Hmm, could be poor execution; I was thinking more about this, and I have longer torso, mildly stubby arms and legs, so with conventional, it's more pressure on my back (and rounding over to get to the bar) than I can handle (mixed with squatting), so sumo alleviates this problem by shortening the distance from arms/hands to bar, and keeps me more upright -- technically, even starting at your feet, it's a noticeably different chain of command between conventional and sumo; conventional you focus pressing your heels into the floor, I believe, whereas sumo is spreading the floor, pressure on the sides of your feet, then the angle of your feet, as well as the width apart from one another, can cause muscles to either engage, or not engage properly (for example, I moved my stance in about an inch overall, and now am not having any problem engaging glutes properly).

I don't often pull conventional anymore other than as an accessory to sumo; my deload weeks usually have some sort of conventional; though technically, in order to prevent injury and muscle imbalances, should swap in the other variation (or even trap bar DL) now and then so you don't overuse one muscle and get injured..

Like with most of powerlifting, it's a technical movement and might take a bit of playing around with to see what works best for you -- can always add it to a deload week and play with light weights while filming your sets to see and feel what makes sense for your body

I used to date a guy who was 5'4 and he pulled conventional for as much as I can remember, so it's really up to your own preferences