Spotter Catchers - how do they work?

This is probably a really stupid question. I work out at home and have nobody to spot me so, I am thinking about buying some spotter catchers like these:-



However, I can't see how they work. If I am bench pressing and my range of movement goes all the way down to my chest, surely the position they would need to be in to save me at failure is going to hinder the excercise? Unless you slightly offset them in front of you but, if I am at failure, there is no guarantee I could get the weight onto them.

Like I said, probably a stupid question but, before I invest in them, I just want to understand how they will work...
 
I know this is an old post but I'm pretty much with the same doubt. My bench has them too and I think they are not meant to work as stoppers at all. For that they would have to be at the level of your chest and then you couldn't perform the exercise correctly.

I think they are intended as a lower rack for those times where you can't make one more repetition all the way up. If so, they are helpful but it can be dangerous to think of them as safety stoppers. Complete failure will mean that you won't be able to rack the bar there also, you still have to save some juice. I found this the hard way just a few weeks ago, resulting in an injured shoulder after failing the right safety hook...
 
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