How Much Do You Really Need to Extend in the Clean?
Generally, we need to see complete extension in the snatch across the board—there is much less variation there than in the clean.
In the clean, we can see a really wide spectrum of extensions, even at the elite level—and that’s evidence that there’s no one perfect method, but rather an ideal method for each individual athlete.
What works best for you is something you’ll only be able to determine through experience and experimentation.
You can use the points I included here to give you an idea of where you’ll most likely fall, but again because it’s influenced by multiple factors, you’re never going to be able to predict it perfectly.
Generally stronger legs and shorter limbs (squat strength dominant) will mean fuller extension works better—this is why it’s fairly common for Asian lifters to have much more complete extensions in the clean.
And longer limbs and stronger hips (pull strength dominant) will mean you can make a shorter extension work—this is why it’s more common to see European lifters with shorter extensions in their cleans.
I wish I didn’t have to say this, but I’ve learned that I do—I’m not implying that one method is better than another, or that the lifters I used as examples of the potential problems of each end of the spectrum aren’t “good”.
In the clean, we can see a really wide spectrum of extensions, even at the elite level—and that’s evidence that there’s no one perfect method, but rather an ideal method for each individual athlete.
What works best for you is something you’ll only be able to determine through experience and experimentation.
You can use the points I included here to give you an idea of where you’ll most likely fall, but again because it’s influenced by multiple factors, you’re never going to be able to predict it perfectly.
Generally stronger legs and shorter limbs (squat strength dominant) will mean fuller extension works better—this is why it’s fairly common for Asian lifters to have much more complete extensions in the clean.
And longer limbs and stronger hips (pull strength dominant) will mean you can make a shorter extension work—this is why it’s more common to see European lifters with shorter extensions in their cleans.
I wish I didn’t have to say this, but I’ve learned that I do—I’m not implying that one method is better than another, or that the lifters I used as examples of the potential problems of each end of the spectrum aren’t “good”.
