Snatch (weightlifting)

The snatch is the first of two lifts contested in the sport of weightlifting (also known as Olympic weightlifting) followed by the clean and jerk. The objective of the snatch is to lift the barbell from the ground to overhead in one continuous motion. There are four main styles of snatch used: snatch (full snatch or squat snatch), split snatch, power snatch, and muscle snatch. The full lift is the most common style used in competition, while power snatches and muscle snatches are mostly used for training purposes, and split snatches are now rarely used. Any of these lifts can be performed from the floor, from the hang position, or from blocks. In competition, only lifts from the floor are allowed.

The snatch is now commonly used to mean a full snatch, also called a squat snatch. Before WWII, the squat style was performed mainly by German lifters, while the rest of the world preferred the split snatch because the squat style required great precision and balance and was also considered precarious. It has, however, the advantage of allowing the lifter to catch the weight at a lower position, therefore potentially lift heavier weights. Larry Barnholth with his brother Lewis developed a more stable and reliable form of squat snatch after observing the German squat style in the late 1930s. It has since become the most common form of the snatch.

In full snatch, the lifter lifts the bar as high as possible and pulls themselves under it in a squat position, receiving the bar overhead with the arms straight, decreasing the necessary height of the bar, therefore increasing the amount of weight that the lifter may successfully lift. The lifter finally straightens to a fully upright position with the bar above their head and arms fully extended.

Split snatch was the common form of snatch before squat snatch was popularized by lifters such as Pete George and Dave Sheppard. In the split snatch, the lifter lifts the bar as high as possible and pulls themselves under the bar similar to the squat snatch but in the split snatch the lifter "splits" their legs, placing one foot in front of them and one behind, allowing themselves to receive the bar in a low position. The split snatch is now uncommon but is still occasionally performed by some lifters. Most lifters prefer the squat style over the split because the bar needed to be pulled higher and longer in the split style, and they can go lower in the squat.

In the power snatch, the lifter lifts the barbell as high as possible and receives the bar overhead with only a slight bend in the knee and hip, increasing the height that the bar must be lifted and decreasing the amount of weight that may be successfully lifted. It is the most basic version of the snatch, and simpler for beginners and those with limited mobility to learn, but may also be used by advanced lifters to train for specific purposes such as explosiveness in the pull.

In the muscle snatch, the lifter lifts the bar all the way overhead with arms locked out and the hip and knee fully extended.

The snatch can be performed with one hand. A dumbbell or kettlebell is most commonly used although a barbell can also be used. As a unilateral movement, the one-handed snatch can help to counteract asymmetrical muscle development that can occur when only bilateral movements are performed i.e. in a bilateral movement a stronger limb may perform an excessively large amount of the overall work, and the weaker limb an excessively small amount. By performing one-handed snatches alternately, each arm is performing the same amount of work and any excessive strength imbalance may be avoided or evened out in this manner.

While the snatch is commonly referred to in three phases, Arthur Drechsler identifies six distinct phases of the pull in the snatch.