CrossFit Athletic Group

According to just about everyone, we are doing Olympic lifts wrong. No, it's not the lack of upright torso. It's not the "unweight" technique. It's not the lack of triple extension. It's not even the setup. Yes, those are all slightly out of line with traditional teaching when it comes to the snatch and clean, but there is another coaching point that happens even before those things listed, and is the first, most religious thing taught about Olympic lifts:

We are all gripping the bar incorrectly in terms of optimal cleans and snatches because almost none of us use the hook grip*. We just hold on for dear life. Here's why.

Personal preference

As Josh Everett mentioned, there tends to be a 2 week process in play for the athlete to get used to lifting with their thumb underneath. I've tried it and he's definitely right; it's very uncomfortable. I have never stuck with it. My grip strength has never been a problem on anything other than dunking a basketball, but I don't doubt that eventually it would improve by using the hook grip. I just never had the patience and tolerance. In other words, I am a pansy.

Emphasis on other things

The clean and the snatch are usually coached looking at one of two things: strength or skill. In other words, we either want the positions to be perfect, or the timing to be perfect. In some cases, both. There is a lot of repetition and focus that needs to go on for either area, but especially the skill component. In general, I try to coach one thing at a time.

My thoughts have always been that teaching the took grip would take the athlete's attention away from one of the other two things they need to focus on. I've also thought about the reactions I would get from Mama V, Mrs. Kroll, and Arlene in their combination of confusion and discomfort. I'd rather them just be better at using gravity.

Dead end

In essence, I have avoided teaching the hook grip because it is a dead-end technique. It is only applicable when a perfectly-loaded barbell is below your waist. When it transitions above, you are supposed to lose the hook grip and return to your normal one. And it's not something you would push press, back squat, or pull-up with. When I look to coach things, I typically look to avoid being specific as much as possible and opt to reinforce general, universal principles every time. Most things we will grip in real life will not be with a hook grip.

With that being said, this is not something I will coach-out of someone so long as their position and timing are good. I notice people like Sabal and Anita using a hook grip on a max effort day or during a workout and I don't say anything. And if anyone wants to experiment with it, feel free. If it helps you keep tension in the shoulder and isn't too uncomfortable then I'm cool with it. On the same note, if you're at the bottom of a deadlift, messing around with your grip, and you lose tension and your back rounds, I'm going to tell you to stand up, reset, and just grab it normally.

As long as the general principles for that day are on point, then the specifics are usually up to you. Just know the benefits vs. limitations.

Bonus: The other hook grip

You guys will hear me mention the standard of a "hook grip" on the pull-up bar. In reality the term "hook grip" is one technique that has two scenarios: when the hand is below the waist, the thumb is underneath, when the hand is above the waist, the thumb is over top and pinky knuckle is around the surface if possible. I make the latter a standard because it goes along with the laws of torque. This is because the distance from your shoulder to your middle finger is longer than the distance from your shoulder to your pinky. This creates a rotation, and because your shoulder is in flexion while hanging from a bar this external rotation makes it safe and strong.