Olympic weightlifting is one of the most technical sports there is: two lifts — the snatch and the clean and jerk — that demand mobility, coordination and a huge number of reps with good technique before you start adding weight. Here are the most common faults and how to start fixing them.
The most common faults in the snatch and the clean and jerk
- Pulling with your arms alone instead of generating power from your legs and hips — your arms guide the bar, they don’t lift it.
- Letting the bar drift away from your body during the pull, which costs you power and precision.
- Catching the weight with your feet planted instead of quickly repositioning them into a squat to receive the bar in a stable position.
- Not enough ankle, hip and shoulder mobility, which stops you reaching a good receiving position however good your technique is.
How to improve your mobility and control
Before you think about weight, the priority is technique with an empty or light bar: practising the receiving position in the squat, working on ankle and hip mobility with specific warm-ups, and repeating the full movement in short, controlled sets. Progress in Olympic weightlifting comes from technical consistency, not from forcing the kilos too soon.
How we train Olympic weightlifting at Redfield T&F
At our box, Olympic weightlifting isn’t a standalone class: it’s trained within the strength block of every functional training session, with the coach correcting your snatch, your clean and jerk and their progressions before they go into the day’s WOD. That way you practise it consistently, as part of your overall training, rather than as an isolated discipline.
In Olympic weightlifting, progress isn’t measured by the kilos you lift, but by the technique you no longer have to think about.
If you want to start working on your weightlifting technique with a coach correcting you in real time, book your free class at Redfield T&F.
