So lately I finally seem to be getting decent at pull ups (completing sets of 10, static, with good form and reasonably fast recovery). However, I've also noticed that the pull ups seem to be much easier if I combine the pull up with a mild leg lever. I understand why in terms of it keeping my center of mass less eccentric as my torso moves away from the line below my grip as I pull up. However, I notice that most people maintain this balance/stability instead by curling the torso, bringing the knees forward and the feet slightly back. For me, this second method isn't nearly as easy as the first.
So I'm wondering why I'm finding the "lever" method so much easier than the "curl" method and what the pros & cons could be for me to continue levering my feet vs. learning to do pull ups 'correctly' for training for rock & ice climbing.
For a bit more elaboration, I have loose ligaments, and therefore loose shoulders, so it is hard to do upper body exercises without risk of dislocating my shoulders. I also think this is why pull ups are so hard, as I am usually fighting a feeling of suffocation and an inability to breathe deeply as I hang (I think due to my shoulders collapsing inward, and it occurs in differing degrees in other upper body exercises) and sometimes some popping in my wrists, forarms, and shoulders.
The "lever" eases this 'suffocation' feeling a lot, and strangely, it is most beneficial/pronounced when I do a wide grip (harder on the back & shoulders, but the body is closer to the grip which seemingly would require a less pronounced "lever") than when I do a narrow grip (harder on the biceps, and the body is farther from the grip).
Also, even though it might be 'cheating' in a sense, I'd hope that it is a way I could indirectly improve shoulder stability by still increasing musculature around the joint, and then I could/should work back to the "curl" form?