I like to set the tracking weight for the lightest setting that will track and stay in the groove. This saves wear on both the needle and the record, and that's why I do it. On the other hand, too light a setting will sometimes result in poor contact and therefore can cause poor tracking and groove damage even if the needle doesn't skip. This can cause some audible artifacts, so you may have to increase tracking weight slightly above that which will retain the needle in the groove. In fact, most manufacturers actually recommend setting the tracking weight towards the heavy end of the range, and not the lightest setting.Anti-skating should be set where you get no lateral force on the needle. You can actually see the needle flex one direction when there's too much anti-skating force and to the other direction when there is too little. You will want to set anti-skating where it is at the center of scale. When set properly, the record will not skip and if the needle is placed on a record with a damaged groove, it will still tend to track properly rather than climbing out of the groove and skipping.
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