KOLAT.COM

Ask Kolat: MMA Question, Should I Spend Time Learning Throws?

Ask Kolat: Goal Setting

Cary Kolat created a library of over 2000 wrestling techniques that he studied and perfected during his 30 year career as an elite athlete & coach. The library is organized into offensive moves, defense moves, strategy, etc. This gives the user, from beginner to Olympian, the ability to easily find the series that will benefit them the most. Related techniques and counter moves are associated with each series to help his students completely master the sport. Cary's knowledge of wrestling and his ability to teach and execute every move in the library is unprecedented. "Amateur Wrestling News" wrote, "KOLAT.COM is like the library of congress of wreslting."

Always Growing

Unlike a DVD you would purchase, KOLAT.COM is constantly growing. Just like any wrestler constantly improving and learning, we are continually updating the site with new technique clips across the spectrum of wrestling. When you sign-up for one of our subscriptions you will receive new information monthly at no extra charge.

Solve Your Technique Problems Now

No more waiting on technique DVDs to come in the mail, we have over 1950 clips categorized so you find exactly what you’re looking for without the wait. If you are facing an opponent that has a big move the chances are we have the counter already on the site. We have two ways to search for technique. You can drill down through our library and scan the categories or simply type the name of the move your looking for in the search bar and pull up all the clips containing your search without the wait. Every series is built from the most basic technique to the most advanced as you progress through the series you happen to be in.

Progressive Learning

I have built each series in a progressive order so as you scroll through a series the techniques start from the most basic techniques and advance to the most technical techniques. Now dads just getting there sons/daughters introduced to the sport can start at the beginning, slowly learn the fundamentals and advance through a series without missing important steps and give their wrestlers the foundation of fundamentals that they need. Example the single leg series will start with penetration steps, then set-ups, then the most basic techniques to the most advanced. You can start where you think your skill level starts from.

Coaches & Athletes Can Visually Plan Practice & Organize Technique Clips

Coaches now have a tool that can visually plan practice with the "KOLAT/Planner" (the practice planner is currently disabled as we make updates please use the link for more informaiton on its return:  Planner Update)page once you sign-up for an account. You can find clips you like, sort them, drop them into different practices representing days of the week and properly plan what you will teach on a specific day. You could even take it a step further if you wanted, simply hook up a laptop and a projector in your wrestling room and have cary kolat do a clinic for your team everyday if you like. The KOLAT/Planner page will easily allow you to organize your training thoughts in just a couple minutes a day, and have you better prepared to train your wrestlers. You now have a tool that can simply get you out of the same old training grind and keep you and your wrestlers fresh mentally!

Affordable

This is no substitute for attending wrestling camp and getting hands on instruction from cary or other quality coaches but if you cannot afford gas prices, club memberships, or wrestling camp kolat.com will fit your budget. We offer a variety of subscription packages so you are not hitting your wallet every time you want to get ahead of the competition.

Time In Mind

All technique clips have been built with time in mind. Clips range from :30 sec in length to 1:30 min in length. Demonstrations are shot in the same format for each clip cary will talk you through the move slowly, then demonstrate in different angles at a wrestling pace, then the clip will repeat those angles in slow motion. If you miss something you can use the scroll bar or simply play the short clip again.

Past Camp Participants

No more returning home from camp trying to remember what you had learned. There is a section in kolat.com listing camp dates simply find the date you attended and get all the techniques you were taught once again right here.

Techniques For All Shapes and Sizes

The library is built with technique in mind not style. Cary is not just teaching what he used on a regular basis but technique he has seen used by other wrestlers. There is something for you no matter if you are short and stocky, or tall and lanky.

No longer will you have to wait for the DVD and only get a handful of moves that you may or may not like. KOLAT.COM is offering technique in all areas of wrestling.

Your 24/7 Wrestling Coach™

The idea behind KOLAT.COM came to me about 6 months ago.  The process has been a long road to take from and idea to reality for everyone to use as the best wrestling technique database out there.  Originally, I set out to only create the video database for my club members and myself as a training tool.  After seeing it develop and start to come to life, I reflected on what my parents had to do for me when I was young and progressing in the sport.

