Dear CrossFit, Observations From Coaching Day One of The Open

I had the good fortune to volunteer a couple of hours of coaching today.  The athletes ranged from freshly minted CrossFitters to seasoned veterans, with just about everything in between.  The tasks ranged from teaching a first timer how to get her first 45# snatch (which required getting her first PVC snatch, her first 15# snatch, and her first 35# snatch), helping a regular tweak his setup (which automatically cured his big looping swing), helping one of the strongest guys around visualize his game and then shut it down (because today is practice and he is competing tomorrow), and helping two people who were in the 17 minutes of hell that is 13.1 get, respectively, the second set of 30 snatches, and one snatch (followed by 6 more) at a PR weight.  From all of these tasks, here are today’s universal truths.  When it gets heavy, you have to get UNDER the bar.  Yes you can muscle snatch and power up the light weights, but when it gets heavy, (which it does exponentially faster after a sh*t-ton of burpees), you have to get under the bar.

Thanks athletes for trusting me to coach you.  It was a pleasure.  Good luck in 13.1  I wonder what tomorrow’s WOD will be…