squat depth

[prop]

Hi,
I was having a chat to a former professional prop and he said that in all his training he never did full depth squats, The reason he gave was that you never do a full squat on a rugby field so why in the gym, he said that in scrums the most depth you are at is with the knee and hip joint a 90 degrees, that u can use more weight in the 90 degree squat, meaning more transfer to scrumaging strength.

I was wondering what was everbody opinions on this. I know ash said he like squats to a 47cm box which is around parrallel, so does Joe defrancos. I’m also curious about the coaches that train sprinters/throwers and other athletes.

I realise this isn’t an either or thing, just wondering about peoples opinions on the different benefits of each.

[bris83]

I treat each player as an individual, if they have the flexibility to squat deep, then that is what they do. If they have any pre-existing conditions that prevent from doing this then we squat higher. I aim to try and get the majority of players squatting just below parallel, however, I also have players that do not squat at all and they can still perform well at the weekend. A good measure of depth is to see if you could hold a pencil in between their thigh and calf when in the bottom position of the lift, if they cant its probably too high.

Also in my opinion everything done in the weight room is general preparation. Specific preparation is done through rugby training and of course the game itself.

[callummahoney]

I know there are alot of definitions of “parallel”, but 47 cm seems high. I was thinking 30 is about IPF parallel.

[Author]

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