My father spent his time trying to find me coaches that could train me and increase my technique level.  He took me every where he could to find quality coaching.  Finally it got to a point where the travel and expense was too much and during that time we only had VHS tapes.  The problem with the VHS is that much of the stuff I already knew so I would become very disappointed with the video and never use it again.  The other factor with VHS tapes was that usually only one area of wrestling was discussed.  My database covers all areas and continues to grow in all areas.  I created it with the following blueprint in mind.  When we shoot an offensive series on your feet I will more than likely shoot the defense to that series and so on.

Finally, I got to a level where some of the senior level clubs invited me to training camps and I would use the time to watch and learn from the older guys.  This is where I really began to excel and my level of technique increased dramatically and once again excited me about wrestling.  This reflection is why I decided to go public with the database and give everyone access to its contents.

Technique is one part of wrestling, It's an important part but only one part.  There is an awesome amount of cataloged clips in the database, but my advice is move very slow and focus on what best fits you.  I created the site with technique in mind not style.  I'm laying out everything I came up with, learned, and have seen used.  I might have used some of the technique you see, I might have drilled it in practice, I might have hit it in competition, I might have only used it in practice.  Either way it made me a better and more creative wrestler in competition and helped me throughout my career.

I will at this point add 20 clips a month on anything that I think is important for your growth in the sport.  The two main features you should be aware of when using the site is "search" and "my playlist."  You can search by drilling down and scanning the categories by clicking on the video library or you can simply type in the name of the move you are looking for and the clips will appear that contain your search.  This is wrestling and many moves have many names so I attempted to name everything within a general category name and then labeled moves by motions.  The other important feature is the "my playlist" page.  This is where you can contain your favorite clips and break them into days of the week so as a coach you can plan a week of practice within minutes and know exactly what you are going to cover visually.  If you set up a laptop in the wrestling room, your team could also see what you are going to go over and get a jump on the techniques before you teach them.

If you cant find something do not hesitate to contact me via email and I will either point you in the right direction or shoot the video if it has yet to be created.

"mr. kolat, this will be my 3rd year of wrestling for my high school.  I'm not that good yet.  I was wondering if it would be possible for your advice on wrestling from the referees position cause my weakest area of wrestling."  thanks dan

dan:

two parts to your problem. first part is practice which i'm sure you already know or you would not be taking the time to email me if you did not care about improving.  second, bottom wrestling is like riding a bike.  the reason i refer to riding a bike is because once you understand how to maintain the position on bottom it really does not change.  once i understood how to hold my base and seal off it never changed and I used if from little league all the way through college.  this is the exact reason why we have a riding time point in college because nobody can hold good guys down.

here are a few things you need to work on and then advance from here:

you need to work on being able to hold your base.  first moves off the whistle are great but when you don't win on the whistle you need to know how to hold your base, seal off, get hand control, and then get out.

base drill: get in a base and hold it for 30 sec. or 1 min go's where the top man can do whatever he wants to try and get you out of it.  this will force you to learn how to shift your hips against his pressure.  see video of base drill

sealing off drill:  top man attempts to put legs in, pull you out of your base, or attempts to tie up a wrist. your job is to keep the legs out (keep hips low, knees together, sometimes shifting away from him) and keep your wrist free.  see video of sealing off drill

capturing hand control:  work on shoving your opponents hands from under your arms to the outside of your hips and keeping control of his wrist without getting your wrist tied up.  make sure to keep your elbows tight to your body.

once you feel you have this then you add your stand-up, sit-out, or whatever else you like.

best of luck 

I am not against offense, in fact, I am all for offensive wrestling, I want everyone I coach to put points on the board!  I want to win matches, I want those I coach to win matches, but I do not want to just win matches, I want to win championships and you have to have both offensive and defense to win the big matches, the matches that count, championships.

  This is where the Europeans are better than us in how they approach the sport.  We have trained our minds to look at defensive wrestling as a lack of guts, lack of hard work in the practice room, even a lack of character on the part of the wrestler that chooses the defensive style and I am too am guilty of this. They choose to put as much emphasis on their defense early, then patiently develop their offense and make no excuses for their style. And they win in the meantime.

