LeCharles Bentley teaches deadlift form using two lacrosse balls under the armpits to force shoulder and lat engagement, which stabilizes the trunk and keeps the spine neutral. He walks through common errors like rounded spines, shows regressions using boxes for limited mobility, and emphasizes proper posture before heavy weight.
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Welcome to O-Line TV. I'm LeCharles Bentley. I'm joined by the one and only Mr. Josh Hansen, who's gonna do all the wonderful demonstrations for us today. Something we commonly see with young offensive line athletes and athletes of all respective sports is the inability to execute a proper deadlift. We see it commonly, especially with high schools, and it's becoming an epidemic where we're seeing coaches and players posting things on social media that exactly aren't what we would deem safe and appropriate for true athletic development. So what we've done here at OLP is devised a coaching or teaching method that will help you and your players develop proper posture in order to appropriately execute a deadlift. I think this is something that can truly help you and your players become as safe in the weight room and hopefully become better athletes over the long term. So Josh is gonna come on over here. He's gonna get himself set. And the first thing we're gonna see is an inappropriate posture at the torso when he gets himself down and he grabs the bar. This is common. Unfortunately, this is something that's gonna show up on the field because whatever's happening in your training is more than likely gonna show up in your performance. But this isn't safe. This isn't stable. The spine is not in a position to appropriately absorb and/or deliver force. So with that said, how do we go about teaching it? Well, typically, if we have the time, we can focus on ankle mobility, maybe some hip mobility, and that's for those that have the luxury of time. Young coaches, young players, I know you want to get after it right now, but oftentimes getting after it means you have to compromise on the front end. And the one thing we don't ever want to compromise on safety. So how do we teach it? How do we teach the proper posture setup for the deadlift? So Josh here is going to take these two lacrosse balls and place them underneath the armpits, right in the belly of the lats. What this is going to do, coaches, is going to force your players to engage the shoulders, which now is going to help engage the lats, thus more than likely stabilizing the trunk. But here's the cool thing about this, and I'll show you more of it a little bit later, but if your players aren't properly engaged, they can't hold these lacrosse balls in the armpits. And for the sake of this video, we're using lacrosse balls. You're more than welcome to use tennis balls or massage therapy balls, whatever type of balls you have available. But these was what we have available, so we're going to go with lacrosse balls. So Josh is going to get himself set. He's now squeezing the lacrosse balls together, and now he's going to go down and set himself above the bar. Everything magically changes. If you see here, remember that flexed, rounded spine that we don't want? We now have a nice, neutral, stable, robust trunk. This is how we go about pulling from the floor effectively and efficiently. So come on up, Jay. Now what you're going to see is this. Josh is going to do what we see oftentimes with young players and even older players we work with. They're going to relax. They're not going to set the trunk. They're not going to stabilize the shoulders. They're going to just bend down to pick up the bar, and now the balls are not where they need to be. Obviously, that's not going to be the base foundation of an effective pull. So we got that out the way, but once again, coaches, there are going to be some of your players that no matter what type of balls you put underneath their armpits, they're just not going to be able to get themselves set in that position because of some issues with the ankles, because of maybe some issues with the hips, even the low back. Sometimes it's just best to leave that be and move on to something else. So what we've done here once again is give you more tools to work with as coaches. So Josh is going to get himself set. I'm going to grab the balls again, Jay. We need them again. We're going to add a little bit of height to the pull. By giving the players a little bit more height on the pull, it allows them to sit themselves into a position that's appropriate for them. As they begin to earn their depth over a period of time, you can begin to move some of the boxes away. You can see here quickly how the technique still works. We're good there? Got it? Let me move this a little bit more up. Got it. Boom. Lock yourself in. Josh is going to stay locked in. One slight tug on the bar to get himself set. He's ready to rock and roll. Come on up. Good way to go about teaching this is just to work on the set first. Don't get into the pulling motion just yet. Just give me about 3, just getting yourself set above the bar. Lock yourself in. 1, on up. 2, on up. 3, on up. Perfect. Good. I'll take these right here. Now at this point you say, "Well, it's nice and all, but I like my guys to pull heavy." Great, Coach. We understand how you feel. I understand how players, they're young, they're anxious, they're excited, they want to get themselves going. That's all fine and good. But as I said previously, we never want to compromise the movement for the safety. We want to keep everything as safe and effective as possible. Because at the end of the day, if your players aren't healthy, they can't play. And if your players aren't healthy in the weight room, they can't pull anyway. But here's something for you. I don't know, just to give you a little bit of what you want. Everybody needs a little sugar now and again. You can get your players to pull heavy from this position, as heavy as they can handle from this position, because it's safe. And most importantly, they're in a position of stability. And as I said, as they begin to earn more depth, you can remove the boxes and your players can once again pull really heavy from that position. And over a period of time, their strength levels will go up, their mobility levels will go up as well. And most importantly, their performance on the field will improve. And that's what the weight room is for. It's for improving a player's capacity to perform as a football player. Not a weightlifter. As a football player. So hopefully this technique, this teaching/coaching cue is something you and your players can implement today. Today. Right now. In order to get your players moving in the right direction as great pullers and great performers on the field.
