Press heavy on a fixed groove.
Keep your core braced and don't lean back, let the fixed bar path stack over your shoulders.
The Smith machine's fixed track removes the balance demands of a free-standing overhead press, so your delts can focus purely on pushing the load, with your triceps finishing the lockout. That guided path makes it easier to press close to failure safely, and the hooks give you a bailout on any rep. It suits heavy low-rep pressing and high-rep burnout work alike, especially when no spotter is around.
It builds the delts just as well, it simply trains less stabilisation. Many lifters run both, free pressing for the skill and the Smith version for pushing hard without balance being the limit.
Seated is stricter and takes leg drive and lower-back sway out of the equation. Standing works too, just set your feet so you are directly under the bar path rather than pressing at an awkward angle.
Position yourself so the bar passes close to your face and finishes stacked over your shoulders. If you have to lean way back to clear your chin, shuffle your body position, not your spine.
