Bench Press Grip Question

[calvus]

So I spent a lot of time yesterday going through the Dave Tate bench series, studying & taking notes. I figured since my squat form was so fucked up, I really need to work on hard on my technique for all lifts. I then spent about an hour this morning working on bench form, recording video, analyzing & trying it again.

I deleted the videos of my repeated warmups with 45 lbs, 95 lbs & 135 lbs so that I would have room to record the work sets. Of course, then my camera stopped working, so I have no video to post. (which I guess probably makes this thread completely useless - oh well).

In the past, I have been using a grip that is about 2" outside of the smooth part of the bar. When I looked at the video, my elbows were going down maybe 4" below the pad. So today I widened my grip to where my hands are about 1" inside the grooves.

The result was that the bar travels a shorter distance, but I feel a serious loss of power. For specifics, last month on week 3 of my 5/3/1, I benched 225 9 times. Today I was only able to do 230 4 times. And it felt HEAVY.

Is this just a matter of me getting used to a wider grip?

Where do you guys grip for bench press? Any comments from guys with long arms?

FYI, I'm 6-2, 215 lbs. Arms are a bit longish, but not Jones Bones long: 37" sleeve length for dress shirts.

BTW, Here's what I am focusing on for each set:
- tight shoulder blades
- weight on traps
- wider grip, so elbow doesn't go too low
- squeeze bar HARD, pull apart
- legs tight
- Big Air
- push heel to floor

Everything good & looked ok on video to my untrained eye. It was uncomfortable & hard work keeping everything tight. The grip width is the 1 thing that seemed to kill my power.

 

[DrBdan]

In my experience (and from what I've read) you will find that changing anything significant with your technique will result in a temporary drop in the amount of weight that you can move. It is only temporary and assuming that it's a change for the better your numbers will quickly go back up.

 

[justblaze717]

I feel like finding the right grip has improved my bench a ton. I feel like Im not only using my chest and tri's but my hands and the outside part of my forearms are helping me lift heavier weights.

My grip is an inch outside of the smooth part.

 

[RoadKing Custom]

I'm dealing with the same issue.. trying to improve my bench numbers by correcting my form. It's the "keep everything tight" that I'm having the hardest time with, that and leg drive..

Seems like it's a never ending story.

 

[Endo]

Keep benching with the new form and you'll be fine. Its just going to take some getting used to; eventually you'll adjust and be back to normal.

 

[Beable]

I put my pinkies on the smooth rings.