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Other/Mixed If you could delete a cue

Other strength modalities (e.g., Clubs), mixed strength modalities (e.g., combined kettlebell and barbell), other goals (flexibility)
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conor78

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Whilst most cues are really helpful in making abstract ideas concrete I have found the cue about a snatch is a swing that arrives overhead a persistent cue that I need to consciously try to work against. It was one of the first cues that I used to snatch years ago. The wall drill we used at SFG was every effective in unlearning this cue. Are there any others that you would erase from your memory if you could?
 
Whilst most cues are really helpful in making abstract ideas concrete I have found the cue about a snatch is a swing that arrives overhead a persistent cue that I need to consciously try to work against. It was one of the first cues that I used to snatch years ago. The wall drill we used at SFG was every effective in unlearning this cue. Are there any others that you would erase from your memory if you could?
  • Shoulders down and back
  • The swing is about projecting power forward and the power comes from the hips.
Both led me to bad technique. Especially the second idea. It made me swing from the hips only, leading to unstable knees and a wobbly back and poor coordination.
Playing chicken with the bell and Pavel Maceks four count movement helped with that.
 
“Keep your spine long.”

I understand the purpose of this cue. I use a variation in the clinic. Physiologically, if I want to make my spine longer, I would flex forward.

Again, I understand the purpose of the cue, but could be worded differently
 
@conor78 and everyone else, I have to say that I find all the cues people have said they could do without to be good cues. One can interpret anything in multiple ways, I suppose.

The hip drive of a swing is the same hip drive one uses for a snatch, we just Tame The Arc.

We don't teach, that I'm aware of, "shoulders down and back," just "down" and "packed" and both of those are very valuable cues that have helped many people.

The swing _is_ about projecting power forward and that power comes primarily from the hips.

Lift with your legs - yes, that's what we try to do, with legs and with hips, and not with the back.

Making the spine longer by flexing it is making the back of the spine longer and the front of the spine shorter.

Last but not least, and probably I say should say this first, no cue always works for everyone without further explanation from an instructor.

Really last but not last, not everyone needs to hear every cue, but because a cue isn't good for one person or even a few people doesn't mean it's not a good cue for most people.

-S-
 
One can interpret anything in multiple ways, I suppose.

I would say that's the point.

When you point at the moon, the important thing is the moon, not your finger.

So all cues and pointers transcend themselves, in a way, and try to point at something that needs to be experienced. And as cues are often simplifications they can be misleading when they are exaggerated or out of context.

Of course the power comes from the hips, but does that mean that focusing on hip drive will always guide people to the right movement pattern? No. And yet cues are still helpful. They just should not turn into "rules", as they are merely pointers :)
 
When you point at the moon, the important thing is the moon, not your finger.

I like the analogy... but of course, if generating power from the hips (or whatever it is we're trying to do) was as big and obvious to everyone as the moon, we wouldn't need cues - or trainers/coaches.

That's the difference between having a good coach, and being book-taught, right? A good coach will recognize which direction you are currently looking, and use the right finger to point you to the moon (it might not be a finger you like, either!). I was fortunate to have a couple of really good coaches in my youth, so I suppose I feel like I've got my own sense of if a cue makes sense for me or not.

A book has to try to speak to everybody at once, so it might use every finger available. And of course, a bad coach is no better than a book, really.

All that said, I will second @Phil12 's example. I spent a long time with the notion that deadlift was a "bad" lift because of the risk of back injury.
 
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