As many people have noted from my earlier post, snatch practice for the British Masters has not been going well. Dropping six 70kg (154lb) snatches in a row, 2 weeks before competition day, is never a good sign.
So this weekend, with 2 sessions back at Crossfit Manchester, I desperately needed the experienced eye of my Crossfit Coach Mark Beck to sort out what on earth was going wrong. First the result:
Friday: 2 out of 3 snatches at 70kg successful.
Saturday: 3 out of 3 snatches at 70kg successful!
(Plus I did the daily Crossfit Manchester WODs to follow, of course.)
To say I’m pleased and relieved is an understatement. In fact, I’m looking forward to the possibility of having a good crack at a new PB come competition day. Current PB is 77kg, so opening at 70 looks achievable, giving 2nd and 3rd lifts of 75 and 78 if all goes well.
What was the magic ingredient? Simply finishing the pull. It’s probably one of the hardest things to get right in the snatch: when to stop pulling up on the bar and when to start dropping your body under the bar. Clearly I’ve been dropping down too soon and Mark’s guidance to make sure I properly come up on the balls of my feet, actually feeling the weight there, definitely made the difference.
Simple huh? The point is, that even if you workout on your own, it’s worth making the effort to get to your closest Crossfit Affiliate, at least once a month say, just to get that bit of expert coaching that can work wonders to your form.
