Do you think it's possible to learn this style of
lifting without a coach and get reasonably good at it
or do you think you are pretty much doomed to have
extremely flawed technique and never even come close
to your potential power?
I have been trying to self
teach and learn from books but it is very challenging
to say the least. Finding a coach I am pretty sure is
impossible in my area.
I know my technique is very
flawed and also that if it were better the weight I
can get overhead would dramaticly increase.
Sometimes
I will try for a heavy clean over and over and it will
seem impossible and then I think I just accidently do
it properly and it goes up like nothing with what
seems very little effort.
Also any tips or tricks you guys use to clean or to
jerk/snatch or press heavy loads would be appreciated or even a
description of your whole process on these lifts if your so inclined. Any stories of mistakes you made and
how you corrected them.
I second Coach Hale's reccomendation. I would also add that if you just want to learn the simple power clean, power snatch and push jerk, the videos and books will give you everything you need. If you want to do the real competition lifts I suggest you find a way to get a few private coaching sessions from someone nearby. Trust me, there are more O lifters out there than you might think.
By the way, until you get the form down pretty well there is no point in going heavy on anything except maybe some pulls. The form is more important than the weight at first.
I believe USA weightlifting has a list of certified coaches. I also took their cert. 4 years ago wich was a good way of learning. It was one weekend, with a top coach.