Topic: In the clean, I notice elite lifters brush the bar above the groin

[Dave Chiu]

Thanks DA, that will really be a pleasure to see!!

SS -- I agree, still I DO think there are some very interesting things happening that some (maybe most) will benefit from applying, and even when it doesn't work for an individual, it's cool to discover new things.

I may be sounding all cognoscenti now, but I was still ignorant of many of these things less than a year ago, after having spent 20+ yrs as a reasonably successful lifter and student of the sport.

[Jack]

and even when it doesn't work for an individual, it's cool to discover new things.

Absolutely so DC.

[Dave Chiu]

KK is a VERY interesting study --

comparing his 88 JRs win w/ 92, 96, 00, and in btwn WCs shows some interesting

developments in his technical approach.

Many things that he added/changed that he evidently preferred

to the very clean/effective method of his earliest success.

[Patrick Bateman]

He actually does what I consider to be the same re-cocking of the back that empowers Kolecki's pulls.

What is this re-cocking of the back you speak of? Are you referring to the way he raises his hips up and down before he starts the pull?

[Dave Chiu]

The back is given a prime set to get the bar going from the floor in the best way, but this cannot be maintained thru the full complex of movement up the legs, so...

... as the bar moves up the mid-thigh, skillful lifters use the shift often called dbl-knee-bend/scoop to REACQUIRE a priming of the back/hip (and shldrs too for Sagir) set (re-cocking) so that when the bar hits the trigger spot...

BAM -- the potential energy is released.

Looking back thru this interesting thread, I have come to see NS's (and HM, among others who emulated it) multiple hitches/stutters as gaining this priming and aiding acquisition.

[Dave Chiu]

also on that multi-adapted pull method (as opposed to calling it extra brushes) -- the Chinese are GREAT exemplars of using a VERY patient pull to set up the awesome top-pop.

It seems that gains the same effect.

Really cool to see how the last lifts in both Super sessions at Goyang worked such ever-so-patient pulls, even under the INTENSE pressure of home-country lifting for a lifetime best result.

[Patrick Bateman]

Woo hooo!

I finally managed to brush the bar above the groin

In order to do this started with hips as low as possible, and simply squatted the bar up higher up on the leg, then bringing the hips through a bit later aka basically, elongating the first pull as much as possible.

As wierd as it sounds, the whole clean is much simpler, it just feels as if i squat down low, arch back out hard, then just stand up with the bar.

I noticed a few things:

- the bar does lightly graze 'the old chap'
-the bar path feels much straighter, and you can feel the bar touch your belt and shirt on the way up
-it racks much more solidly
-your feet barely leave the ground
-you get sling shotted under the bar hard and fast, almost to the point where you end up being 'thrown' into the bottom position of the squat, with something of a pause

In fact the whole thing is very much like that whole debate of Catapault vs triple extension that don mccauley was talking about

[Patrick Bateman]

Also, just to add, to let you know of my body proportions:

I have pretty long arms, if i stand up straight (with knees and hips locked) with the bar in a clean grip -  the bar is just a touch above mid thigh (if some weight were to be added it would probably be mid thigh). When i unlock my knees and hips, the bar is just below mid thigh.

IMO, the reason why the bar ends bumping above the groin is because the bar is being pulled/fired along the same line of trajectory as the top of the thighs - Which leads to it boucing/dragging/skimming (like a pebble on a pond) across the top of the thighs, until it reaches the bottom of the abdomen/above the groin, where it bumps then travels vertically up.