Dead Lift Stance

[Coma]

Being so short, which is super awesome BTW, I have always had trouble gripping the bar and still being able to dead lift without horrible form. I have tried using the diamond bar setup as well, and that seems to target my legs more than anything. I am quad dominant and have a pretty weak lumbar IMO, but my hips are just fine and I have never had any issue there. Having very short legs is terrible, but I can't really do anything about it, so I will just switch it up and see what works and feels the best.

[jackfrost88]

Being so short, which is super awesome BTW, I have always had trouble gripping the bar and still being able to dead lift without horrible form. I have tried using the diamond bar setup as well, and that seems to target my legs more than anything. I am quad dominant and have a pretty weak lumbar IMO, but my hips are just fine and I have never had any issue there. Having very short legs is terrible, but I can't really do anything about it, so I will just switch it up and see what works and feels the best.

Sounds like there are a few sticking points or muscular imbalances which are holding your deadlift back.

With short legs you have an edge since the bar path has to travel was less as im sure you have found . With a sumo style you are feeling stronger and lifting more weight so I would continue to use that method. If you are concerned about not working out other muscle groups switch it up and do conventional to hit the back/hamstrings more.

Since you are quad dominant it makes sense that you feel stronger wider apart.

I would focus on strengthening the lumbar / hamstrings / back to get the most out of a conventional stance.

Exercises which REALLY help with this are: Good mornings, stiff leg deadlifts (romanian deadlift), back extensions, face pulls, glute ham raises, single leg deadlifts with barbell / kettlebell. Work those in your program, you don't even need to or want to go heavy on these to start especially. It will start building the muscle mind connection and work on areas of improvement with your weak spots.

Example would be, starting with squats say 5x5. Add in stiff leg deadlifts after as another "compound" lift which focuses more on the hamstrings.