This kind of detailed feedback is so valuable. Thanks for taking the time to post it! Thanks both for being so encouraging.

When my snatch is off, I find the bar is too far in front of me when I'm at the bottom of the squat - input welcome. My snatches aren't always such trainwrecks; I suspect pulling from the floor with my lil' plates threw me off, since I hadn't done that before the meet (I usually elevate the bar to standard height) but yes, the overhead squat is the most challenging component for me to execute in my day-to-day training, and I know it's a technique issue first.

I was surprised to see the variations on the C&J performed in our meet. I was also surprised to see we're all similar phenotypes. 

Thanks everyone who participated. The stone is laid, now we can build.

[finishing the pull]

Kat,

re: bar being in front of you at the bottom of the snatch

Ron's technical comment:

There seems to be a bit of a timing issue with your second pull/jumping into the low position of the snatch.  Really concentrate on finishing the pull, and get tall with the weight, before you jump down. (emphasis mine)

generally, if the bar is forward, you almost always assume that you cut the pull short

"stand tall" is exactly the cue that i use on a repeat attempt when i dump a snatch in front

and the smaller plates probably did throw you off quite a bit, anyway, that's a long first pull to get past and maneuver your knees around

i think one of the best drills to use early on - and in general - is 1 snatch + 1 overhead squat ... i still sometimes do this on a weekly basis on medium or heavy days. i think you would benefit a lot from this particular complex, if you're not doing this already

Now that's news I can use. Thank you sincerely.

I thought that people in Bulgaria grew up doing the O-lifts, so Ts's comment that they learned the lifts while warming up was an eye opener for me!  If that is the case, then simply try to lift with more accomplished lifters, guys, and you will see the speed, accuracy and technique that you should emulate.  Even watching videos can help a lot with this.  Get those elbows up!  Way up!  Whip the elbows underneath the bar, and keep the elbows and shoulders high before the jerk.

A lot more aggression in the jerks, and you should see the bar flying up, and get a few more white lights.  If you are going to power jerk, still try to dip under the bar.  A fast press is not the same as a jerk.  The bar needs to fly to arm's length.

Come on people! It's Eastern Europe, not gladiator school. If you go to a specialised sports school, you'll start weightlifting at the age of 12. If not - there's very little chance to lear the lifts correctly.

Yesterday I had a training session with a former Oly lifter. Know what we did? 10 sets of dips supersetted with flyes, both 12 reps per set.
Weightlifters here start at an early age and get a lot of practice.

We'll have some home schooling for the next meet, and I really hope to do better! We/I have a great lot of ideas for the lifts, and the rest is practice.

Thanks for the feedback. I sure will be glad if someday you could comment on some training videos.

Great job all participants and judges and of course Kris for making this happen.

Tsvetan, you guys have an awesome gym to lift in(although a bit loud :-) ). Is this in Sofia?

I want to thank everybody here for the meet!
Thanks to the judges for the clues and comments.

I'll see you again in December

Cheers

P.S. Would be really nice if it is possible to upload training videos here for comments and advices.

Come on people! It's Eastern Europe, not gladiator school. If you go to a specialised sports school, you'll start weightlifting at the age of 12. If not - there's very little chance to lear the lifts correctly.

BWAHAHAHAHA!!! This is awesome. It's true, we think you're all doing these all the time. Every streetcorner, every cafe, full of weightlifting huge weight....

Tsvetan, you guys have an awesome gym to lift in(although a bit loud :-) ). Is this in Sofia?

Sofia, yes. One of the most hard-core gyms - The Sports Club of Bodybuilding at the Central Sports Club of the Army. The only free access gym with a weightlifting platform.

Thanks. Prices seem fairly reasonable too.

Reiterating the obvious, this thread is among the best things that have happened here to date. With all the generous and helpful feedback (plus other funny and interesting tidbits like the gladiator school metaphor ), I think the ability to upload training clips for feedback would be a timely and valuable addition to the site. I will get on it as soon as possible, still have a few more urgent tasks to complete for the site first. If anyone has any suggestions for how this could work, let me know.

And Alexander: happy to hear that you already have your sight set on the December powerlifting meet.