F. Franish, Austria
Edmond Decottignies, 1924
Granting the instructions of the previous article . . .
. . . have been put into practical effect and you are now at least fairly well grounded in the technique of getting a bar bell to the shoulder with one hand in the clean style, we shall now deal with the difficulties of tossing a bar bell to full length overhead with the same hand.
Max Rohr, star welterweight of Cooper A.C., Brooklyn, of whom we showed several action snaps in the previous article last month is here shown ready to send the bar overhead . . .
The decided back-hang is worthy of note, being a prominent feature when the hand is held next the shoulder; were you to attempt a back-hang of this sort with the arm held away from the body you should find it just about impossible, even though the weight were well under your limit; likewise, if the elbow [let's bring back the semicolon] be held on the hip and the hand free of the shoulder a decided back-hang is quite out of the question.
The extended free arm gives the needed balance, or as we should say -- counterbalance and helps you to center farther over towards the free side of the body with consequent better use of both legs.
To me, the stance, or standing position, used by Max is worth giving special attention. Some fellows stand in an awkward and inefficient manner, with feet apart and knees bent; the knee on the supporting side should be straight, though the other can be bent to a slight extent in order to throw the balance farther towards the free side.
Max Rohrer is one of the best men in the world at this particular lift, so his stance is worth noting. Your attention is further directed to the feet being close together.
Tony Terlazzo . . .
. . . also quite a wonder on the single-handed jerk is shown in action. This was merely posed with a light (for him) poundage, but depicts his style to perfection.
I should say that Tony gets down just about as well as anyone could hope for and powerful knees are required in order to accomplish a decent poundage in this style; you may see the vastus internus contracting on both legs.
One feature of this action photo which you cannot very well see, is the manner in which the hips are thrown to one side under the bell. This photo of Bill Good jerking . . .
. . . gives you a better slant of this feature. In many ways, this one hand jerk picture of Bill is perfect. Pay special attention to the extreme manner in which he has thrown himself under the bell, thus avoiding the possibility of losing it, and taking the strain off the shoulder muscles. This is really, to my way of looking at it, a wonderful action lifting picture. Further reference to this position will be made later.
Fritz Weckert . . .
. . . weight lifting enigma, has pride of place this month in respect to number of photos used. Should you wonder at my odd reference to him, let it be explained that Fritz might have been champion in his class the past two years and could win the title this year on the three lifts just as well as on the five, excepting the circumstances affecting his life, plus peculiarities in temperament. Either he doesn't train steadily, loses sleep by the entire night, or steps up and shoots everything on too much for a starting poundage with consequent failure.
Were he so situated as to be able to train diligently for some months, and was afforded a decent opportunity of sleeping regularly, Fritz would set up some credible records. As he has remarked to me, he lifts practically on nerve alone and I know for a fact that he was up all night and the day before on the occasion of competing in the championships here recorded by the camera.
The snap above shows Fritz in the act of finishing a one hand clean, with Hans Ehrhardt looking on from behind and "Yours Truly" working hard in capacity of referee. "Pipe the attitude," we might say: this is offered to prospective officials as a sterling example of what is to be expected of them. It was hot as Hades that day and old Sol was hitting us right in the eyes. I think the man in dark suit, whose face is hidden, is Ben F. Yates, of Hagerstown.
In the one-arm jerk the poundage standard is generally so high and the athlete has spent himself by the combined efforts of cleaning and jerking that the most expedient means of lowering the bell is simply to let it drop and ease off the shock as it strikes the shoulder by bending the knees. At times, a severe bruise may be suffered though contact of the bar with the shoulder and especially so if it hits one of the thinly covered bones around the shoulder. This, however, is more liable to happen when a failure occurs.
The plan I always use (or probably I should say, try to use at all times) is to straighten the legs and reach my full height just before the bar reaches the shoulder and then you have a greater range of movement in bending the legs to ease the shock.
There are two methods of jerking a bar bell with one hand, either from the shoulder or off the hip -- note that I do not say off the shoulder as modern rules prohibit resting either the bar or the hand on top of the shoulder. The hand may rest against the deltoid and the bar may pass diagonally down across the deltoid, but not upon the top of the shoulder. Formerly, it had been permitted to rest the hand right on top of the shoulder. Formerly, it had been permitted to rest the hand right on top of the shoulder. Formerly, it had been permitted to rest the hand right on top of the shoulder, or if the elbow was rested on the hip the bar could lay across the shoulder.
In reality, the majority of jerks are off the hip, whether or not the hand comes in contact with the shoulder, but there is a distinct method of resting the elbow on the hip and keeping the forearm, hand and bar entirely free of the body. This latter method is not only slower but more risky as the lifter must drop either into a sitting or the bent press position. We shall not, at present, dwell upon this means of jerking.
Reference having been made to the majority of jerks being off the hip, it is well to explain why; even though the elbow be held away from the body during the erect stage of the lift, it will be observed that as the legs are bent and the body lowered in crouching for the upward heave, the arm is drawn in against the body and much of the impetus imparted from the hip through the elbow.
Final page of article missing.
Enjoy Your Lifting!
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