Begin with a barbell in the front rack position, resting on your shoulders with your feet hip-width apart.
Perform a quick, shallow dip by bending your knees, then immediately drive explosively upward with your legs to propel the bar off your shoulders.
As the bar travels upward, quickly drop your body under it by splitting your legs forward and backward into a lunge-like stance.
Catch the bar overhead with fully locked-out arms. Your front shin should be vertical to the floor, and your back knee should be slightly bent for balance.
Once you are stable, recover by bringing your front foot back, then your back foot forward to stand with your feet together.
Tips
Keep the dip shallow and strictly vertical, driving your hips straight down and back up without letting your torso lean forward, so the bar stays close to your body as it leaves your shoulders.
As you split, land with your front shin vertical and your front foot flat on the floor, while keeping your back knee slightly bent to stabilize the receiving position.
Lock out your elbows fully before catching the bar overhead, and keep your wrists stacked directly over your elbows to support the load.
When recovering, step your front foot back first to find a stable midpoint, then bring your rear foot forward to stand, rather than moving both feet at once.
Common mistakes
Pressing the bar up with the arms instead of driving it with the legs causes the bar to travel too slowly and too low for a successful split catch.
Splitting both feet outward to the sides rather than forward and backward narrows the base of support and makes the overhead position unstable.
Catching the bar with bent elbows places the load on the arms rather than the locked-out structure, making it difficult to hold the bar steady overhead.
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