Personally I always felt the tension, that’s how I was able to judge whether I was getting a good stretch. Heating well first and pulling into the stretch slowly can help with that.
Sure, the weak link is the grip, this is what limits how long a stretch can be maintained if you are stretching straight armed, using the torso to exert force.
>Do you think it would be better to reach under your leg with everything in place and pull with an overhand grip, or maybe this would hurt your back after a while as it will always be hunched.<
It’s good to experiment but this is something I’ve never experimented with. It’s an entirely different stretch to the one I describe but go with what works for you (if it works).
>Do you use an over hand or standard grip?<
Overhand. A standard grip would be hard to impossible using a straight arm, the effort would be much more in twisting the body rather than forcing the shoulder down.
>Do you pull back the skin and grip 1/2 inch behind the glands or just below the glans?<
I always retracted the foreskin, and applied the grip a little behind the glans using t-shirt material wrapped around and behind the glans to provide a grip and prevent the glans from being over expanded or stretched weirdly.