Your individual physical build is going to dictate all the little in's and out's of your squat. When In doubt "stay tight" and go as deep as you possibly can. You'll need cues past what the book tells you when you've become a competitive lifter, but until then, don't worry. Bury that shit. Look at it like this. Going a little deeper, you error (perhaps) on the side of certainty. Cutting high in an attempt to just "hit parallel" so you can handle a little more weight just makes you a cunt and we certainly don't want that. Good luck.
I agree with ludwig. Once you start getting up in numbers failure to stay tight will immediately result in any number of nasty things happening to you, best of them just getting pinned down. Regardless of the head up/down, high bar/ low bar, pissing match, you always, on any squat, focous on staying tight or solid. Good luck.
I don't think anyone really answered this. Answer is - you dont. I've had some lifting partners who continuously would cut their squat an inch too high, if they didnt monitor it (or were being monitored). I am the opposite - my "feel" for how deep I am is completely utter shite. I always feel I am high, even if I am basically sitting on the floor.
Seriously - get a cam. I fucked up my pelvis something serious - among other things my problem was going too low, and letting my lumbar lose extension.
I took a video of my squat today for the first time, and the depth was pretty much spot-on, so I think it's possible to tell. Do you feel the stretch reflex at the bottom? See SS pg 40. It's a "bounce off of the hamstrings and adductors." Can you do unweighted squats in front of a mirror?
Or how about this: it takes two seconds to explain to someone what parallel is. Take a light weight, do several reps, have them say "lower" or "higher" for each rep. Adjust. They don't have to be a trained coach.
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Anyway, I'm not sure if it's the best approach but when I can squat in a rack I set the safties about an inch below where the bar should be at the bottom. Then I use the mirrors and peripheral vision to check for consistancy. Technically that checks bar height and not depth but it may be better than guessing.
I think a lifting buddy would be better.
Thanks All.
I had a lifting partner who I "coached" the SS methodology too as I understood it and showed him what I was looking to achieve but that went out the window the minute they switched me to nights and he went on leave. Now I am alone, again. Its all good though.
I found a different gym. No squat rack, but its open when I'm off on nights and has two barbells, enough weights, and a bench press bench/rack thingy. It did the trick. So I started working on my front squats. They felt solid. I'm not to any serious numbers yet but they felt really really good. The only problem being I am limited by the amount I can clean and rack and hold on to for 3x5.
Thanks again for everyones advices.