TRANSITION AND VELOCITY By: M.Gomes

When executed properly, the Transition (also called the Double Knee Bend) places the athlete in a position of the greatest leverage to begin the second and faster pull and utilize more leg strength.

 

As the hip moves toward the bar (parallel to the platform), the bar is now closer to the athlete’s centre of gravity, above the balls of the feet.  At that point the athlete can more efficiently extend the bar vertically, shrugging the shoulders in the Second Pull and gain the momentum needed to pull under the bar (Third Pull).

A mid-thigh touch or brush by the bar should be a clue that the hip is being correctly thrust forward. But the athlete must avoid  bringing the bar toward the thighs.  Although this movement will place the bar closer to your centre of gravity and the bar appears, for a moment, to be the proper position, the athlete would have pulled the bar  laterally in toward the thighs.  This results in solid contact between the bar and the thigh, a reduction in bar speed, and a bounce off the thighs that will send or return the bar away from the athlete’s centre of gravity and slightly upward as well as outward.  Even with this slight outward movement, the athlete  will either lose the lift forward, or have to compensate by jumping forward to meet the bar in the Reception Phase and difficulty in the Recovery Phase.

 

In brief, the athlete thrusts her/his hips toward the bar, and does not instead pull the bar in toward his/her thigh.  Imagine the hip thrust forward in the kettle bell swing or the superman position in the kip pull-up. Those movements simulate what the intent of the hip thrust is in the Transition.

 

The final velocity of the bar is the determining factor of momentum.  And it is this momentum, in an upward direction at the end of the First Pull, that makes it the all-important factor.  Recall from high school physics that the term velocity includes not only speed, but the direction of motion. Speed is just the rate of movement and is useless if it is directed incorrectly.

 

If the athlete starts the First Pull too quickly, the usual result is a premature straightening of the knee/legs.   The effort to gain speed or velocity of the bar at the start may be lost in the Transition Phase. Remember that elbows remain locked throughout the First Pull and Transition.  Premature bending of the arms reduces the speed of the bar upward and basically demolishes the entire lift, if not the athlete.  But that’s another article.

 

There is not necessarily any relationship between velocity at the start and velocity at the end of the pull.  A more successful strategy is to aim at a producing a smoother  and more constant force at the start and during the middle of the pull.  Such a strategy seeks to avoid losing velocity in the middle of the pull and thereby directly improving the bar’s final velocity.

 

If a Crossfitt athlete does not employ an effective transition, and with appropriate velocities at specific times, she/he will see little gain in their personal bests in the Snatch or the Clean. However, Transition and velocity are  not as crucial in repetitive movements with light weights where speed (not always velocity) is required throughout the entire lift in order to culminate in the fastest time possible.