Home / Off the Floor / Your Weight Drifts Forward During the Pull
Off the Floor

Your Weight Drifts Forward During the Pull

The fault

Being pulled onto the toes somewhere between the floor and the hip.

Why it happens

Once the weight is forward, the bar has to come back to you at the top, which means it loops. Everything downstream gets worse, and it all started before the bar reached the knee.

The fix

High pull with the heels down through the entire movement, then immediately do a full snatch. The high pull teaches the balance, the snatch cashes it in while the feeling is fresh.

About this fix
Originally published as "Stay Back in Your Pull" on 14 March 2016, part of The Lifting Fix, a free weekly weightlifting technique series Danny Lehr ran from June 2015 to December 2016. Every episode is free here and always will be. For the full structured course, see the professionally filmed program.

More off the floor fixes

See all

Your Back Lights Up When You Lower the Bar

Pain or a hot, fatigued low back on the way down rather than on the way up.

Off the Floor2:18

Your Hips Rise Before Your Shoulders

Off the floor the hips shoot up first and the shoulders lag behind.

Off the Floor2:31

Your Upper Back Is Loose at the Setup

No tightness through the upper back before the bar leaves the ground.

Off the Floor1:54