Masters Week: Aggression

Sunday at the Masters tomorrow…
Tiger is in 7th… even after they took 2 strokes from him.  Can’t wait to see the Red and Black tomorrow.
Yesterday I drew out the analogy between the first pull of the snatch or clean and a pro golfer’s backswing. The similarities in the thought process and movements are striking.
Today I want to do the same for the downswing.
The downswing is an aggressive movement designed to use the torque built-up in the backswing.
Steven M. Nesbit and Monika Serrano from yesterday’s post further extrapolate the purpose of the downswing by stating:
“During the downswing, these forces and torques function to both control the club trajectory, and increase the velocity, or kinetic energy of the club by doing work. This work is done at an ever increasing rate of speed which is a measure of power.“
The whole purpose of the downswing is create clubhead speed by which to strike the ball and produce yardage and accuracy.  The downswing is violent.  The downswing has a lot of similarities to the second pull of the Olympic lifts. Once a golfer has put the clubhead in a proper position and built-up potential for velocity in the backswing, the downswing is the unleashing of that velocity and the usage of proper clubhead position.

In the second pull, the lifter has some of the same thought processes. Once the bar’s in the proper position and enough torque has been built up through tension in the hamstrings the second pull occurs.  The second pull is a violent aggressive movement by which that built up tension is put to work. The second pull is at some level a turbulent unleashing of power into the bar. I see far too many lifters miss lifts because they are unable to really finish a lift with an aggressive second pull. Aggression must accompany the second pull or a perfect first pull means nothing.
Just like a pro golfer is going to bring his hips through forcefully and hit the ball with extreme club speed, an elite weightlifter is going to unleash into an explosive vertical hip drive and create bar speed through aggressive triple extension.
The worst thing a golfer could do in his downswing is to be timid and super controlled. Is there precision in the downswing?  Absolutely!  Do pro golfers have to ensure the club head strikes flush with the ball?  Yes!  However, these factors are the repercussion of repeated perfect reps.  The same is true of the lifts.
Does the bar have to track close to your body?  Yes!  Does it matter how the hips move in the second pull?  Absolutely.  However, there factors are also the product of repeated perfectly practiced reps.  A violent finish in the second pull is the trademark for strong lifts just like club head speed is the trademark for long drives.