What I want to see with lifters ideally is pretty simple: I want the bar to remain as close to the thighs as possible without being in contact and for the shoulders to remain at least very slightly in front of the bar until the bar is up into the hips in the snatch and the upper thighs in the clean. I like to see the final explosion occur quite late in the extension and want it to be more the start of the pull under the bar than the finish of the upward elevation of the bar. This bar position is a natural result of staying over the bar until very late in the second pull—if the shoulders are in front of the bar, it’s difficult to drag it up your legs, and any contact you do get inadvertently won’t create much friction.
