The best way to learn the snatch

It’s true, many roads lead to Rome, but some roads are better than others.

The Snatch is one of the most technical lifts in strength sport. And yet, a lot of people are taught it backwards. You don’t start from the floor and hope it all comes together. You start from the top and work your way down.

In Olympic lifting, that’s called reverse chaining or the reverse chain method and it’s the fastest way to build precision, confidence, and a strong foundation.

Key Points:

• Start teaching the snatch from the top down, reverse chaining builds understanding and confidence faster.

• BTN snatch grip press and overhead squats lay the foundation for proper overhead position and bracing.

• Snatch balance drills improve speed and comfort getting under the bar.

• Hang snatch variations teach bar path, timing, and turnover, start above the knee and work down.

• Don’t teach snatch pulls first, they lack context without overhead and hang positions.

• Prioritise learning the full snatch before power variations to avoid bad habits.

• Keep it simple. Skip complex drills like the snatch Sots press for beginners.

Then we move to snatch balance or drop snatch. They’re slightly different, but the purpose is the same: get fast and confident moving under the bar at speed. Use some leg drive if you need to early on, but the end goal is a crisp, confident drop that lands you in the exact same position you’ve already been drilling with the overhead squat.

You’ve got the overhead. You’ve got the speed under the bar.

Now you add the turnover and start snatching from the hang, usually from somewhere above the knee, mid thigh or at the hip to start and then working down the leg into hangs below the knee, floating snatches and eventually TAG / Touch and Go variations.

This is where you piece the movement together and that has to be done on an individualised basis, so there’s no hard and fast rules or variations outside of working logically down the leg looking for ways yo fix the biggest errors.

Once that’s all consistent, and not before, you can start looking to pull from the floor.

What About Snatch Pulls?

I see some coaches teaching snatch pulls right out the gate. But honestly, without context, they’re just exaggerated deadlifts. If a lifter doesn’t know how the bar should move off the thigh, or where it ends up overhead, then a pull is just a shrug and a hope.

Snatch pulls have their place, but not at the beginning.

One More Thing: Don’t Power First

It might seem easier to teach the power snatch before the full lift. But that’s a trap. If a lifter gets used to catching high, they’ll ride the bar down forever and never fully commit to the deep catch. I’ve seen it multiple times before and it’s a very prevalent issue with Crossfit Athletes that have came to me to refine their Snatch technique.

Learn to snatch deep first, you can power later.

And no, I don’t use the snatch Sots press with beginners. It’s unnecessarily complex for someone still figuring out where their arms and hips are meant to be.

Keep it simple.

Practical Application & Takeaways / How to Run It

Teach the snatch top-down: Snatch Press → OH Squat → Snatch Balance → Hang → Floor

1. Build overhead stability before introducing load or speed

2. Don’t use snatch pulls until hang mechanics are clean and consistent

3. Teach full-depth snatching before introducing power variations

4. Avoid complex, unnecessary drills like the Sots press early on

Final Thoughts

Reverse chaining works because it builds skill in layers. Every movement sets up the next. Every rep has purpose. You're not just doing snatch variations, you're building the snatch.

Start from the top. Learn where the bar finishes. Learn where you need to be underneath it. And then earn the right to pull from the floor.

One position at a time. That’s how you build a better lifter.

P.S.

This exact approach works for the Clean too: Front Rack / Strict Press → Front Squat → Tall Clean → Hangs → Floor