The start position is your body and bar position at the last moment before the bar leaves the floor in a snatch or clean. It is not a deadlift setup: your shoulders sit over or slightly in front of the bar, your arms hang straight, and your legs push the floor away. Get it right and the first pull is simple; get it wrong and the bar swings away from you or your hips shoot up.
Feet & grip
Stand with your feet between hip- and shoulder-width apart, toes turned out a little (about 10–30°).
even and balanced on both feet.
Set the bar over the balls of your feet, close to your shins (about 3 cm away is fine; it doesn't have to touch).
the bar over the front of your feet, not over your laces near the ankle.
Take your grip: wide for the snatch, slightly wider than shoulder width for the clean. Use a hook grip if you've learned it.
hands set evenly, grip firm but arms relaxed.
Set hips & shoulders
Bend your knees and push them out to the sides, inside your arms (they may lightly touch). Let your knees come slightly over the bar. Don't hold your shins vertical with the knees behind the bar.
knees out, shins angled forward to the bar.
Lower your hips until your arms hang vertical from the side and your shoulders are over or very slightly in front of the bar. Your hips stay lower than your shoulders. Where they end up relative to your knees depends on your proportions; for most people they sit slightly above the knees, and a little higher in the clean than the snatch.
arms like vertical ropes, shoulders just covering the bar.
Set your back flat and tight (neutral or very slightly arched), chest up, head neutral, eyes straight ahead or slightly up. Never start with a rounded back.
one rigid piece from hips to head.
Keep your elbows straight and pointing out to the sides, arms long and relaxed. Balance your weight evenly across your feet.
weight spread over the whole foot, not on your toes or heels.
Ready to push
Brace your trunk tightly, then push the floor away with your legs. Hips and shoulders rise together, so your back angle stays about the same as the bar leaves the floor. Don't let your hips rise before your shoulders.
a leg press against the floor, back set and patient.
Keep the bar as close to your shins as you can and your shoulders over or in front of it as it rises. Shift your weight slightly back toward your heels as the bar breaks from the floor rather than lifting straight up.
the bar traveling up and slightly back toward you.
Feel it
Balanced over your whole foot, back rigid, arms hanging straight, shoulders just covering the bar, knees out. When you push, the bar slides up close to your legs. If it swings away, your hips were too high and shoulders too far forward. If it grinds into your shins, your hips were too low and shoulders too far back.
Fix-its
- Your back rounds Reset before you pull: chest up, back flat and tight, trunk braced. Drop the weight until you can hold that position off the floor.
- Hips too high, shoulders far out over the bar The bar will swing away from you. Lower your hips until your arms hang vertical and your shoulders are only just in front of the bar.
- Hips too low, shoulders behind the bar (a deadlift setup) The bar will grind on your shins. Raise your hips until your shoulders come over the bar.
- Bar set too far back over your foot Your knees are in the way, so the bar swings forward around them or your hips rise first. Start with the bar over the balls of your feet and your knees slightly over it.
- Hips rise before your shoulders off the floor Your back angle should hold as the bar leaves the floor. Push through your legs, keep your chest up, and practice pausing just off the floor.
Drill
- Find your position from the top: deadlift a light bar, then lower it very slowly. Below the knee, adjust until the bar hangs close to your shins without dragging, then keep that tension down to the floor. Where you land is a workable start position.
- Setup checks with a light bar: feet, grip, knees out, arms vertical, shoulders over the bar, back flat. Hold, check each point, stand up, repeat.
- Pause just off the floor: lift the bar a few centimetres and hold 1–3 seconds, checking whole-foot balance and that your back angle hasn't changed. Light weight, 1–3 reps per set.
- Film from the side at hip height: check that your arms hang vertical, your shoulders are over or slightly in front of the bar, and your hips are below your shoulders.
Sources
- Greg Everett, Catalyst Athletics — The Olympic Lift Starting Position: Snatch & Clean (2009)
- Catalyst Athletics — Starting Position for the Snatch & Clean
- NSCA / Human Kinetics — Essentials of Strength Training and Conditioning, 5th ed.: Power Clean (Caulfield, Hornsby, Haff)
- Sergii Putsov, Torokhtiy Weightlifting — Starting Position in Olympic Lifting (2024)
- Catalyst Athletics — Easy Way to Find Your Snatch or Clean Starting Position
- Catalyst Athletics — Segment Snatch
Last checked 2026-10-25.