Asymmetrical shoulder flexibility

Hi coaches,

So I have a chronic right low back ache and I was rereading the squat chapter and noticed the section on shoulder flexibility issues. Whenever I take the bar out of the rack and look in the mirror in front of me (the mirror I wish wasn't there), the bar is always tilted downward in the direction of my right shoulder. I even sometimes hit the pins accidentally on the right side. After reading this I remembered I had a bursitis disagnosed a few years back and went to the video. I saw that my right elbow was way lower than the left in all my squats and is probably causing the problem/low back pain. Anyway, I was wondering what grip changes would be recommended for fixing what you see and straightening the bar out. Thanks.

Here are some photos:

https://m.flickr.com/lightbox?id=13441616905
https://m.flickr.com/lightbox?id=13441746483

How long have you been at this? Usually a few months of squatting straightens stuff like this out. It looks like your grip may be uneven. Try setting your hands on the bar first, using the bar markings as landmarks and don't move them while you get under the bar. You might have to widen one hand out to even up the grip.

Pictures are from January. I ran through SS last year and injured my back in May. Injured my back and started again in January. In my squat videos from my last run through my elbows appear even and my squats look symmetrical. I don't know why I can't fix this now. I always line up my grip using the knurlings on the bar. I think previously I just got in and got comfortable without looking which is why maybe there wasn't an assymetry last year. But it's become a problem now.

I'm not a coach but I had this exact same problem, one elbow lower making the bar sit unevenly, even with an equidistant grip.

I set up my camera behind me and took a video in my house of me pinching my shoulders back with my arms out in front, like I would if I was setting up for a bench press. What I thought was the scapulae pinched back at the same point wasn't correct at all, one sat at least an inch or so higher than the other. I had to really think about getting my left side up to make them even.

The fix for me was to look in the stupid mirror in front of the rack when setting up. If I shuffle around a bit whilst tightening my back up under the bar, I get both elbows even, making the bar even. It stays like that for the set (I stop looking in the mirror after I unrack it). Not sure if it's a proprioceptive thing or what but that's what helped me.

Thanks for the tip. The mirror does seem to help but id like to stop relying on this. Did you notice this assymetry in the bench press or anything. I also have a hard time keeping a straight bar path on bench even with extremely light weights. Benching naturally for me is an uneven path