JEP online Altered Start Position Reduces Horizontal Displacement during the Snatch and Clean

Petrizzo J, DiMenna FJ, Page R, Smith G, Martins K, Lester J, Kang S, Chandler L, Wygand JW, Otto RM. Altered Start Position Reduces Horizontal Displacement during the Snatch and Clean. JEPonline 2016;19(3):24-34. The purpose of this study was to determine which of two Olympic Weightlifting start positions would yield the more efficient movement pattern. We compared the traditional Olympic lifting starting position with an experimental alignment that has been proposed to reduce horizontal displacement of the barbell. It was hypothesized that the experimental alignment would produce a barbell path more closely approaching linear movement. Ten subjects completed a series of cleans and snatches under both alignment conditions. The experimental alignment resulted in significant reductions in horizontal displacement (~40.3 mm and ~31.9 mm for snatch and clean, respectively; P<0.05). The experimental alignment did not result in a significant difference in peak power (snatch, ~2.2%; clean, ~2.6%). The findings indicate that experimental alignment proposed in this study reduced barbell horizontal displacement during the snatch and clean. Further research is needed to determine if there is an influence of the starting position on power output during these lifts.