Squat form check

[geoffgaugler]

22 y/o, ~205 lbs squatting 205. Link: Squat form check 8/6 - YouTube

A couple points that someone with more knowledge than I might find useful:

• After I did my squats this day and the previous workout, I noticed some pain in my right shoulder, assuming I'm bearing some of the weight on my arm. I will try widening my grip a little bit when I lift today and see if that helps at all.
• I'm looking pretty much straight down instead of the recommended 3-4 feet in front, is this ok or should I look more forward? Had a 2 hour session with an SSC a few weeks back who had me focus on keeping my chest up to avoid rounding my upper back which was a previous problem. To my untrained eye it almost seems like my upper back is rounding slightly, but not sure if it just looks that way because I'm looking straight down and I have a bit of a forward neck posture going on thanks to sitting down at a computer all day.

Before I get shit for the belt I ordered a proper one from bestbelts the other day, had to borrow my friend's $50 amazon belt. Thanks for any help in advance!

[Ryan Arnold]

I would promptly order some weightlifting shoes while you have your credit card out. Your grip looks fine so I would not worry about the shoulder pain unless it persists or gets worse or both. Yes you should be looking 3-5 feet in front as recommended. You can lift your chest up when you get set under the bar to avoid the upper back rounding but when you are doing the set you should be focused on keeping your chest down. Which applies here because you are lifting it on some reps and not driving up with your hips enough.

[geoffgaugler]

Thanks for the feedback Ryan. Have been playing around with where I look and I'm finding it easier to squat when looking down instead of a few feet out. For my own curiosity, why is this preferred over looking straight down? I know the rationale behind looking down is that it's easier to drive up when you're looking down compared to looking up, so why isn't it recommended to look all the way down instead of only partially down?