Olympic Weightlifting - Press-out rule

[k_kws]

Hi Rip,

Me and the girlfriend have been watching the 2019 worlds lately and this brought up a discussion about the press-out rule. I'm wondering what your thoughts are about this rule in olympic weightlifting.
It seems that all aspects of the lifts regarding form could be totally sloppy, EXCEPT that even the tiniest amount of elbow-bend when holding the bar overhead in a snatch or jerk gets a red light, or more often a no-lift.
We thought this was odd. Wouldn't a press-out actually reduce your chances of getting the lift? Considering that no one can actually press what they can jerk. We felt that getting the bar locked out overhead should be enough to complete the lift, and that the press-out rule was kinda stupid.

Again, just wondering what your thoughts are, or if we're just misunderstanding some aspect of the sport.

Thanks,

KK

[Mark Rippetoe]

The technical rules of the sport say that in both the snatch and the jerk, the bar must arrive at the lockout position on locked elbows. This defines the movement, and like a squat, the definition may seem arbitrary, but every sport with a set of rules about the movement's execution will have an arbitrary rule to argue with. Diving, gymnastics, the ice sports -- this is a common feature in all judged sports. And all these rules could be considered stupid, especially if they cost you a medal. Beyond that, I can say that it's much harder to press out a snatch than a jerk, due to the mechanics of the lockout position, and that at the Worlds you don't see press-outs, but rather soft elbows at lockout.

[m s]

Hopping on the chance to talk about olympic lifting -- I was wondering how long you trained the olympic lifts for, and why you stopped doing them Rip?

[Mark Rippetoe]

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