Find the fix for the problem you actually have.
Sixty-four free Olympic weightlifting technique fixes, filed by the fault. Search what is going wrong and the video that fixes it comes up. No email, no signup, no catch.
Coached and written by Danny Lehr · USAW Sports Performance · CrossFit L3
You Default to a Bad Catch Position Under Load
Technique that holds up in warm ups and reverts to something else when it gets heavy.
Your Stance Is Too Narrow and It Pulls You Forward
Getting dragged forward on heavier lifts because the pulling stance is too narrow.
Your Elbows Turn Out and the Bar Gets Away
Elbows rotating out during the pull, which lets the bar travel away from the body.
Your Change of Direction and Turnover Are Slow
A slow, drawn out transition from pulling up to pulling under.
You Are Slow and Tentative Under the Jerk
Hesitating on the way under the bar.
Your Overhead Squat Is Limited by Position and Mobility
A catch position in the snatch that is limited by mobility rather than strength.
Your Chest Caves During the First Pull
The chest collapses as the bar comes off the floor.
Your Heels Come Off the Floor in the Squat
Heels lifting during the squat.
You Move Too Much Setting Up the Back Squat
Excess upper body movement while getting set under the bar.
You Cannot Find the Strong Overhead Position on Your Own
Not knowing what a reliable overhead position feels like when nobody is watching.
Your Barbell Cycling Falls Apart Mid Workout
Losing rhythm and efficiency partway through a set of touch and go reps.
Your Feet Land Too Narrow in the Snatch
Receiving the snatch in a stance that is too close together.
Your Weight Gets to Your Toes Too Early
Shifting onto the front of the foot well before the finish.
Your Overhead Squat Is Weak and Unstable
No solid overhead position under a loaded squat.
Your Elbows Drop and Your Midline Gives
Losing the front rack partway through the squat.
Your Back Lights Up When You Lower the Bar
Pain or a hot, fatigued low back on the way down rather than on the way up.
You Miss Your Jerks Out Front
The bar finishes in front of the body and you chase it forward.
Your Snatch Is Inconsistent From the Power Position
Looping the bar and hitting a different position every rep.
A Loose Grip Lets Your Upper Back Break
Fingertips only on the bar, which lets the upper back round under load.
The Bar Finishes Out Front, Not Actually Overhead
Leaving the bar in front of the body and calling it locked out.
Your Lats Are Not Engaged, So the Bar Swings Out
The bar drifts away from the body during the pull.
You Loop the Bar in the Snatch
The bar swings out in an arc at the top instead of staying against the body.
Your Hips Rise Before Your Shoulders
Off the floor the hips shoot up first and the shoulders lag behind.
Your Scaps Are Loose Overhead
No upper back engagement supporting the bar overhead.
You Are Too Loose in the Bottom and You Miss the Catch
Riding the bar all the way to the bottom and missing from there.
You Bend Your Arms Too Early
The arms start pulling before the legs and hips have finished.
Your Upper Back Is Loose at the Setup
No tightness through the upper back before the bar leaves the ground.
Your Feet Stay Planted, You Lift in Concrete
Feet that never leave the pulling stance.
You Land on Your Toes and Touch a Knee Down
Receiving on the balls of the feet, sometimes with the front knee dropping to the floor.
You Are Hyperextending Instead of Bracing
Getting so focused on a tight back that you hyperextend and go soft in front.
You Are Not Breathing Right on Heavy Touch and Go Reps
Holding one breath through multiple heavy reps, or breathing at the wrong point in the set.
You Drag the Bar Up Your Thighs and Throw Your Hips
The bar never gets back into the hip, so the hips lunge forward to meet it.
How to Find Your Correct Starting Position
Getting pulled forward the moment the bar breaks the floor, or never feeling balanced over the middle of the foot.
You Jump Backwards Instead of Finishing Tall
Traveling backwards at the finish, which usually comes with landing on the toes.