  You can wrestle any style you choose to wrestle.  You can be on the attack, you can run the middle road and shift gears (I prefer to shift gears) during bouts, or you can be all defense.  Most defensive wrestlers like to frustrate opponents and get them to force action and then capitalize on the mistake with counter offense.  This is their game and this is where we as Americans we lose when it comes to wrestling the best wrestlers in the world.

  Not that I like to remember these days, but when I was in college John Fisher constantly beat me on position and defensive wrestling.  John would lay back looking for a mistake and I would continue to press the action until I eventually made one and it would cost me the match.  Each time I lost to him the bout was usually the same 1-0 or 0-0 at about the three minute point and then I would get tired mentally, but most of all I would get frustrated, and make the mistake of forcing action because I was always taught to be offensive and put points on the board. 

  Most of the experienced wrestlers at this level understood his strategy and used the same exact method against other younger inexperienced college wrestlers that were attempting to make world teams and the majority of the time it worked in their favor.  They followed the rule that is true in many areas of life not just in wrestling “they wrestled smarter not harder”.

  Defensive wrestling or counter offensive wrestling, however you refer to it, is important to high level wrestling.  Lets think in terms of normal wrestlers being that the majority is not going to be John Smith (6x World Champion) or Saytiev (9x World Champion) and an exception to the rule.  I am not saying this is how I train guys or how I trained when I competed I am thinking on a world stage compared to the U.S.

  Wrestler 1 spends:  80% of his time on offensive wrestling and 20% on defensive wrestling.  He works on 50 different takedowns offensively and then your normal sprawl, stance, re-shot.  Offensively there are so many attacks on your feet and set-ups that it takes years to master these and perfect them.

  Wrestler 2 spends:  80% of his time on counter offensive wrestling and 20% on true offensive wrestling.  He focuses training on defending the shot and then countering the attack.  He spends this time on his stance, sprawl, and the other elements of defense, which are not as hard to grasp as the offensive positions.  His offensive 20% is focused on the high crotch, double, single, and snap & spin.  These are the same moves he will use in his counter offensive wrestling.

  The elements of defensive wrestling are so much easier to master than the offensive elements.  What if wrestler 1 & 2 are even when it comes to speed, balance, strength, both start wrestling tomorrow, and they will compete against each other in 6 months?  To be fair, lets say that wrestler 1 is only going to focus on 20 moves on his feet.  Wrestler 2 has built his defense and focused his re-shots on the same techniques he used in his offensive training, but he has spent more time on wearing you down, frustrating you, and focused defending leg attempts.  How many repetitions does wrestler 2 have spread over 20 shots for 6 months?  Has he really mastered all 20 shots?

  I don’t think there would be a drastic difference between these two wrestlers and if they wrestled 10 matches I think it’s 6-4 in favor of the defensive wrestler (my blog so I’m winning this argument) being all things equal when they start.  If 6-4 represents the score of one match then you stopped one takedown in there during the bout and scored one more of your own on counter offense, winning the championship.  Does it really matter if you win the World, Olympic, or NCAA title by a 2-point margin or one takedown?

  How do you shift gears and build into both an offensive and defensive wrestler?  You build offense over years, not in a season, not in months, and not overnight.  If you learn to shoot a single with two set-ups then you have two single legs not just a single.  Next season, you add three more set-ups and now you have five singles.  You get the point and this is true for all your offensive takedowns.

  When I created the site my friend who has more NCAA titles than me (I won’t mention his name) said, “how does your single leg series have 75 clips in it?”  I gave him the breakdown that I just gave you in the paragraph above and he understood. He already knew this but needed to be reminded.  Wrestling comes easy to some of us so he wasn’t thinking of it in terms of a different takedown with each set-up, but that is truly what it is when you change the set-up or as they say, “there is more than one way to skin a cat.”

  This article pertains more for those who are interested in wrestling at the highest level on a world stage.  Not that this does not pertain to other levels but if you are attempting to become one of the best in the world defense wins championships.

