LeCharles Bentley teaches the Drive-Catch Method, a core principle for offensive linemen that generates force from the ground. The progression uses med-ball drills to build the movement pattern safely, starting with warm-up holds and band pulls, then correcting a common mistake where athletes lift the back foot instead of keeping it in contact with the ball.
Chapters
Welcome to O-Line TV. I'm LeCharles Bentley, and we got a great episode here lined up for you. I got these two wonderful young men with me that's gonna take us through what's called drive-catch progression. Say it again. Drive-catch progression. Now, let me get back to these wonderful young men. I have to say that these kids are wonderful because these are two of my five sons. If they were turds, that would be my fault. So of course they're not turds. They're wonderful young men. Correct? Mwah. Mwah. Mwah. OK. So anywho, the drive-catch progression. So what we're going to do is going to take our athletes, which are going to be these young men here on down. And we're going to start from a knee. And we're going to use a med ball. And you'll see why here shortly. But just bear with us as we kind of go through the progression. The idea of the progression is for you as a female O-line athlete or as a male, as a professional, as a novice, to understand how to apply the key principle of which O-line performance is built on, which is drive catch, force through the ground. That's how we move as athletes in the trenches, and that's how we move as human beings walking this great, wonderful earth. So the first thing we're going to do is what's called a lunge iso hold. So the first one, up, hold, down. Up. Hold. Down. We're just getting the muscles primed. We'll typically do 3 to 5 reps. It's up to you how long you want to go, but remember, we're just trying to prime them. We're not trying to wear the athlete out right now. The next one, ISO drive pumps. Here we go. Up. Down. Up. Down. Up. Down. Once again, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 reps. Whatever it is you want. Do what you got to do. The next one, Antonio is going to take the band. We're going to do iso hold with an adductor pull. We're now going to get the adductors ready. Up. For the drive phase of the drive catch. Down. Don't be cheating. Don't drive off of that. Don't cheat. Here we go. Up. Slight pull. Down. Last one. Don't slam down. Control it down. Up. Slight pull. Down. Perfect. Here we go. Take the band off. Back to me. Here we go. Back on down, fellas. The next part of the progression is now going to be the drive catch from the med ball. Go ahead, fellas. The idea with the med ball is to lessen the amount of force your athletes have to drive. This is great for young athletes. It's great for females as well. So as you get stronger, you get more comfortable, more capable in that drive phase, we can begin to work the med ball away. But right now we're just going through the progression. So we're going to see what that looks like. So on me, we're going to drive from the knee onto the drive catch, or into the drive catch. Here we go. Drive. Perfect. One more. Here we go. Drive. Perfect. Now let me give you a common mistake that you're going to see with your athletes. Antonio is going to give us a demonstration of a common mistake. We're going to go from the knee, and the only thing he's going to do is pick up the back foot and slam it down. On you. Drive. Perfect. One more. Perfectly wrong, that is. Here we go. Drive. Beautiful. What's happening here? Well, what's happening here is the athlete is truly not driving. If you're properly executing a drive catch or pass set, you're going to create space. That drive is going to elicit movement. If you're just picking the back foot up and slamming it down, that means your athletes are not applying force. Here's how to catch it as a coach. You want to make sure— back down— when they drive, this up leg is actually making contact with the med ball. That's how you know they're closing ground. Here we go. Drive. That one's good. Try it again. Here we go. Drive. That wasn't good enough either. Too much drive. Here we go. Drive. Perfect. That's what we're looking for. We're trying to get the athlete to move. That's the key principle of drive catch. That's the key principle of offensive line performance in general. So now the last but not least, drive catch from the knee. Move the balls out the way, fellas. Here we go. From the knee. On me. Drive. Perfect. One more. Drive. Beautiful. So now you got an idea of how to go through preparing and adapting your athletes to the drive catch method. This is a great way for you to teach it. It's a great way for your athletes to understand it. And once you kind of get them through this, they get strong enough, they get confident and get capable, then they can become consistent in the Drive-Catch Method. Hope this helps you.
