I think the reason most prefer to back squat is because it is, in general terms, the "better" strength exercise.
I know a lot of coaches who don't agree with this statement.
I have never heard or read of discomfort being the problem
This might be your problem right here Steven. A lot of coaches I have spoken to about the front squat will say the same thing - discomfort in the way the bar sits is a common thing. It isn't necessarily all about the wrists either. Most of the discomfort is in the load on the shoulders as it gets heavier.
Seriously I can't believe you have not ever heard of people finding front squats uncomfortable - and it has nothing to do with doing the exercise incorrectly. Even back squats can be uncomfortable when people start doing them. It is almost like you are being intentionally naive here.
Are only competitive weightlifters required to perform an exercise correctly?
No but when the main goal of the lift which is to overload the legs is easier to learn and perform and load because you aren't being held back by having to painfully bear the load on your shoulders, well spending time getting used to something that you don't need to would be wasting peoples time.
Seriously Steven, it isn't that difficult to understand. The goal is to overload the quads, core etc. The front squat is a unique exercise in how it does that. There are two ways to do things
The hard way - spend a few weeks trying to get used to how a weight feels on your shoulders using lighter loads because "that is the way we always did it"
The easy way - achieve the exact same thing in about 2 minutes, with the added advantage of being able to use heavier loads by using a simple but effective front squat harness.
If your definition of "perform an exercise correctly" means without the use of any training aids, then yes, using your definition, pretty much just competitive weightlifters are the only ones "required" to perform the exercise "correctly".
You can still perform the lift correctly without having to be annoyed by the pain of the bar with a heavy weight on the shoulders. And look, obviously there are plenty of non-competitive weightlifters who have indeed got used to the pain and are front squatting some big loads without any sort of help. Good for them.
I would suggest that there are a LOT more non-competitive weightlifters who are missing out on the benefits of front squatting because they haven't been able to get used to it.
Your harness does not save time in the learning curve btw., it just lets you get away with shitty control of the exercise.
Riiiiiiight. And this observation is based on what exactly?
Especially in your case doing the front squat without the harness might prove to be a useful learning tool in improving your skills of assessing technical errors in an exercise and finding ways to correct them. The harness does not help with understanding of execution unfortunately.
Actually this is wrong too. By eliminating the most common issue, i.e. how uncomfortable the bar feels sitting on the shoulders, it actually allows you to focus more on the key aspects of the lift such as torso and neck position, heels on the ground etc.
