Power Clean - bouncing bar off thighs

[manisstrong]

So an O-lifter at my gym (he is always doing cleans and snatches) taught me to power clean in a way where once I reach the mid-thighs I sort of extend and pop the bar up off my thighs. Is this the correct way to do things? I have some bruises on my thighs...

He's by no means a pro, I think he can clean a bit over 120kg, so I came here to ask the good people of starting strength.

I watched the SS DVD PC video and it seemed that most of them were doing it, but I'm not 100% sure?

Thanks

[MikeC1]

You can do it that way, but it's not the way it's taught here. Bouncing it off your thighs will cause the bar to loop out, which you can figure should be less efficient than going up in a straight line. Check out Staley's take on this:
http://www.youtube.com/user/StaleyTr.../0/EzwDlAPWo70

[manisstrong]

Hmm, interesting. I hope I'm still able to get the weight up without the bump, because it seemed that the bump was what was really making my bar rise into the air...

[Kincain]

the bounce is probably handy to learn when you are in the jump position and need to extend. But as mike already said with an excessive bounce against the thighs the bar will fly out. Out of the area of balance and thus you will lose leverage. Second, when the bar bounces off your thighs the speed of the bar is impacted. You want to add speed to the lift and when it bounces it decreases in speed, which in turn will make the lift more difficult. So my advice would be to keep the bar close and your shoulders over the bar and let the bar slightly brush against your thighs.

but this is my advice, maybe others have better insights

[thebigdog]

bounce away my friend. You have experienced the difference between being taught by an real Olympic lifter, and a poser!!!! Rest assured, as the weight goes up, the horizontal displacement will go down...

[manisstrong]

^ what about my bruised thighs =(

[Steve Hill]

^ what about my bruised thighs =(

Yeah. What about them. Huh.

[manisstrong]

lol the two O-lifters at my gym were arguing today. One telling me it should just brush my thighs and one telling me I should be smashing the bar with my thighs. I tried the brushing for the last couple of days and it didn't work so well. I might give bouncing a go for a couple of days again. Maybe the bruises were being caused by dropping the bar onto them from the rack position (between reps) rather than from bouncing the bar off them getting the bar up.

[Tom Campitelli]

Bouncing the bar will bruise the thighs. That's just how it goes. You'll live. Some people really try and smack the thing and others have a less pronounced contact. Find one that you like and works for you. Whatever you do, you need to come to full extension at the top. Whether you bounce the bar, or brush the thigh, the difference becomes somewhat more subtle as the weights go up. You more aggressively contact the thigh near maximal weights which has some of the characteristics of a bounce anyway. Provided you are not losing the bar forward or adversely impacting the bar path, a bounce is not necessarily a bad thing.

[tertius]

Bouncing the bar will bruise the thighs. That's just how it goes. You'll live. Some people really try and smack the thing and others have a less pronounced contact. Find one that you like and works for you. Whatever you do, you need to come to full extension at the top. Whether you bounce the bar, or brush the thigh, the difference becomes somewhat more subtle as the weights go up. You more aggressively contact the thigh near maximal weights which has some of the characteristics of a bounce anyway. Provided you are not losing the bar forward or adversely impacting the bar path, a bounce is not necessarily a bad thing.

Caveat: I'm not an o-lifter, and thus am probably just full of shit.

That being said, isn't part of the o-lifts that the power generated by the hip extension/jump is carried to the bar by the arms (and this is one reason why you don't pull with the arms)? In most of the footage I have seen of good olypmic lifters, the bar barely grazes their thighs on the way up. Bashing your legs into the bar seems like a good way to waste energy, rather than propel the bar.