Is it correct to bounce off in the bottom of the squat?How much bounce should there be?
“Bounce” is a subjective term that implies the stretch reflex that occurres when your adductor muscles have stretched and held kinetic energy to help propel you out of the bottom of a squat. This is maximized by hitting correct depth and making sure knees track over your toes, and proper stance width.
So, to the degree that these thinga allow for “bounce”, that’s what bounce is/how much bounce you should get. Pausing at the bottom, descending too slow or too quickly, and not staying tight (this includes falling in the hole at the bottom to try and “get more bounce”) are all things that will diminish bounce and make the squat harder. Falling in the hole at the very end of the movement is a form issue that should be cued.
It should also be noted that this “bounce” is not to be achieved by running your hamstrings into your calfs. It’s a “bounce” off of musculature that has undergone an eccentric contraction. Quantifying this bounce is hard and makes me thing you’re thinking of the former (incorrect), instead of the latter (correct).
What Dave said: it’s a rubber band snapping back, not a rubber ball bouncing