Power Clean Question

[kayno]

Gday Rip, mate i ended up getting a bit of oly coaching at a state association and one of the things the coach there had to keep hammering me about was my head position in the initial pull. i kept tilting my head down as i would when deadlifting, but was told i had to look straight ahead. (sorry dont have your book with me right now). if the bar is still moving off the floor in the same manner why does the head position change. it kinda screws with my eyeline when deadlifting every now and then too. also could you check my form on this power clean. this is 45kgs and feels fairly easy. my weight 85kgs.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LRvvtltd5gQ

[Mark Rippetoe]

Your weight is on your toes when you pull the bar off the floor, making the bar go forward instead of straight up. It is probably also a little forward of your mid-foot. As for your eye gaze direction, since I coach the first pull of a clean the same way I do the deadlift, the eye gaze is the same. Decide who you coach is going to be, and follow his advice.

[kayno]

thanks heaps mate, really appreciate that, i'll work on it and send another link in a week or 2. im with you on the final comment, i committed myself to get the coaching 1 day a week for 3 months which was difficult with other committments but that time has passed now so there is no chance of getting mixed messages, i purposely didnt read your section in the book on power cleans at that time for the same reason. thanks again

[Jamie J. Skibicki]

My coach coaches the same way. He likes a more vertical pull start (back more vertical, hips lower) than what Rip coaches. I don;t know enough to dispute either of them, but I do know that Rege (he says hello by the way) is here is Pittsburgh and Rip is not.