Bar placement

positioned just below C7 across upper trapezius and rear deltiods-high bar

Grip

hands grip bar just outside shoulder width

Stance

The hips, knees, shins, ankles, and feet should be aligned with each other at approximately shoulder width

Depth

The crease between the thigh and hip must be lower than the knee and top of the thigh

Maintaining thoracic position

The shins and torso should remain parallel with one another throughout the descent phase.

Foot placement

The feet should be turned outward slightly

Heels must remain on the floor and knees aligned over feet.

Common errors

Correct lumbar position (McKea, M.R. 2010), the lifter portrays a flat back, and high elbows.

Head positioning , links to lumbar positioning

Heels remain on the floor, through knees aligned over feet

Deficit of depth during back squat is from the lifters squatting position that is too shallow. This occured due to the foot placement bing too straight forward, which restricted natural hip and knee movement, leading to reduced depth due to imbalance.

Squat depth can be easily corrected with targeted cueing and feeback or pysical cues such as box squats at desired depth height. Identify and adjust the error in lifters foot placement.

This is key as the gluteus maximums, a strong hip extensor becomes progressively more engaged as the depth of the squat increases (Caterisna et al., 2002). Developing specific force and power attributes effectively.

The lifters heels come off the floor, due to improper stance. leading to instability and poor balance causing the heels to lift, or tight calf muscles.

Foot positioning is key when squatting and heels must remain on the floor throughout the squat. This can be improved simply by verbal cues such as "keep heels down" or "press down with heels" to optimise foot and ankle position (Kushner, AM. 2015).

Another point to improve heels lifting could be calf exercises such as downward dog and seated calf raisers.

The lifter had poor shoulder mobility, which led to poor bar positioning as tightness in the shoulders limiting to grip the bar and pull it securely into position. To improve technique, the lifter can use a wider grip temporarily until mobility improves. However incorporating stretches for the shoulders such as banded stretches will improve mobility and bar positioning.

Angle of feet, turned slighly outward allowing the squat to become more stable and reduced the risk of heels lifting.

Knee to hip ratio/ squat depth

Achieved- the hip began above the knee in the poor technique back squat , however the improved Back squat the hip was just below the knee, improving stability and overall squat depth.

The head stayed upward forward keeping allignment in back

Heels remained on the ground , improved prior calf strecthes.

Positioning of bar on shoulders, as during the poor technique and improved technique the bar placement was still uncomfotable to the lifter.

The lifter improved the head and lumbar positioning however there was still room for improvement in regard to the chest up and out.

Bar placement

The bar should be infront of the quadriceps lined up with the inside of the bar

Grip

hands grip bar just outside shoulder width, allowing for a vertical bar path

Stance

The feet are spaced shoulder width apart, this position might be varied slightly due to individual differences in torso and leg length

Depth

The crease between the thigh and hip must be lower than the knee and top of the thigh

Maintaining thoracic position

Flattened back through slight retraction of shoulder blades.

The head must raise (around 45 degrees) whilst pulling bar from the floor through extension in knees, hips and vertebral column so the bar is pulled above the knees, to the thighs.

Foot placement

Heels must remain on the floor and knees aligned over feet.

Common errors

1. Lack of back mobility (rounded back)

2. Bar too far out

3. Foot placement

Rounded back, the lofter shows poor back alllignment , this occured as the lifter started with the hips too high which forced the back to round and knees to misalign.

this can be improved by making sure the head is lifted and looking stright forward , alternatively recording lifts to help identify errors and correct the technique.

Knee caving, caused by improoper trunk mechanics as posture in squats and movements can reduce hip flexion and failed to engage the glues adequately. this can be inproved by incorparating single-leg exercises like step ups, to improve stability and reduce reliance on compensatory muscles. Practicing controlled squats and cutting movements with video feedback to ensure knees track over toes (Lau, M. 2024).

Combining strength training and technical improvements, lifters can correct a rounded back and poor hip to knee alignments during the deadlift, ensuring both safety and optimal performance.

Straight leg, from the frontal view image you can clearly see the lifters legs have no significant bend, making it more uncomfotable and states the lifter will lift with there back and not arms and legs, causing the rounded back presented in the sagittal view, By focusing on improvemements to correct the bend in the legs, such as assisted squat or bx squats to guage the right debth.

Hand width remain just outside of shoulder width, allowing proper extenstion in the arms.

Correct grip, and arms are fully extended., Shoulder is slightlly over the bar . This looks good from a frontal view.

Maintaining bar positioning throught lifts

Improved Head and lumbar positioning showing head in line with vertebral column

Achieved- better mobility, flat back relaxed trap, chest is up and out.

Improved depth of squat in starting phase,

Improved Hip to knee ratio (hip lower than shoulder)

Achieved- improved core activation, comfort prior lift and during.

