Coaching Roundtable: Olympic Weightlifting for Throwers (Part 2)

Olympic weightlifting is an essential part of training for all throwing events. But as with any component of training, getting the most out of it requires knowing how to implement it properly in training. This week we have put together a coaching roundtable on Olympic weightlifting. In Part 1 we heard from weightlifting coaches Greg Everett, Matt Foreman, and Wil Fleming about what variations of the Olympic lifts are best for throwers. In part 2, the three coaches provide their input on weightlifting technique. The series will conclude later this week with some thoughts from throws coaches about how them implement Olympic weightlifting in training.

Part 1: Selecting the Right Lifts

Part 2: Lifting Technique

Martin: Obviously many throwers also have good lifting technique, but in the clean it is far too common to see someone catch the lift with wide feet and elbows down. Why is this such a common problem? And what are some ways to fix it?

Wil Fleming: The typical ugly clean can usually be seen by a poor catch position. In this position the athlete may land on their toes, or with their feet too wide. Ultimately this is a timing problem, related to trying to overpull the bar.

Ideally the athlete should extend the hips violently, and then retreat the hips to receive the bar, but in reality, relaxing with the bar and retreating the hips is not something throwers are very good at. We are good at pulling the heck out of the bar and then seeing what happens.

Think about the pull differently. Once the hips are extended, continued action by the arms and upperbody to pull it higher are almost pointless. A more beneficial approach is to “extend, then sit” then catch the bar as high as is necessary. (Note: Wil has written more about this topic on his blog.)

Greg Everett: Poor technique is rampant among all athletes – I don’t think it’s exclusive to throwers by any means. It’s the product of a fairly complex training tool being used by athletes who have other complex movements to train and master, such as the actual throws. The same amount of time that goes into sport-specific technique training obviously can’t be invested in the Olympic lifts. That said, often times athletes are not investing as much time and effort into learning the lifts as they’re capable of, and this is not only exposing them to injury, but is limiting the effects of the lifts on their sport performance. If avoiding unnecessary injury and downtime isn’t motivation enough for an athlete, improved results in their chosen sport should be.

The only way to fix it is for coaches and athletes to better educate themselves on lift technique and coaching/training methods. These days this information is very accessible, and providing this kind of information is exactly what the purpose of my business is outside of our gym and weightlifting team. However, all that information is useless if people aren’t willing to learn and apply it.

Matt Foreman: I think many throwers are less serious about perfecting their lifting technique, which has never made much sense to me. I suppose there could be several reasons for this. Some of them weren’t taught correctly. Others think of their lifting with a kind of “secondary importance,” which keeps them from ever really refining their movements. And then some throwers have the mentality that says, “I can lift more than everybody around me, even with crappy technique, so it doesn’t matter.” However, there are also a lot of throwers who have tremendous technique in the Olympic lifts and they’ve seen the benefit in their throwing. I worked with Jason Lewis in his lifting all throughout his collegiate career. During his years at Arizona State, he worked his way up from being a walk-on freshman to winning the national championship in the 35 lb. weight and also being All-American in shot, disc, and hammer. Jason’s throwing success came from the amazing coaching of Dave Dumble. However, he also developed amazing skill in the O-Lifts during these years, and the transfer to his throws was very helpful. By the time he was a senior, he could snatch 341 lbs, clean 446, and clean and jerk 418 with technique that was outstanding by any standards.

Martin: Do you have any other comments on Olympic lifting and the throws?

Matt Foreman: Looking back at my answers to these questions, we can see how complicated this whole area is. There is no one single correct lifting method for all throwers. Different approaches work for different people. It’s a lot like throwing technique. No one single method works for everybody. Some athletes throw the disc better using a reverse, and others throw better with non-reverse. I do think it’s important for throwers to develop proper OL technique for several reasons, with injury prevention being one of the most important. If you do a lot of heavy snatches and cleans with terrible technique, it’s going to put a lot of dangerous pounding on your joints. If this pounding accumulates over time, it can damage the athlete’s throwing career. We’ll see a situation where a thrower starts having lower back problems and nobody can figure out why. Well, maybe it’s because the thrower spent six years power cleaning 400 pounds with horrible technique. All of a sudden, the thrower’s back is so damaged that he can’t throw anymore. Doing the O-Lifts correctly is one of the best ways to improve throwing performance. When you do them poorly, you’re rolling the dice. It might not catch up to you right away, but over time…

Continue reading…

Part 3: Input from Throwing Coaches