The Snatch Balance: The Best Exercise For Confidence In The Snatch
The Overhead Squat is a great exercise for improving your snatch, but it has one major fault.
It’s not fast enough!
If you want to improve your overhead strength and stability for the snatch, practicing slow overhead squats is great, especially if you’re a beginner weightlifter.
But once you get the basics down, I recommend focusing on an exercise that has way more carry over to your snatch - The Snatch Balance.
P.S. If you’re more of a visual learner, then check out the YouTube video version here or at the bottom of the article!
What Is The Snatch Balance?
The Snatch Balance is an overload variation that allows you to strengthen your overhead position for the snatch under speed.
While the overhead squat might allow you to lift heavier weight than you can snatch, it is typically a much slower, more controlled movement. The snatch balance is much faster and mimics the speed and receiving height you’ll see in the snatch.
Watch the demo video of a snatch balance followed by two overhead squats here!
How To Perform The Snatch Balance
To perform the snatch balance, start with the bar on your back rack position, where it would be for a high-bar back squat. Move your hands out to your snatch grip, using hook grip if you normally keep your hookgrip in the snatch.
Perform a dip and drive, similar to a jerk, but instead of splitting your feet, begin moving under the bar into the bottom of the overhead squat. Once you have reached the bottom, take a second to stabilize, then stand back up.
Common Faults In The Snatch Snatch Balance
There are two common faults in the snatch balance.
Mistaking this for a drop-snatch
Meeting the bar too high
Mistake #1: The Snatch Balance Is Not A Drop Snatch
These two exercises are commonly mistaken for each other, so lets clear this up.
A Snatch Balance has a dip and drive. You must use your legs to drive the bar up before moving under the bar. This allows you to handle much more weight.
The Drop Snatch does not have a dip and drive. You’ll need to use significantly less weight for this exercise because of the lack of drive, however, you’ll be able to practice pushing yourself under the bar more.
Mistake #2: Meeting The Bar Too High
The goal of the snatch balance is to improve your snatch, but if you don’t mimic the exact technique you would use in a snatch, it might not work as well.
In the snatch you should receive the bar when your hips are just around parallel or slightly higher and then quickly settle into the bottom of the squat. When doing the snatch balance make sure to do the exact same thing.
Often beginners will receive the bar well above parallel and then slowly ride down into the bottom of the overhead squat, which isn’t a bad exercise, but will have less carry over to the snatch.
How To Implement The Snatch Balance In Your Olympic Weightlifting Program
The primary benefit of the snatch balance is that you can use weights that are heavier than you can snatch.
This may not be the case for you when you first try this exercise, but with a reasonable amount of training, you should be able to lift a minimum of 10% more than you snatch. Beginners will likely be able to lift a much higher weight than they can snatch, while more advanced lifters will be fairly close to what they can snatch.
Because you can lift more weight, this exercise is best used as an overload variation in the 1-3 rep range with weight heavier than you can snatch. This will help increase your confidence in the snatch, and strengthen your upper body and core to feel more capable of hitting new PR’s.
You can also use this as a movement primer before snatching. When doing this, keep the volume low and simply work up to a heavy weight for the day in as few sets as possible to ensure minimal fatigue going into the snatches afterward.
This can also be used to help practice your footwork for the snatch. It is common for weightlifters to perform 5-10 reps with an empty barbell in their warm-up sets to drill the correct foot placement when transitioning from your start stance to your squat stance.
Hopefully, this helped! If you ever need a free form check on your videos, you’re always welcome to join my free discord here and drop your video in the #form-checks channel.
By the way, I’ve got a free beginner weightlifting guide and a 6-week program! If you’re new to the olympic lifts, then check it out here!
And if you’re looking for a weightlifting program designed to help you set PRs, improve your technique, and get strong af, then check out a FREE WEEK TRIAL of my 3 & 5-Day OlyStrong Team at the link below!