Improved stance, lifter now displays correct positioning of feet, hands and knees.

Achieved- feet were placemed shoulder width apart and hands were place just on the outside of knee with full arm extension and correct grip.

Knees caving inward

The lifter improved their foot angle outward slightly which allowed knees to go outward when driving upward motion.

Bar placement

positioned just below C7 across upper trapezius and rear deltiods-high bar

Grip

Hook grip, wrapping fingers around the bar and then securing the thumb under the fingers.

Stance

The feet are shoulder width apart, with toes pointed slightly out.

Depth

Squat down so thighs are parallel to the floor,

Maintaining thoracic position

The shoulders are slightly ahead of the bar, back is flat head up and chest out.

Foot placement

The feet should be turned outward slightly

Heels must remain on the floor and knees aligned over feet.

Common errors

1. early arm bend

2. not achieving triple extension

3. rounded back

4. not briining elbows through in catch

The lifter was quite nervous prior to this lifting technique, which lead to overthinking the technique and stages required for the list. this can be overcome by continuous practice with or without bar to boost confidence, breaking down components till the lifter fully understands.

The lifter had poor lumabar positioning due to over-extension in the lower back to compenste for poor hip engagement. This issue can be improved by the proper set up in squat ensuring hips arenot too high at the start. The lifter could practice hip hinges with a dowel along the back to ensure the spine stays in alignment as you bend forward. This can also link to the lifters head positioning

Poor head positioning due to lifter being nervous and not confident to complete lift and forgetting to raise their head and ensure their comfortability prior lift. Use verbal instruction to focus on an object in the lifters guidline to ensure correct head positioning and guidence throughout lift.

Knees caving inward - causing imbalance and reason of poor squat depth. The lifter should allow their knees to track directly over the feet, and shoulders should only be slighlty in front of the bar. This can be improved by using resistance bands around the thighs or knees, during squat to encourage outward knee drive.

The front rack catch

The lifter failed to shrug and lift arms high enough to gague full range of motion, to improve this verbal cues such as "elbows up and forward", or assitance to put arms into the correct position so lifter can feel how it should feel

During the triple extension the lifter clearly displays a rounded back, which can comprimise the power transfer and increase risk of injury. this can be prevented and improved by ensuring the set up position is correct prior to lift, coaching point - start with head forward and chest slightly higher than the hips, ensuring a neutral spine.

Strengthening key muscle groups would also improve mobility, and reinforcing poroper technique will eliminate the tendency to round the back and achieve an overall better power clean.

Poorly executed triple extension at hips, caused by the curved back, preventing the full extension of the upper body. this can be easily corrected through the fixation of the curved back.

The front catch position

The lifter did not bring elbows through in the catch, clearly shown in the image the arms are by the side and not touch tight to the body.

The bar should rest on the delts, not in your hands. The fingers should guide the bar, so do not grip too tightly. Due to letting the knees go too far forawrd. This can be improved by pratciing on an empty barbell or work on front squats to reinforce the correct rack postion and get comfortable with bar sitting on shoulders (Preiato, D. 2022).

Poor squat technique

The lifter is diving forward in the second pull phase leading to the poor posture shown in the catch phase, This can be easily fixed by implementing practice drills such as jumping into the catch position without a barbell.

Correct hand placement and grip technique

The lifter placed hands just outside of hip width, gripping the bar with a Hook grip, locking fingers around the bar securely with thumbs locked under. . Coaches should also teach athletes to listen to their bodies and adjust grip or load as needed to prevent overuse injuries (Scrivener, R. 2024).

The lifter portrays perfect distance of hands just outside of shoulder width and correct grip to ensure safety and overall better lift

Positioning of bar on shoulders ,Lifter felt it was much more easier than their previous lift, yet found it still uncomfortable when in the final hold., However there is still room for more improvment to futher better the catch.

In the catch phase, there was a slight lean back in the catch position, which could be detrimental to safety precuations during a power clean, to further improve this by lhaving a lighter weight or if using a heavy weight making sure correct flooring and shoe capability is implemented.

Improved Head and lumbar positioning showing head in line with vertebral column

As the bar passes the knees, shift torso slightly backward and push knees forward to position tunder bar

When the bar is between the knee and mid-thigh, explosively complete triple extension

Without bending your back keep the bar close to shins.

Explosively pull up the bar upward by straigtening your knees and hips.

arms should stay straight and head should be upright and in line with spine

As the bar reaches peak height during shoulder shrug in the second pull phase, the lifter would acitvely pull themself under it by driving the elbows forward and up. Creating a stable rack position on shoulders.

Quickly drop into a wider stance squat by bending knees, hips and ankles beneath the bar.

Catch the bar securely across the front of shoulders, ensuring it rests on the collarbone with the eelbows forward and high to maintain stablity.