Kelley,

When doing close grips, I've been placing my hands so that my index finger is on the edge of the smooth part of the bar.

For skull crushers, I like to do them on a flat bench or at an incline. I use a straight bar from time to time, but they tend to tear up my elbows. The e-z curl bar is more forgiving. I try to keep the top part of my arm straight up or slightly back towards my head locked through the movement, bringing the bar to the top of my forehead. However, if I go too too heavy, my skull crushers tend to look like JM presses.

Hope this helped.

Live Strong!,
Mike Ruggiera