I have trained with Olympians, World Champions, World Record Holders, and Average Joe's in spandex.

Every single one of them has agreed with one training principle:
DO NOT USE BANDS ON SNATCH OR CLEANS!

And I can see the purpose as to WHY! The movement of the lift is completely different with bands and not in a good way. The magic of the snatch takes place after the pull at the hip where the bar is NOT being pulled by your hands at all and it is "free". Actually you let go of the bar after making the pull at the hip and you catch it at your lowest body position possible. BUT if you don't set yourself up to make a really perfect and hard pull...you won't see any magic.

I've learned through several years of training my snatch (yes, I know it is funny) that I do not make a proper pull. That leads me to two issues:

  1.   I am using my back and arms to make the pull.
  2.   I am not using my legs to make the pull.

 

So...how do I correct this?

Training more pulls only reinforced my bad technique. Paused pulls were only just uncomfortable and I never got to that point where I could really drive with my legs and not my arms. So...I added bands to the barbell!

After several reps I learned a series of things:

  1.   And Eleiko barbell will rip a brand new pair of bands into shreds after only 12 reps.  Putting a pair of FatGripz over the barbell to protect the bands is a must.
  2.   Straps are a must as the torque that your body produces to make the pull is extremely high and will rip a callous even through the straps.
  3.   The bands produced just enough force to keep me into a good position where my chest starts AND REMAINS up from the floor.
  4.   The bands will not let me use my arms as it would require robot like strength to use your arms against these bands on snatch.
  5.   The bands put me in a position to actually use my legs once the bar was past my knees.
  6.   I'm not flexible enough, yet, to begin the Clean from the floor.  I'm rounded over which keeps me from being in a decent position once the bar is above my knees.
  7.   I was finally EXPLOSIVE on the pull!

I have currently done 3 weeks of these and I'm seeing better full snatches, better positioning, and my pulls are finally working for me.

So, I still stand by the notion that bands should not be used on Snatch or Clean BUT I am seeing a very productive use for them on Snatch Pulls and Clean Pulls!