Of our 8 lifters competing 7 are raw full power and 1 is raw push/pull. We have split our squat openers into 2 days to not take 4 hours long to get these done and also our focus is only a handful of lifters and not a huge group which makes it easier for me and everyone else.
Our squat openers run kind of like or bench openers. We take all warm-up reps with just knee sleeves then on our last warm-up before our opener we do a light knee wrap using The Metal Black knee wraps. The Metal Black knee wrap is our most used knee wrap. Its a very versatile wrap we use from warm-ups, openers to second attempts and to mid level heavy attempts. This wrap is very adjustable/stretchable for a snug fit to a very aggressive tight fit.
We take our squat openers with a "Squat/Start" command given by me on all sets and reps. This gets us used to settling before we start, not rushing the squat and being prepared competing in a federation that uses a squat start command such as The GPC we competed in last year that does. This way we are always used to having the "command" and not starting without it. So far it has worked very well for us.
Once we take our openers to proper depth and given the "up" command in the hole. We take a look at the video we take and make sure everything is good. Second attempts are always a PR attempt whether its 5pounds or a 100 pounds. For second attempts most all of our lifters want The ELITEFTS Krait knee wraps. These wraps are a lot more aggressive and can be wrapped super tight for excellent rebound out of the hole. These wraps are most heralded wraps at our gym and the most used for heavier lifts especially for PR attempts.
For second attempts we also used a mini band choked at the top of the rack. This really is not giving the lifter much "pop" at all and defiantly does not help on the pick up but what it does do is give a touch of confidence and a beta since of assistance. I have used this method for several years and its mimicking using a 1/2 board onto he bench. Its not doing much but its giving added confidence on the lift for the lifter and solidifying in their mind its benefiting them even only a tiny bit.
Again like the bench I will give a lifter or 2 a stab at third squat attempts/training cycle projections just for extra boost of "I can do it". We will use the black monster minis for these attempts. For 3rd attempts we step our knee wrap game up even another notch for those lifters that can take it or want it. Several of my lifters like myself want the big boy knee wraps for 3rd attempts. We use The Elitefts Heavy Duty Black knee wraps for 3rd attempts. These wraps are not for the slight at heart nor are they kind to your skin or pain thresh hold. These wraps are no joke but if you can take the wrap we apply and suck it up the reward will be great. These are by far the best knee wraps I have ever used when pushing my max potential on the squat geared or raw.
So there you go. A short breakdown of how our 2 week out squat openers go. This method that we have used has worked for hundreds of meets, thousands of PR's and tons of progress for squats. All of my athletes are ready and looking for big numbers at this meet and are well prepared to do so....