What the heck and I doing with my bench bar-path and how to fix??

[Clyde]

Hello. Obviously my bar path is not vertical. Does anyone see anything in my setup or technique that can possible help? Honestly, it feels like I am going straight up...that is until I looked at the video in horror. Thanks!!

YouTube

[Dillon Spencer]

You might be touching a bit lower on the chest than you need to, but a vertical bar path isn't the expectation on the bench. Don't have SSBBT in front of me at the moment, but the line is something to the effect that we accept a slight deviation from a vertical bar path to protect the shoulders from impingement. A vertical path would require the humeri to be at 90 degrees to the body with a touch point up near the clavicle. This is a recipe for the dreaded shoulder impingement. Much worse than the horrors of a slightly less efficient bar path!

[Adam Levine]

That looks pretty good to me. Like Dillon said, you don't want a vertical bar path - read the big warnings about impingement in SS...

You are tapping a little low, but a little low is better than a little high - low is inefficient, high is injury. I usually aim for about the nipples (not totally sure that's right, but it's what I do), and one tactile cue I find useful is to tap your sternum where you want the bar to hit hard a few times before starting your set, so you can still feel the tap during the set, and aim for it.

-->Adam

[Caleb Krieg]

You might be touching a bit lower on the chest than you need to, but a vertical bar path isn't the expectation on the bench. Don't have SSBBT in front of me at the moment, but the line is something to the effect that we accept a slight deviation from a vertical bar path to protect the shoulders from impingement. A vertical path would require the humeri to be at 90 degrees to the body with a touch point up near the clavicle. This is a recipe for the dreaded shoulder impingement. Much worse than the horrors of a slightly less efficient bar path!

^This is right. If you want to clean something up, check out your wrist position. It's a little hard to see from here, but I'd wager the bar is too high in your palm and wrist too bent. Check out page 153 of the blue book to see the adjustment.