that I didn’t get for years.

[solanour]

Omg this was perfect timing and exactly what I've been suffering with in my jerks.

[fitdonutfanatic]

This make so much sense!! Thank you for sharing!

[goodysgotit]

swear to god I always have to watch these things four times to fully process them.

[ivanmarasmiladinov]

This weightlifting technique thing is such a rabbit hole. It's very frustrating before it becomes joyful and remains quite difficult. I really didn't know what I was getting myself into when I started with this sport. I guess none of the things worth doing are easy. We picked a hard sport, but we will all make it.

[luciferiandeathmagik]

Thanks Greg for the great content as always. Just out of curiosity, why do I see many athletes such as shi zhiyong bring the head through in the snatch. I’ve also seen torokhtiy and pliesnoi explain to bring shoulder blades together and head through. Is this also based on the individual, like many things in weightlifting?

[belok]

I'm wondering why the weightlifters of the past (until 90s probably) at the end of snatch and jerk did not have the bar behind the head at all. It was actually in front of the head. They used to hold it not by locking the blades but using muscle strength? Your thoughts, Greg?

[beastboy]

Hey Greg, is it possible to hit 300kg back squat and still claims Natty, appreciate the contents

[Scott-zhip]

When you smash the like before you watch

[blalolblalol]

At 0:14 Lily cringed beacause of that "back foot moving first" recovery, or it was about something else? Also, in the redhead woman's (no disrespect, I don't know her name) first split she recovers with her front foot first, while in the second split, she recovers with her back foot first. Is this a consequence of losing balance to the front, because of the reasons you mention in this video?