Tipping Forward in the Pull
We want a fairly constant back angle in the first pull of the snatch and clean, although we can expect some change. The goal is to prevent unwanted excessive tipping forward, which creates a few potential problems:
First, it will tend to shift your balance too far forward.
Second, the shoulders being so far in front of the bar makes it extremely difficult and eventually impossible to prevent the bar from swinging away from the body and pulling you forward to it.
Third, it leaves you in a position from which it’s difficult if not impossible to finish the pull optimally with leg drive supporting the hip extension—instead, your only option is to drive your hips horizontally to the bar, meaning less upward acceleration, more forward force, and more bar swinging.
The first common cause of tipping is a rushed start. This may mean not ever creating adequate tension in the starting position at all, or an abrupt yank from the floor—in both cases, you’re unable to control your posture, and your body will naturally tip over the bar.
The start and first pull don’t need to be slow—you just have to be in control of your posture and balance. Ensure tension throughout the body and against the bar before separation, and imagine using your legs to push your chest away from the floor to break the bar.
The second common cause is weakness of the legs relative to the hips. The small knee angle at the start is difficult for weak legs to open. The body will open the knee until the angle is stronger before the legs actually begin lifting the bar significantly, which means tipping over—the hips rising faster than the shoulders so the body can shift more of the effort to the stronger hips.
In this case, cues and intention will only work with lighter weights—with heavier weights, you’ll need to improve that position-specific strength.
Perform all pulls and deadlifts with the ideal posture—temporarily reduce weights as needed or you’re simply going to further strengthen the incorrect positions. Use pauses in pulls and deadlifts, immediately after bar separation and at the knee. Add slow eccentrics to the last reps of pull and deadlift sets, ensuring you remain in the correct position and in control all the way down back to the floor. Use pulls and deadlifts from a riser and pause back squats to improve starting strength at an even smaller knee angle.
Third, an improper starting position with the shoulders behind the bar can cause a natural adjustment by the body to bring the shoulders over the bar, but because this isn’t an intentional motion by the athlete, it often becomes an over-correction that brings the shoulders too far forward. Make sure no matter what type of start you use that your shoulder joint is above the bar as you break from the floor.
Finally, tipping may actually be intentional because the athlete believes the knees have to be actively moved back out of the way of the bar. The knees do have to move back to clear a path, but they do that unavoidably when you stand up. Intentionally pushing them back typically results in excessive extension and therefore tipping forward over the bar. Make sure in the starting position that the bar isn’t too far back over the foot and the shoulder joint is above it, and your knees are pushed out inside your arms so the bar will naturally have a clear path through the pull.
Another reason athletes tip forward excessively in the pull is a misunderstanding of what it means to stay over the bar—they misinterpret that to mean moving farther over the bar rather than what it means, which is simply NOT bringing the shoulders back early.
If it’s pretty early in an athlete’s lifting career, this is usually correctible with instruction/practice; if it’s a longstanding habit, it will more likely require postural strength work to undo all the unintentional strength work in the tipped position.
In all cases, pay attention to your posture and balance in the first pull of ALL lifts—anything that involves pulling a bar, and from the empty bar up to the heaviest weights. Even if there is a strength element, it’s also a skill and involves a sense of comfort/familiarity. So practice consistently with every chance you have.
First, it will tend to shift your balance too far forward.
Second, the shoulders being so far in front of the bar makes it extremely difficult and eventually impossible to prevent the bar from swinging away from the body and pulling you forward to it.
Third, it leaves you in a position from which it’s difficult if not impossible to finish the pull optimally with leg drive supporting the hip extension—instead, your only option is to drive your hips horizontally to the bar, meaning less upward acceleration, more forward force, and more bar swinging.
The first common cause of tipping is a rushed start. This may mean not ever creating adequate tension in the starting position at all, or an abrupt yank from the floor—in both cases, you’re unable to control your posture, and your body will naturally tip over the bar.
The start and first pull don’t need to be slow—you just have to be in control of your posture and balance. Ensure tension throughout the body and against the bar before separation, and imagine using your legs to push your chest away from the floor to break the bar.
The second common cause is weakness of the legs relative to the hips. The small knee angle at the start is difficult for weak legs to open. The body will open the knee until the angle is stronger before the legs actually begin lifting the bar significantly, which means tipping over—the hips rising faster than the shoulders so the body can shift more of the effort to the stronger hips.
In this case, cues and intention will only work with lighter weights—with heavier weights, you’ll need to improve that position-specific strength.
Perform all pulls and deadlifts with the ideal posture—temporarily reduce weights as needed or you’re simply going to further strengthen the incorrect positions. Use pauses in pulls and deadlifts, immediately after bar separation and at the knee. Add slow eccentrics to the last reps of pull and deadlift sets, ensuring you remain in the correct position and in control all the way down back to the floor. Use pulls and deadlifts from a riser and pause back squats to improve starting strength at an even smaller knee angle.
Third, an improper starting position with the shoulders behind the bar can cause a natural adjustment by the body to bring the shoulders over the bar, but because this isn’t an intentional motion by the athlete, it often becomes an over-correction that brings the shoulders too far forward. Make sure no matter what type of start you use that your shoulder joint is above the bar as you break from the floor.
Finally, tipping may actually be intentional because the athlete believes the knees have to be actively moved back out of the way of the bar. The knees do have to move back to clear a path, but they do that unavoidably when you stand up. Intentionally pushing them back typically results in excessive extension and therefore tipping forward over the bar. Make sure in the starting position that the bar isn’t too far back over the foot and the shoulder joint is above it, and your knees are pushed out inside your arms so the bar will naturally have a clear path through the pull.
Another reason athletes tip forward excessively in the pull is a misunderstanding of what it means to stay over the bar—they misinterpret that to mean moving farther over the bar rather than what it means, which is simply NOT bringing the shoulders back early.
If it’s pretty early in an athlete’s lifting career, this is usually correctible with instruction/practice; if it’s a longstanding habit, it will more likely require postural strength work to undo all the unintentional strength work in the tipped position.
In all cases, pay attention to your posture and balance in the first pull of ALL lifts—anything that involves pulling a bar, and from the empty bar up to the heaviest weights. Even if there is a strength element, it’s also a skill and involves a sense of comfort/familiarity. So practice consistently with every chance you have.
