300kg deadlift sticking point

[SamH]

Dear Mr Rippetoe

I have failed a 300kg deadlift in competition on two separate occasions, the last time being the weekend just passed. On both occasions the bar came off the floor with decent speed but ground to a halt above my knees. You will see my deadlifts from my last meet at the 1 minute (260kgs) and 1 minute 55 seconds (300kg) mark of the linked video here:-https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O75aPX6Mflo. I now have four weeks to attempt 300kg again at another meet.

I read an article that you wrote some time ago on the correct way to deadlift, and I fall foul of the advice therein on at least two points, namely, that my toes are pointed straight ahead when they should be pointed slightly outwards, and that I rock backwards at the start of the lift, which I understand you view as wasted motion. That said, if you see any further technical flaws in my deadlifts that I can correct to give myself the best prospects of hitting the elusive 300kg mark, I would be most grateful. Further, while to me the obvious exercise to address my sticking point in the deadlift would be rack pulls, if you think there is any other exercise that I should focus on in the future to correct my specific weaknesses in the deadlift, please do let me know - although I fully recognise that only so much can be answered in the context of a forum post in which no detailed training history has been provided.

I would like to add that I have your training books, and that they have been a source of valuable training information for me over the years.

Thank you kindly.

Sam

[Mark Rippetoe]

You low back is not set, your pulling technique is not the most efficient, and rack pulls are indeed the exercise that corrects these problems.

[SamH]

All noted, and thank you for the response.