Key Components of Weightlifting Skill

Return to List of Concepts

Overview

The two Olympic weightlifting lifts, the Snatch and the Clean and Jerk, are highly complex skills. This complexity comes from the need to coordinate the entire musculoskeletal system with great precision and within a very short timeframe. This coordination is essential for successfully raising (elevating), moving under (descending), and stopping (arresting) the fall of a very heavy object.

Olympic Weightlifting, therefore, is far more complex than simply a matter of strength.

Components of Weightlifting Skill

To achieve a successful lift, whether it be a Snatch or a Clean and Jerk, the athlete must:

1. Elevate the bar sufficiently high. For each and every person, depending on their body structure, there is theoretically a minimum distance from the ground by which the bar must be raised. If the barbell is not lifted at least to this theoretical height, the athlete has zero chance of success. This skill component requires the development of both technique and muscular power to apply sufficient propulsive force to the barbell.
2. Descend under the bar in the smallest possible timeframe to a position sufficiently low to make the lift achievable. If the athlete is too slow or fails to achieve sufficient depth of position, the athlete has zero chance of success. This skill component requires the development of exceptional quickness and the confidence to execute the movement to its fullest degree. There is a high degree of psychology involved in this component.
3. Arrest the downfall of the bar. If an athlete cannot stop the barbell from falling, they have zero chance of success. This skill requires the athlete to position themselves between the barbell and the ground in a strong, stable, and balanced posture, ensuring that the bar does not fall any further. To achieve this, athletes must develop exceptional strength and stability in their receiving positions.

It is important to understand that these three components are equally important. A deficiency in any of these components will compromise an athlete’s performance capability (weakest link theory).