6SPDZ28

I am replacing my clutch this weekend, the one im taking out was toast. It has been slipping ever since I bought the car. I noticed that when I removed the slave cylinder it was under a load, I am curious how far from it being seated should I start to feel it get tight on the clutch fork? And my clutch engages at the very top of the pedal, I only have to push the clutch in about 2" for it to disengage, is this right or should I have a deeper pedal? Could this be why my previous clutch was slipping so much?