Then explain why elite S&C coaches are moving away from a conventional dl in droves. This is especially true in the professional sports arena.
Risk:Reward
Some amateur hack out there thinks bb backsquats on a bosu are safe and "superior" but that doesn't make it true.
I’m sure Coach Chris can offer an perspective on elite S&C coaches, but, from where I sit:
Overall, there has been a return to basic barbell training in recent years. I’d argue Barbell training is more popular in 2020 than it ever has been at any point In History. So there’s that.
At the “elite” level, I couldn’t say that barbell training is any more or less popular than it ever has been. Elite sprinters deadlift. Period. A stronger back means that a runner can transfer more power from their upper body into their lower body. I’d dare say you won’t find a modern sprinting record that did not employ deadlifts in the training and, if you do, it is a rare exception. Football players power clean and probably always will. A power clean involves a deadlift, so even if they aren’t “deadlifting”, they are doing deadlifts when they power clean. So, you probably won’t find an elite S&C football coach who doesn’t at least employ the deadlift in the power clean capacity. (And you ain’t gonna power Cleans that trap bar). I can’t explain what and why elite S&C coaches do what they do, but I also know that they work with the best athletes that our society can produce.
When it comes to your average person: you, me, your grandmother, or whoever else, I know that we are all going to benefit from having a stronger back and the deadlift is the most logical and efficient way to make the back stronger, so we all benefit from learning how to deadlift and training it properly. Any inferior movement pattern, be it a trap bar or a pile of rocks, is not going to produce the same benefit as efficiently as the conventional deadlift because: It’s not as stressful, it lacks the shearing effect, it lacks the range of motion or it lacks the ability to be progressively loaded. If you can properly deadlift 275# for a few reps, you aren’t going to hurt your back picking up a 30# awkward stone. If grandma can properly deadlift 65#, she’s probably not going to throw her back out sweeping the porch. And while you may have very well seen some deadlift associated injuries over the years due to poor form, you’ve seen way more injuries associated with weak spinal erectors. A strong back is a healthy back. A strong back meets trauma vs. a weak back meets trauma: Which one stands a better chance?
In terms of people not learning the technique, well, most reasonable people will take the time to learn how to ski before they go dropping in off the top of a cornice (and they will learn to ski by actually skiing). Most reasonable people will learn to ride a bike before they go charging down the mountain on a bike (and they’ll learn how to ride a bike by riding a bike). You get where I’m going.... if you are a reasonable person, you’ll take the time to learn how to deadlift before you attempt to do something that will hurt you. There’s probably not a way I could hurt my back picking 135# up off the floor, but someone not strong enough to pick up 135# could easily hurt their back with that same weight. If I can’t hurt my back with 135# but someone else can, am I to believe that is the barbells fault?
If your back is in fact strong enough for the job and you understand how to use your leverages properly, and you follow a sensible training program, you’re not going to hurt your back deadlifting. With the exception of extreme examples, any injuries associated with deadlifting likely fall outside of that criteria and that is not the fault of the deadlift itself, rather it is user error (or coaching error).