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ABSTRACT. Hoover, D.L., K.M. Carbon, B.K. Christensen, and C.J. Zebas. Biomechanical analysis of women weightlifters during the snatch. J. Strength Cond. Res. 20(3):627-633. 2006.-The majority of the research to date on weightlifting has focused on men competitors. This study attempted to bridge the sex-based gap evident in the scientific literature. The performances of 10 women weightlifters competing in the 1999 United States national championships were analyzed. The performance of the athletes competing in the 69-kg class was recorded and analyzed using a Peak5 2D Motion Analysis system. The purpose of this study was 3-fold: (a) analyze the horizontal bar displacement of women weightlifters, (b) analyze key kinematic variables related to performance, and (c) compare the power outputs of the first, second, and total pulls in the snatch. Less than half (<50%) of the snatch attempts demonstrated by the women weightlifters in this study displayed the optimal toward-away-toward horizontal bar trajectory reported elsewhere. The women in this study demonstrated greater drop displacement and drop under times than those previously reported for men weightlifters. They also demonstrated lesser maximal vertically velocities of the barbell than those reported for world class women weightlifters. These women weightlifters demonstrated statistically significant differences (p < 0.05) during each phase of the snatch, and total power output values were comparable to values previously reported. The results of this study suggest that women demonstrate performance characteristics that differ subtly from those reported in men weightlifters. Knowledge of performance measures during the snatch may help coaches and athletes more fully refine the training leading to competition.
KEY WORDS. weightlifting, women, bar trajectory, horizontal displacement, power, kinematic
INTRODUCTION
The popularity of women's weightlifting has grown in recent decades, and women competitors achieved Olympic status at the 2000 Games in Sydney, Australia. As with the men, weightlifting competition among women consists of the snatch and the clean and jerk, 2 of the most mechanically powerful of all athletic competitions. Nonetheless, as is the case with many sports, women weightlifters have not been as extensively studied as men weightlifters (12, 14, 15). Therefore, this study aimed to bridge the sex-based gap in the weightlifting research literature by analyzing the biomechanical performance of women weightlifters competing on the national level.
Stone et al. (25) noted that many...