Deadlift or First Pull

Hi coach. I hope you are doing well. I have question about deadlift form. My deadlift looks a lot like first pull in clean. I squat down get tight and then I pull. I feel much stronger this whey then in “regular” deadlift. My best regular is 140 kg and clean style deadlift is 200 kg. Also I am much stronger from 2 inch deficit then from flore or rack pull. I get a lot of sh**t like “that’s not true deadlift” but I don’t even compete.
Have you seen this before with your athletes?Am I cheating or setting my self up for injury?Olympic lifters do it all the time.

I personally deadlift like that (like a first pull) because that’s how I trained when I was doing olympic lifting.

People who have shorter legs (or a longer tibia) and stronger quads will be better this way. A deadlift is when you pick up a dead weight from the floor, doesn’t matter which type of mechanics you are using.

Even in a powerlifting competition you can use any deadlifting mechanic you want.

The only “issue” is doing your deadlifting like a first pull will not stimulate the hamstrings as much so you might need to add some work for them.

Thank you coach. It means a lot that you answered my question. Now I feel more confident in my form.My go to squat is high bar so I will do more posterior chain bodybuilding type of work. Wish you all the best.