It takes a little practice to be a good spotter and some people like to be spotted a little differently. A good spotter, in my opinion, doesn't actually help the person move the weight, if it isn't necessary, but the person that is actually doing the exercise thinks that you are moving the weight, kind of like giving the lifter a psychological edge! For example, I was spotting someone that was benching 225 for a triple. The first one went up fine, the second one got it up but was a struggle and he thought he was finished. But I encouraged him to try a third. He was struggling to drive the weight up so I put my hands on the bar using an underhand grip. I was in a squatted position as the weight slowly went up so it appeared that I was helping to lift the weight. But that was just an illusion, my hands were against the bar but I wasn't lifting it what so ever. But the key thing is that the lifter thought that I was helping and as a result, he did that third rep completely on his own! So it takes a little practice to know when to help and when not to but a good spotter gives the illusion that he's doing more than he's actually doing!
