Rotation of the Body

Rotation of the body occurs when the athlete’s shoulders move backwards and the knees move forwards as shown by Figure 1 below. To some extent, there will always be some rotation of the body after the bar passes the knees and as the athlete completes full extension of the body. However, it is highly problematic for the athlete if this rotation is excessive. It may cause a loss of force production and/or may cause the athlete to lose balance backwards. The key is to keep shoulders slightly in front of the bar until the bar reaches mid-thigh. If the shoulders appear to be behind the bar at the mid-thigh stage, excessive rotation has occurred.