how important is the deadlift setup, if it fixes itself anyway?

[opf]

Hi,

So I've been following the Starting Strength method for deadlifting. One of the steps in the setup is to set the barbell an inch from the shins when standing up. However, I feel like setting it a bit further out (maybe 1½ inch or 2 inches) makes it easier to squeeze chest up, get a good breath and engage the hips. When I place it an inch from my shins, I feel like it's hard to properly squeeze the chest up and set my back straight, and usually I'll get a pain down towards my tailbone after lifting like that. Now, I'm sure that I am doing something in your setup wrong. But then I saw this quote from Mark Rippetoe, the author of Starting Strength:

"When the weight gets heavy, you can drop your hips as low as you want to and push the bar as far forward as it takes to make you happy, but what actually happens before the bar leaves the floor is always the same: the bar comes back toward the mid-foot, the hips come up until the shoulders settle into position just in front of the bar, and the bar comes up in a straight line" (Ignorant When it Comes to Deadlifts? | T Nation)

And the same thing was said by either Austin Baraki or Jordan Feigenbaum.

I suppose the point of this is that no matter how you set up, the weight will come off the floor when it's positioned correctly over mid foot. Which leads me to the question: Why should I be religious about setting up with the bar exactly one inch from the shins and not drop the hips at all, when everything will automatically fall into place anyway? I guess that when the weight gets heavy, it's a bit of a waste of energy, but from a safety point of view, wouldn't it be OK to just set up in a way that makes it easier to achieve a straight back and engage the hips?

[Sean Herbison]

I guess that when the weight gets heavy, it's a bit of a waste of energy, but from a safety point of view, wouldn't it be OK to just set up in a way that makes it easier to achieve a straight back and engage the hips?

Would you rather be set and as tight as you need to be, or moving around and probably a bit loose when the weight starts to move?

[Satch12879]

What Herbison said.

I don't think you're understanding what Rip said.

[ChasingCurls69]

In addition: the bar will be where it has to, but you will probably be out of position now. People tend to round their back as they pull on a bar that won't move until it's over the midfoot.

[Adam Skillin]

Would you rather be set and as tight as you need to be, or moving around and probably a bit loose when the weight starts to move?

Totally agree with Mr. Herbison's point. If I may add a thought or two: Trying to pull the bar from forward of mid-foot is a waste of valuable resources (ATP) that can be better utilized to continue being able to lift the bar later in the set. Even if you succeed in making the first rep or two of a set of 5 start moving from somewhere forward of mid-foot, you've created unnecessary moment arms that have to be overcome, exacerbating the problem. It's also common, as Mr. Curls69 mentioned, to see compromised efficiency and safety in loss of lumbar extension as the lifter shifts from the forward-of-midfoot bar position back to the in-balance position.

TL DR version: Our way is more efficient and more consistent. Do it our way.