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Keywords: power; force development; strength speed
summary
The purpose of this article is to provide the strength and conditioning professional with the information to effectively implement the use of the power snatch for athletic development. Rationale for the use of the power snatch, along with a description of the technical aspects will be discussed.
Introduction
When developing a conditioning program for an athlete, it is the objective of the strength and conditioning professional to ensure it is effective, efficient, and safe. There are often numerous ways to achieve these goals. When properly taught and utilized, weightlifting lifts and their variations may be some of the most effective ways of addressing such attributes as power, strength, and speed (9). The snatch and clean and jerk are the 2 competitive lifts in the sport of weightlifting; however, strength and conditioning professionals typically use their variations in program application. Athletes performing Olympic lift variations in their conditioning program are attempting to increase power for their respective sport and not training to compete in the sport of weightlifting. The power clean and power snatch are variations of the full competition lifts and can achieve the same goal with reduced time spent on attempting to advance the athlete to full lifts. However, if it is deemed necessary by the strength and conditioning professional for an athlete to perform the full lifts from a starting position on the floor and achieving a full/deep squat catch position, then time and attention will need to be taken in helping the athlete progress to this point.
The term "power" could be considered a misnomer because all snatch-related movements exhibit power during the execution. However, because the term "power snatch" is identified with a high catch position, it will be used as such in this article. Power can be defined as the product of force and velocity, rate of performing work, the work performed in a given period, work per unit of time, or the amount of force that can be gencrated over a distance in the shortest possible time (1, 3, 9, 16, 20). A basketball player jumping for a rebound, a Volleyball player blocking at the net, a shot putter moving his or her body in the ring, and a judo...