Flat-Footed Snatch & Clean Pulls

The purpose of flat-footed pulls is to dial in balance over the foot and properly coordinated leg drive and hip extension. This can be really helpful for lifters who tend to reach the hips forward and lift the heels early in their snatches or cleans.

The problem is that they’re too often performed just as fast deadlifts rather than pulls, which not only defeats the purpose, but can exacerbate the existing problem.

In a pull, we’re directing the force vertically to accelerate and elevate the bar. In a deadlift, we’re just extending the knees and hips into a standing position—there’s no meaningful upward acceleration of the bar, and the hip extension finishes in a horizontal orientation into the bar.

Even if staying on flat feet, a pull will naturally have a double knee bend to create that upward drive, and the bar will continue moving up the body after the knees and hips have finished extending—the more smoothly it moves up the body, the more we know we’ve directed the force up rather than simply explosively extending the knees and hips together.

If you struggle to get it down, start with flat-footed pulls from power position—isolate that last upward push with the legs while keeping the feet flat and guide the bar up your body. And remember that keeping the heels down does not mean balancing on the heels—keep your balance even over the whole foot.

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