Nice post Carl but do you see Snatches and Cleans as equivalent? I see them as similar but clearly quite different on the speed-power spectrum because of the speed and length of the pull. As such I incorporate them quite differently throughout the year. I generally do try to address the flexibility issues just by doing some bar work, adding front squats occasionally and teaching athletes to release the death grip in the rack position. That said, I currently have an athlete I’m working with whose forearm is so long there is absolutely no way that he can get the elbows high in a rack position…even when he releases the grip. In fact, if he had textbook elbow position on the rack, the bar would be 4 inches deep in to his neck. Clearly an oddity but something we need to work around.
ELITETRACK Founder