I’ve struggled to maintain a vertical bar path in the squat. Especially when the weight gets (relatively) heavy. In my case, the bar tends to get out in front of my feet, causing all kinds of problems.
A re-read of “The Master Cue” SSBBT 3rd Edition has me trying something.
I laid a piece of tape on the floor, inside the rack, just in front of the “front” rack uprights. To warm up, I will squat a light weight, (or even just the empty bar) while placing my mid foot on this line and keeping the bar in contact with the rack uprights. If the bar stays in contact with the uprights, then it also stays over mid foot for the entire movement. I’m hoping this will help engrain the feeling of a vertical bar path and translate to my actual squat workouts.
This routine has me bending over more, especially at the start of the squat. It seems to have reduced knee slide and is helping me lock my knees earlier. It appears to be helping me, and I thought it may help others … but I’m also concerned about possible negatives, and bad habits it might cause.
