Thigh 'Brush' during clean - too high?

[Randle McMurphy]

Hello everyone,

I was watching the weightlifting world championships, and noticed that a lot of the chinese guys had a thigh bang/brush that finished above the groin - the same place where a snatch bang/brush finishes.

I notice that a lot of modern day lifters have this.

What's the deal with this?
Is this just another example of very strong athletes getting away with less than perfect technique?
Or does having a higher final contact point make for straighter bar path?
Or is there some other advantage?

To illustrate what I am referring to, here are a few clips:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fGESkE-GzUE

This is perfect example of what I am referring to. It shows a snatch first, then a couple of power cleans, and the final contact point is roughly in the the same place - above the groin.
He seems to have normal length arms, maybe even slightly longer, and is not 'hyper-extending', and even has a narrow clean grip.

Here are a few more famous names:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wVH0H0Dbpro
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bHqo0dLz4V8
Both these guys have shorter arms I think, and hyperextend a touch.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_EUcV1hX3S4#t=4m11s
normal arm length, no hyperxtension.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gOA5RbAQWA8
Shorter arms maybe, and have a wider grip?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=63QS-Ju3988
Long arms, and hyperextends?


Can you shine any light on this matter?

Many thanks!

[Mark Rippetoe]

On the first link, I see short arms, compensated for with a slightly narrow grip on the snatch, and I see an arm pull (bent elbow) on the clean. The second, Maim Suleymanov, has famously short arms at 4' 11", as does Dimas and Rezazedeh. Why do you think Xioujun has normal arm length when he is obviously using a snatch grip that is narrow for his height and he hits his clean second pull in his lap? Sagir hits the second pull in the middle of his thighs.

The distance between the shoulders and the second pull is not really variable aside from the obvious grip width decision. I suggest you save these videos as mp4 using http://keepvid.com/ and watch more closely. Much to learn this way.

[Raskolnikov]

As far as I can tell, the thigh brush occurs right around mid-thigh in all of those clips, as it is here with Naim.

http://i415.photobucket.com/albums/pp240/IvanDmitritch/2010-01-01_2152.png

I think you are confusing full hip extension with the thigh brush These guys are so quick that unless you slow things down, you just don't catch it.

[Mark Rippetoe]

The bar is in contact with his thigh at this point, but slides up to his belly where it leaves contact at the top of the second pull. As I've said before, still pictures are a poor way to analyze the two lifts.

[Randle McMurphy]

Yep I fully agree that the thigh brush is INITIATED/STARTED in roughly same place (mid-thigh-ish).

But I noticed that the FINAL point of contact is above groin like in a snatch, and then the bar travels up.

Most lifters have the FINAL point of contact below the groin.

I was wondering if there was any advantage of this? Or if they are doing it puposefully?

[Mark Rippetoe]

As I stated above, these particular lifters have short arms.

[Raskolnikov]

Yep I fully agree that the thigh brush is INITIATED/STARTED in roughly same place (mid-thigh-ish).

But I noticed that the FINAL point of contact is above groin like in a snatch, and then the bar travels up.

Most lifters have the FINAL point of contact below the groin.

I was wondering if there was any advantage of this? Or if they are doing it puposefully?

Yeah, sorry about that. I realized after Rip's post that I completely missed your point and made a pretty silly one of my own.

I slowed the Sagir and Raza clips way down just to compare (5% speed, which is apparently too slow for youtube because when I try to upload a copy it's sped up quite a bit), and Sagir definitely finishes the pull well below his hips. Like Rip said, it's just an arm length issue.