  Don’t read this blog and run out and change your training to 80/20 on the defensive side but I wanted you to wake up and realize defense is part of the sport.  If you are starting a young wrestler in the sport 80/20 might be a good rule for you and then build the offense over time.

Coaching at the click of a mouse

  One of two-time NCAA champion Cary Kolat’s legacies in wrestling is that he is one of the best wrestlers this country has ever produced, who failed to win an Olympic or World gold medal. For whatever reason, it seemed FILA had him blacklisted as a guy intentionally kept off the top step of the medal platform.  But the two-time World medalist may leave a legacy off of the mat that affects the sport of wrestling as a whole on a much greater level. The young entrepreneur’s new business concept may permanently change the way many wrestlers learn the technical end of the sport.  About a year ago, Kolat, 35, and partner John Guira started filming technique clips to put on a “one-stop-shop” internet site which shows wrestling technique. Anyone from young beginning wrestlers to advanced grapplers can go to Kolat.com to learn a wide array of moves, from start to finish. And they can do it at a level which fits them.

  Over 1,200 technique clips are available at the click of the mouse to wrestlers, coaches and parents.  So how is this playing out in wrestling rooms? Coaches are taking a computer or DVD player into the room and showing the short technique demonstrations on the wall during the teaching session of practice. Coaches can also e-mail their wrestlers a series of positions or steps to a move he wants them to work on before their next practice.

  Kolat is quick to point out that the site is not replacing the valuable step of physically showing kids moves. Rather, it supplements that teaching in situations where a coach isn’t completely comfortable with a certain skill or position.  “I think it will change wrestling. It’s not going to replace DVDs and VHS tapes. But I hope 10 years from now, people will say our team has really been impacted by that website. I hope it elevates the level of everybody out there. I hope it helps the dad who steps in and says he’ll coach the team,” Kolat said.

  Kolat has been coaching youth and high school kids for five years. Four years ago, he made it into a business, starting Team Kolat. The 70-member wrestling club is based out Baltimore, Md. He found himself really needing proficiency at explaining and showing moves that a beginner could understand. And at the same time, teaching upper-level high school and college wrestlers to take their skills to another level.  After giving some thought to being able to take that wide range of teaching to bigger groups of wrestlers, he experimented with showing some moves on You-Tube. Kolat.com was the end result of that. Users need to be a paid subscriber to access most portions of the site. Access to the site costs anywhere from $10 for a week, to $160 annually. But, you can use the site for free on a trial basis.

  It’s extremely user friendly. Moves are extensively broken down. Kolat has it set up so a beginner can go in and learn how to do a particular takedown or escape from start to finish, or an advanced wrestler can find out how to handle a particular counter that an opponent is using to his high-crotch takedown. On a single-leg series, for example, there are over 75 video clips breaking down all facets of the move.  “If you know nothing, you start at No. 1. If you’re skilled, you go to No. 12. You could be a dad at a tournament where your kid can’t stop a double leg. You can go to double-leg defense,” the four-time All-American said. “I can teach you just like I would teach you in a room. You can’t do that with a DVD.”
           

  Kolat said the variety and extensiveness of moves on his site is what makes it such a good resource.  “I have to teach all skills now, from beginners to really talented high school kids who can compete in college. You can only put 10-15 moves on (a DVD). Now, a dad can take the site and help his son learn the moves.”
           

  The four-time Pennsylvania state high school champ also does one or two half-hour free clinics which are featured on the site each week. In addition, some practice sessions are also shown on the site. People can access these to get a flavor of his teaching style or find out how he runs parts of a practice for free as well.            
          

  Kolat said the response in the four months since the site has gone live has been even better than he had hoped. Including people using the site on a free-trial basis, Kolat.com has over 1,500 users. The 2000 Olympian promises there’s some other new exciting features that will be released on the site, and he’s waiting to make those public in the near future.

  October 30, 2010

  Guest Clinician Cary Kolat

          All information covered in this clinic by Cary Kolat will be located on Kolat.com with coaches agenda along with video clips to accompany all technique covered.

