How to do the Barbell Snatch
- Stand with your feet hip-width apart, bar over the middle of your foot.
- Bend your knees and hinge forward, gripping the bar with a wide snatch grip.
- Drive upward, pushing through your feet, sweeping the bar up your body.
- Quickly pull yourself under the bar, extending your arms overhead.
- Stand tall, balancing the bar directly above the middle of your foot.
Full technique — 8 steps
- Stand with feet about hip width and the bar positioned over the middle of your foot.
- Take a wide snatch grip so the bar sits at hip level when standing tall.
- Set your back tight, hips above knees, and shoulders slightly over the bar.
- Push through the floor to break the bar from the platform, keeping it close to your shins.
- Sweep the bar into your thighs as your torso rises, staying balanced through the whole foot.
- Violently extend hips, knees, and ankles, then shrug as the bar accelerates straight upward.
- Pull yourself under the bar and punch to a straight-arm overhead position in a full squat.
- Stabilize overhead, then stand to full extension with the bar balanced over the middle of your foot.
Common mistakes
- Hips rising faster than shoulders
- Jumping the bar forward
- Early arm bend off floor
- Catching with elbows not fully extended
- Standing before securing overhead
Form cues
- Push, then extend
- Keep bar brushing close
- Finish tall before pulling
- Punch hard overhead
- Receive over middle of foot
