Help with the Clean

[Poindexter]

Hey All!

Just looking for some advice or coaching tips on the clean.

The issue we are having is that at lighter weights - 65, 75, 85 lbs the squat clean looks good and is preformed well.

As the weight increases the athlete is releasing the hands on the catch and then recatching the bar in the front rack. The problem is the in the catch she is starting with the correct grip distance but when she regrips at the top of the catch the hands are moving dangerously close. One time she has caught her hand underneath the bar causing an injury and another time caught her knee on her elbow also causing injury, not severe, just wrist pain. Both of these incidents happened at 135#, a weight which is close to this athletes PR.

Just wondering if you have any tips to eliminate releasing the hands and then trying to rematch? Thinking it could be a number of things- fear of the bar, front rack mobility....

[Becca Borawski]

(10-24-2012 08:58 AM)Poindexter Wrote:  Hey All!

Just looking for some advice or coaching tips on the clean.

The issue we are having is that at lighter weights - 65, 75, 85 lbs the squat clean looks good and is preformed well.

As the weight increases the athlete is releasing the hands on the catch and then recatching the bar in the front rack. The problem is the in the catch she is starting with the correct grip distance but when she regrips at the top of the catch the hands are moving dangerously close. One time she has caught her hand underneath the bar causing an injury and another time caught her knee on her elbow also causing injury, not severe, just wrist pain. Both of these incidents happened at 135#, a weight which is close to this athletes PR.

Just wondering if you have any tips to eliminate releasing the hands and then trying to rematch? Thinking it could be a number of things- fear of the bar, front rack mobility....

Hi and thanks for the question. I have some questions for you, so I can clarify what is happening before I try to help. You say she catches the bar in the correct position? Do you mean when she is at the bottom of the front squat? I'm not understanding where she regrips and where exactly the issue is. I am guessing she doesn't have her elbows up high enough when she receives the bar if she is hitting them on her knees.