Is the Snatch a waste of time?

Sbiscotti

The question that I ask is, do you want to get fit or do you want to get good at CrossFit? I think that a lot of people get caught up on getting good at CrossFit and loose sight of what their original goals are in the first place. There are a lot of good comments on this thread. And I am open to arguments on both sides and everyone's comments have merit.

Personally, I think that most athletes would get more out of overhead squats for overhead position and core stability, cleans for explosive hip, kettlebell swings and kb snatches (much easier than barbell snatch) for hip power and shoulder strength. Perhaps my opinion is skewed as the snatch has always been one of my GOATS though.

The same could be said for HSPU, handstand walks, and muscle ups. A body weight strict press, ring dips and chest to bar pull-ups all can increase fitness without having to learn these skills. I think they're important as you achieve greater levels of fitness to be challenged to new skills to keep increasing your fitness and tackling the body and minding in different ways. With the snatch, the technique has crossovers into the other lifts and can very much challenge your fitness levels as you achieve higher weights. So will a snatch benefit the beginner as much as OH squats? Probably not because their body is achieving huge gains from the basics. But as the athlete progresses, I think their fitness makes gains as well.

Remember CrossFit defines fitness with 10 components: endurance, stamina, strength, flexibility, power, speed, coordination, agility, balance, and accuracy. The snatch hits more of these than oh squats just as the clean and jerk hit more than front squats and push presses. So it also matters if you're trying to achieve fitness as only a portion of these 10.

Just my 2 cents. I've been doing CrossFit since 2008 and coaching since 2011. However, i do not have formal exercise/kinesiology/physiology etc education. My education has been limited to playing sports and CrossFit seminars and whatever my husband throws at me (he's been a strength and Conditioning coach for 7 years).

dirtybadgermtb

The question that I ask is, do you want to get fit or do you want to get good at CrossFit? I think that a lot of people get caught up on getting good at CrossFit and loose sight of what their original goals are in the first place. There are a lot of good comments on this thread. And I am open to arguments on both sides and everyone's comments have merit.

Personally, I think that most athletes would get more out of overhead squats for overhead position and core stability, cleans for explosive hip, kettlebell swings and kb snatches (much easier than barbell snatch) for hip power and shoulder strength. Perhaps my opinion is skewed as the snatch has always been one of my GOATS though.

The same could be said for HSPU, handstand walks, and muscle ups. A body weight strict press, ring dips and chest to bar pull-ups all can increase fitness without having to learn these skills. I think they're important as you achieve greater levels of fitness to be challenged to new skills to keep increasing your fitness and tackling the body and minding in different ways. With the snatch, the technique has crossovers into the other lifts and can very much challenge your fitness levels as you achieve higher weights. So will a snatch benefit the beginner as much as OH squats? Probably not because their body is achieving huge gains from the basics. But as the athlete progresses, I think their fitness makes gains as well.

Remember CrossFit defines fitness with 10 components: endurance, stamina, strength, flexibility, power, speed, coordination, agility, balance, and accuracy. The snatch hits more of these than oh squats just as the clean and jerk hit more than front squats and push presses. So it also matters if you're trying to achieve fitness as only a portion of these 10.

Just my 2 cents. I've been doing CrossFit since 2008 and coaching since 2011. However, i do not have formal exercise/kinesiology/physiology etc education. My education has been limited to playing sports and CrossFit seminars and whatever my husband throws at me (he's been a strength and Conditioning coach for 7 years).

This is good feedback. Thanks. I am not completely close minded to it. I have been doing them more as of late and got a PR and find them less frustrating. Perhaps I am coming around to seeing the benefits.

bostonwolf

My biggest problem is dropping into the squat. My clean and jerk involves no squat. My snatch is the same. I have a problem dropping under.

Watch the Olympic-level guys and gals do C&J. It most definitely involves squatting.

I'm finding dropping under snatches and cleans is more a fear factor with me. I'm going to reduce weight a bit and just repeat it over and over again until I know I'm dropping under in the right spot then start ramping up weight again slowly while I get used to it.

RivenV

My biggest problem is dropping into the squat. My clean and jerk involves no squat. My snatch is the same. I have a problem dropping under.

Watch the Olympic-level guys and gals do C&J. It most definitely involves squatting.

I'm finding dropping under snatches and cleans is more a fear factor with me. I'm going to reduce weight a bit and just repeat it over and over again until I know I'm dropping under in the right spot then start ramping up weight again slowly while I get used to it.

Exactly. There's a mental block there for me, same as there was initially with box jumps. I think the way you describe is the best way to get over it. In addition to doing a "snatch warmup" with PVC, before I do a prescribed workload of snatches, I'll do a few full squat snatches at light weight before moving on to the working portion of my barbell gymnastics.