The V-bar pulls tight and the lats stretch and squeeze.
Lead with your elbows and keep your chest tall, pull to your chest not your stomach.
The V-bar pulldown works the lats through their favourite line of pull. The close neutral grip lets you reach into a huge overhead stretch at the top, then drive the elbows down and in toward your ribs, with the biceps assisting strongly in that palms-facing position. It earns its place alongside wide-grip work because the narrow handle emphasises the lower portion of the lat sweep and lets most lifters move more weight with a better stretch.
Neither, they hit the back differently. The V-bar gives a longer stretch and a stronger elbows-down drive with more biceps help, while the wide grip biases the upper lats. Run both across your training week.
A slight lean with a tall chest is fine, but if you are heaving your torso backwards to move the stack, the weight is too heavy. The handle should come to your upper chest, not your stomach.
You are pulling with your hands instead of leading with your elbows. Lighten the load, think about driving the elbows down toward your hips, and let the hands just hang on.
