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The snatch is easily one of the most challenging exercises I can think of.  It’s certainly one of my weakest exercises and over time I’ve learned to really appreciate the lift.  I’ve had several trials and tribulations with the lift over the years.

From ugly turkey snatches in the grass…

To a slightly less zoo-like environment…

Over time I’ve learned just how important things like mobility, motor control and good old practice are for success in the lift.  One of the most important first steps in snatch mastery is to troubleshoot any mobility or positional faults.  I’ve made some videos on how to troubleshoot mobility and stability issues with the snatch in the past.  You can see the video below:

More recently I wanted to put together my favorite barbell drills for improving the technical aspects of the snatch.  These are the drills I perform before every snatch session.

If you’re like me and have difficulty with the snatch I’d give some of these exercises a try.  Pick a few of the mobility/stability exercises in the first video that are specific to your weaknesses/restrictions and spend 5-10 minutes working them.  Then move onto the barbell warm-up and hammer those out.  You can even pick an accessory lift specific to your snatch technical issues and work on a few lighter sets before moving onto your snatch work for the day. (i.e. working some high hang snatches in you have difficulty with a muted hip).

Anyway, give it a try and let me know what you think,

Dan Pope DPT, CSCS

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