Topic: Videos: Canadian 45-49 Master Record @ 94kg

[Chris Ⓐ LeRoux]

Thats a huge drop snatch! If you don't mind me asking, do you think they were critical to your early success? Why did you stop emphasizing them?

Thanks

[Guy Greavette]

I believe that the Drop Snatch is very important in learning how to receive a Snatch properly, sitting in the bottom with it to learn control, and of course the overhead support development that one gains is tremendous. I have noticed many times that athletes perform the Drop Snatch, from my point of view, incorrectly. They have been taught to just Drop under the bar and try to control the weight and in most cases this can be difficult as the weight comes crashing down on them. I prefer the style of a dip, a drive (similar to a Jerk) and then move under the bar to receive the weight higher (similar to Snatches) and then continuing down into the bottom position in a much more controlled manner. Of course, this is done without hesitation or without stopping throughout the movement. I was fairly proficient in the Snatch and did not feel that it was necessary to do them any longer. I was better in the Snatch than in the Clean & Jerk.

75kg - 135kg Snatch, 167.5kg C&J
82.5kg - 155kg Snatch, 185.5kg C&J
 

[Chris Ⓐ LeRoux]

Guy,

Thanks and welcome to the forum. 

Thats very interesting. I used to do them, the same way you describe, but stopped around the time I moved up weight classes the first or second time (52 to 56 or 56 to 60). When I did them I could drop snatch right around what I could snatch but of course that changed when I moved up, snatched more, and wasn't doing them. I wonder if that was a mistake. I have always been much better in the clean and jerk. Now I am too old to do drop snatches. They would kill my wrists. I have to budget my overhead work these days to protect my wrists and elbows.

Thanks again

[Ronald Mann]

My best competition lifts were 158kg Snatch and 195kg C&J for a total of 352.5kg at a tournament in Greece just prior to the Olympic Games in 1988. I was very close to snatching 162.5kg and I cleaned 200.5 at this same tournament in the 90kg category. Rob Gray mentioned that I had drop snatched 165kg and this is incorrect. I did many drop snatches early in my career but stopped doing them once I moved up from the 75kg category to the 82.5kg category. My best drop snatch at 75kg bodyweight was 160kg. 

Hi Guy
Thanks very much for confirming your best ever competitive lifts.

Guy,many years ago I maintained an "alltime top ten" Commonwealth rankings list (I discontinued this when the IWF altered all the weight divisions in 1993) - looking back through my old files,it appears that your 340 total @82.5kg would have placed you fourth and your 352.5 total @90kg fifth on these lists (as at 31/12/1992). In saying this,I realise that my lists may not be 100% correct,as they were basically compiled from magazine results of various major International contests and National championships - for example,I've never seen any results for the Greek tournament where you totalled 352.5kg. Thanks again for your help

Regards and best wishes
Ron Mann

[Shawn Thomas]

 I know Guy well as he is the Director of the BC Weightlifting Assoc. & have had the opportunity to train w/ him & assist him teaching the NCCP level.1 technical weightlifting course. His technical proficiency is incredible. He has been a great support for myself & the development of our weightlifting program here in South Surrey. I witnessed his 111 snatch, it was awesome.
 
 
 

[Chris Ⓐ LeRoux]

Guy,

Could you please tell me how long you would sit at the bottom of a drop snatch? I kind of assume from the way you put it that you sat there for different lengths of time depending on the situation. Did you do this according to feel? The weight on the bar? Or programmed ahead of time?

Thanks very much.

[Guy Greavette]

I think it is important at the beginning to have athletes sit and get comfortable supporting that weight in the bottom, but as the athlete gets proficient in the movement, then it is a feeling of control in the bottom and then stand up, so it could vary. I see too many lifters who panic in the bottom position, don't have control and try to stand up quickly. As soon as they do this, they start to lose the weight either forwards or backwards. Most maximum Snatches are going to be saved in the bottom position, again it is a feeling, a feeling of control and then stand up. Most lifters have plenty of leg strength to stand up in a controlled manner but it just seems to be that panic in the bottom that I see time and time again. Olympic Weightlifting is a sport of feeling. If you do not have control and this feeling throughout the technique of a lift, then it makes it very difficult to have control when receiving the weight. This is why it is so important for the athlete to not only pull the weight close to the body but to also have the correct body positions and stay strong to the bar throughout the lift. I have seen alot of literature that says the drop under phase and I can not accept that terminology. The athlete is pulling themselves down under the bar and it should be referred to as the Pull Under Phase. If you are trying to teach young kids and you tell them to drop under, that is exactly what they are going to do and it is wrong. Drop under - no control, pull under - control. This is all important in getting yourself from the strart to reception in control. Some lifters try to catch the weight high and then sit and in most cases this does not work well. Many times this will result in a lost lift to the back. Pull yourself right into the bottom position and you will have more success, if you have learned that control in the bottom from Drop Snatches. Eventually, everyone knows the feeling of a great lift but to be successful in this sport, the athlete must make that great lift happen as much as possible - consistency. I hope this answers your question.

[Pete Church]

Nice response Guy!