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How to do a proper Hang Squat Snatch (also known as a Hang Snatch) that you would find in CrossFit WODs.

Set up for Hang Squat Snatch

  • Begin with your heels hip width apart.
  • Bar is in contact with thighs, arms are wide and hands are in a hook grip.
  • Maintain light flexion in the knees, hips are back to create vertical shins, and shoulders are forward of the bar.
  • Back is flat and tight.
  • Chest is up.
  • Core is tight.
  • Weight is in heels.

Points of Performance for Hang Squat Snatch

  • From the mid thigh pull the bar into the body and aggressively jump, extending the hips, knees, and ankles (triple extension).
  • With a big shrug of the shoulders, elbows come high and outside the bar then back around while pulling yourself under to receive the weight.
  • Receive the bar in a full overhead squat with the arms locked out over the middle of the body.
  • The bottom of the squat is with the crease of the hip below the knee.
  • Drive through the heels back to a standing position.
  • The hang snatch is completed when the knees and hips are fully locked out and open at the top.

Tips and Tricks

  • The hang squat snatch consists of 2 “PULLS”(First “Pull” pertains to the full Snatch in which you are pulling from the ground to mid-knee):
    • Pull #2 from the mid thigh to your hips.
    • Pull #3 is pulling yourself under the bar.
  • Breaking this movement down into each pull will help remove confusion of the complexity of this movement.
  • Work on actively externally rotating your shoulders when locked out overhead.
    • Your elbow pits will be facing up towards the sky.
  • Speed under the bar is the key.
  • The power from this lift is initiated in the hips.
  • Pull with long arms.
    • An early arm bend will only dampen momentum created from the floor.