Corrective Drills - Clean & Jerk Flavored

So I have some growing pains as I'm transitioning from being a split jerker to a power / squat jerker after realizing that I tend to do better with fewer degrees of freedom.  My 1RM on my jerk has gone down significantly, but the name of the game is longevity, so I'm willing to take a temporary hit now for the long-term enjoyment of Olympic weightlifting and CrossFit.

I often have to do my workouts relatively independently because I choose to try and develop my power jerk into a squat jerk, plus the 1700 hrs time slot can be a little bit of a nightmare for me when I'm trying to share Coach J with a dozen other athletes with orthogonal needs. Luckily, he's also taught me many good cues to look out for as well as helping me program my supplemental drills.

Monday, I struggled massively on my clean and jerk once I got past my 85-90% mark.  My last successful clean and jerk was at 100 lbs, although my form did fall apart because I'm not quite dropping down fast enough.

And then my three failed attempts, all about halfway through the jerk, where I didn't quite commit to the lift and therefore didn't drop fast enough.  Part of the corrections involve working on both my jerk drive and then the tall jerk.

So some of the corrections I applied included the jerk drive, which involves a smooth dip and a forceful drive upwards, aka the first half of the jerk.

And then there's the tall jerk, which is effectively the second half of the jerk, where I'm extending my lower body and hitting the end of the jerk drive and then dropping under.  This is a much lighter weight drill than the jerk drive.

And although my cleans are much, much more successful and reliable than the snatch, I still have some issues with my form, particularly in position and timing.  I have a tendency to "row" the bar into myself once the bar passes my knees, so I have been working on deficit deadlifts to help me keep pulling until I reach my pocket.  The massive acceleration is supposed to occur once the bar reaches my pocket, and that's where I have to work on my clean pulls.  I also have a tendency to NOT squeeze upwards, and one of the cues I get as I pass above my knees is "chest up"... and every time I work on cleans or snatches, I can hear Coach J telling me "chest up" along with additional commentary based on what quirks I'm struggling with that moment.  I usually don't hear a coach's voice in my head in their absence, but I think Coach J is getting through to my skull!

I still tend to pull the barbell in, but it looks like my balance and timing are getting a bit better... of course, I will most likely hear from him soon once he catches up on the dozens of other athletes he's working with and programming workouts and nutrition plans!