new to gear shirt question

[cpa5oh]

I've read through the newbie shirt threads and my question is a little bit different than what has been asked/answered that I could find.

Being new to shirted benching (and wanting to stay single ply for now) would you recommend:

1.) a loose fitting, heavier shirt (ie., Katana, Super Katana, Rage X,) or
2.) a tighter fitting, more beginner shirt (ie., Fury, F6, Rage)?

Seems like the top single ply benchers are using the Katana, Super Katana, or Rage X. And I understand that I probably couldn't put on a tight one of these and be able to press the weight that it might take to touch. But rather than getting a tight fitting Fury or Rage, I was thinking that, since the end goal seems to be to use a Katana, Super Katana, or Rage X, why not start with one of those shirts but have it be maybe a size higher than competition or meet fit?

And I guess sort of a restatement of that question is whether it is easier to learn/be able to touch in a loose higher level shirt or a tighter more entry level type shirt?

[drew]

Yes, it will be easier to touch in a loose shirt.

Get a looser shirt and learn how to bench in a shirt.

Don't assume that if you learn how to use a particular shirt that you can get the same shirt a size or two tighter and it will work the same with you lifting more wieght. It would be a different shirt.

Once you outgrow a loose shirt, you'll have a better idea what you want and you can go for a tighter shirt, which you will have to learn how to use.

Which shirt you get is up to you. I was told when I started to go on ebay and find a cheap shirt that was close to my size and buy it, and I tell everyone else the same thing. It dosn't really matter what shirt you use when you start out, just get something cheap if you can and work with it.

[MarcusWild]

I think you'd bench more in less shirt but tighter. There was a time I benched more in a really tight 1-ply shirt vs a 2-ply. The 2-ply had to be too loose for me to touch weights I could handle. You need a shirt that's tight to get carryover through lockout. Tight sleeves are really the key.

[lilbigman]

My very first shirt was a Katana, it took me a couple of months to learn the shirt but after that I was good to go. Instead of spending money on a so called "beginner shirt" I would just purchase a katana, or rage X and practice in the shirt, eventually you will get the feel for the shirt and in the end you will save yourself money. Just my thoughts on this topic. If you lift with someone who is an experienced shirt bencher it won't take long to get comfortable with a bench shirt. I don't think I would start with a competition fit though (really tight).