correct form while bench pressing

[fastrunner]

I am somewhat new to bench press. Today, when I was attempting bench press at my gym, someone advised me 'don't bounce. use less weight but do bench press in proper form'. He told me to bring the bar down to almost touch the chest, hold it there & then lift up. I was bringing the bar down quickly & lifting up fast. Was it wrong on my part? Was his advice to do bench presses slowly correct?
But if I don't insert more weights, how am I going to progress towards lifting more weights?
Thanks

[gymratluke]

If you go fast and bounce, you'll hurt yourself then you definately wont be progressing! Bring the bar down slow, TOUCH the chest, pause just briefly, then press up. Inhale on the way down, exhale on the way up.

[Jules Verne]

TOUCH the chest,

Mabye.....

There's a long thread on this....http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=4951303


But definitely no bouncing! A slight pause won't hurt, and is probably a good idea if you have been bouncing it a bit.

[JoeySea]

Chest up, shoulder blades back, feet planted firmly on the floor, bar to nipples.

[marblehead]

Milo has a pretty good video demonstrating proper form.

http://thefitshow.com/week3/milos_chest_med.htm

[Mr Vincent]

If you go fast and bounce, you'll hurt yourself then you definately wont be progressing! Bring the bar down slow, TOUCH the chest, pause just briefly, then press up. Inhale on the way down, exhale on the way up.

Good advice, that's the way I do it.

The other thing I do is to take my gym towel and fold it up a bit and lay it across my chest to provide some padding support.

Also, a note to the TC. You need to hit the chest from different angles. So, eventually you will need to add incline bench work to your flat bench routine.

[xcbrabbitxc]

is it a good aide to use different grips. like in push-ups a close stance will work triceps while a wide stance will do more chest. do the same rules apply for bench?