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When you start teaching beginners the Oly lifts how soon do you introduce the hook grip?
 

 
I personally teach the hook grip the first day they come into the gym. My reasoning for this is that it takes some time to get used to so the sooner they start the sooner they are comfortable. Secondly I feel the hook grip is as important as any other aspect of lifting.
 
Teaching the hook grip also helps to get an athletes arms to relax if they tend to bend the arm prematurely.

  
That’s good advice.  I usually waited to introduce hook, but I guess I dont have a solid reason to wait!
 
I do, however, have one lady who is struggling with the hook grip.  She gets quite frustrated.  She complains that her hands r too small, although her hands r the same size as mine, and I do have her using a women’s bar.  Any suggestions?

Maybe try getting her to use different parts of her fingers to hook she may be having a bit of trouble with trying to get her fingers too far around the thumb.

It may also be a comfort thing its not the most comfortable grip for a the first few weeks just tell her to give it some time.

Ok, I’ll try that.  She might just need to suffer thru for a couple weeks til she “breaks” the hook grip in!

I can attest to the breaking in of the hook grip. When Max started teaching me the lifts several years ago the hook grip really hurt (but I wouldn’t cry in front of the California Strength Team ;)
Now it really doesn’t bother me at all, in fact I prefer it. Definitely not for high rep situations, get a pair of straps for that. But for the O-lifts they make a HUGE difference.

What is the “hook grip”  and what does it do?  Is this just for Oly lifters or for any kind of weight training?

Some people tolerate the hook fairly well right from the start, and the way Max does it is probably best for most people.  I have run into some people who are really bothered by the discomfort though, and it can be usefull for these people to delay introducing the hook for these people.  But any good coach like Max is going to be aware of these little details.  The important thing is to get that thumb under the fingers as quickly as possible as long as it doesnt interfere with the initial learning of the lifts.

When introducing the hook to those who have pulled a long time without it, I do it in the following way.  First workout, we do our first warm up weight hooked, then switch back to a regular grip.  Second workout, we try to do the first TWO warmup weights hooked, etc, etc.  Using this method, the athlete is usually hooking their top weights within 2-4 weeks. 

One thing I teach when I introduce the hook grip is proper hand care, This comes in handy when you start a different style of gripping because of the wear in tear on your hands. Just something I thought I would add incase anybody is starting to lift with the grip or teaching someone else to lift with the grip.