You Are Not Pushing Through Your Whole Foot
Rolling onto the toes during the pull, or shuffling the feet before the finish.
Your Front Knee Lands Ahead of Your Foot
The front knee travels past the front foot on the catch.
You Drive Your Hips Forward Instead of Up
Pushing the pelvis horizontally into the bar rather than extending vertically.
You Tightrope Your Split Jerk
Landing with the feet on a single line front to back, with no width between them.
You Land With Soft, Unlocked Arms
Receiving the jerk with arms that are not quite locked out.
Your Chest Drops in the Bottom of the Catch
Collapsing forward in the hole rather than catching tight.
You Are Pulling the Bar Around Your Knees
The bar arcs out and around the knees instead of the knees clearing out of its way.
You Get Behind the Bar Too Early
The torso comes upright before the bar reaches the hip.
You Are Not Stable Overhead, From Two Directions
Poor overhead stability caused by the shoulders, the midline, or both.
Your Weight Drifts Forward During the Pull
Being pulled onto the toes somewhere between the floor and the hip.
Your Squat Depth Is Limited by Your Ankles
Not getting to depth, and blaming the hips for it.
Your Footwork Under the Bar Is a Mess
Feet that land inconsistently, late, or in the wrong place.
You Are Not Actually Tight Before You Pull
Taking a breath and arching the back, then calling it braced.
Snatch Pull Mechanics, Start to Finish
Not a fault so much as the reference point: how the bar should actually travel from the floor to the hip.
You Are Not Punching Under the Bar
Pressing the bar up rather than driving yourself down under it.
Your Turnover Is Slow and Your Arms Are Late
Taking too long to turn the bar over once the extension is finished.
You Do Not Really Warm Up Before You Lift
Walking in and going straight to the bar.
Your Shoulders Are Unstable Through Range
Shoulders that hold a static position but give out when the position has to move.
Your Overhead Mobility Is the Roadblock
Not enough range to get the bar into a genuine overhead position.
You Lean Forward on the Dip
The chest travels forward during the dip, which sends the bar out of position before the drive.
You Miss Jerks From Poor Overhead Stability
The jerk gets overhead and then falls apart.
Your Front Rack Is Too Tight for Cleans and Front Squats
Not enough range to hold a proper front rack position.
Your Hips Are Tight in the Bottom of the Squat
Restriction in the hips that limits the bottom position.
Your Feet Land Way Too Wide
Jumping the feet out far wider than a functional squat stance.
Your Hips Do Not Close Back Down After Extension
Opening the hips at the finish and then leaving them open.
You Miss Front Squats From the Midline, Not the Legs
Being a chest dropper out of the bottom of a front squat or clean.
You Jump Forward
Landing a step in front of where you started.
The Bar Gets Away From You in the Third Pull
Losing contact with the bar as you go under it.
You Are Rushing the Lift and Have No Tempo
Trying to be fast everywhere instead of fast in the right place.
Your Hips Shoot Up and Your Chest Drops
The hips rise faster than the bar and the chest collapses forward the instant the bar leaves the floor.
Nothing matches that. Try a plainer word, like "feet" or "overhead".
Start with the fault
All sectionsOff the Floor
The setup and the first pull. Everything that goes wrong before the bar reaches your knee.
12 fixesBar Path
Looping, swinging, jumping forward. Fixes for a bar that will not stay close.
10 fixesThe Finish
Hip contact, extension and timing. The half second that decides the lift.
6 fixesUnder the Bar
Footwork and the catch. Getting down fast and landing in a position you can stand up from.
8 fixesOverhead
Stability, position and mobility for the snatch catch and the jerk.
8 fixesThe Jerk
The dip, the drive, the split and the catch.
9 fixesSquats
Front squat, back squat and the positions that hold them up.
7 fixesMobility & Prep
Getting your body ready to be in the positions the lifts ask for.
2 fixesBarbell Cycling
Technique that holds up when the set is long and the clock is running.
2 fixes