  WWW.KOLAT.COM

ckspecial  (discounted rate for all those attending coaches clinic)

          Fundamental Takedowns:  covering the solid attacks on your feet that all team members need to have a full understanding of.

  High Crotch:  elbow deep

Solid head, shoulder, and hip position

Basic finish

Chasing the corner finish on sprawl (critical skill that is overlooked)

Chasing the corner elbow to the ankle finish

Crackdown:  don’t make it harder than what it is, focus on the set & control position

Don’t allow opponent to place you in the crack

Shooting knee outside

Control position & drill

Run in double finish

Knee in double finish

Foot hook my favorite

NEW Jack Jensen finish

Double:  best shot in the world, drilled & perfected on a regular basis, elbow deep

Solid head, shoulder, and hip position

Run to the corner finish

Chasing the corner finish on sprawl

Drill to teach rebuild

Single Leg:  elbow deep, drilling should focus on the corner

Solid head, shoulder, and hip position

Drilling mistake of not hitting corner & long guy using his hands

Pick up finish

For a printable PDF version of Level 1 Fee click here: KOLAT.COM 4-6 Year Teaching Curriculum For New To Novice Wrestlers by Cary Kolat

KOLAT.COM Curriculum Clips

In August, Cary will begin shooting the KOLAT.COM Curriculum Clips that precisely illustrate the techniques found inside our new KOLAT.COM Curriculum System. In the meantime, we are referencing current clips in the KOLAT.COM video library that already apply to the KOLAT.COM curriculum system. Members have requested this information for some time, so in an effort to allow them to start planning their season, we are connecting this information right away.

Note: Don’t be confused if the entire clip is not identical to the technique that you are viewing. Within that clip, there will be a section related to the Curriculum skill you are searching for.

Example Technique: Head opposite hips finish for the high crotch

Reason: The clip will show the finish from the double leg. The reason being that a high crotch change-off is really a double leg when finishing the technique. This will allow you to begin planning your practices as soon as you join.

Full Curriculum Written Outline to be released over the coming weeks.

Curriculum Clips Launch Date: October 1, 2011

Discount: Join KOLAT.COM, as a Year member, before October 1, 2011 and your membership price will be $99.95 instead of $159.95. (Use the following discount code at checkout: KOL4-6 this only applies if you never have been a paying member of KOLAT.COM in the past)

Who Should Use the Curriculum?

Cary Kolat launched KOLAT.COM in the summer of 2008 as the first online video library dedicated to wrestling technique. In an effort to increase the knowledge of coaches and wrestlers, Cary has continued to develop the site by regularly adding new videos and new features. The KOLAT.COM Curriculum is a much-anticipated feature that wrestlers, coaches and fathers have been asking for since day one: How do you teach someone how to wrestle? This first step in this quest was the development of the KOLAT.COM Library and the 2nd step was the development of the KOLAT.COM Planner (launched in the fall of 2010). By integrating the planner into our extensive video library, the Planner allows coaches, athletes and fathers to layout training sessions. The KOLAT.COM Curriculum takes it a step further by identifying the essentials skills and techniques that are required to progress in the sport of wrestling at every level. This Curriculum will be important for everyone who feels that somewhere along the line they were not given sound fundamentals and need to sharpen up their skills. However, for the most part it was created for those beginning wrestlers, coaches, and fathers just entering the sport and needing a guide. When designing this curriculum, Cary reflected on techniques he was taught while starting out, the mistakes that he made and the things he wished that he had learned. Cary also tapped into his years of experience coaching at the youth level to identify the areas that must be covered for a young wrestler to develop. The KOLAT.COM Curriculum will enable all wrestlers to discover their strengths and weaknesses and eventually help them to develop their own winning style.

How the Levels Should Be Approached

Coaching at the click of a mouse

  One of two-time NCAA champion Cary Kolat’s legacies in wrestling is that he is one of the best wrestlers this country has ever produced, who failed to win an Olympic or World gold medal. For whatever reason, it seemed FILA had him blacklisted as a guy intentionally kept off the top step of the medal platform.  But the two-time World medalist may leave a legacy off of the mat that affects the sport of wrestling as a whole on a much greater level. The young entrepreneur’s new business concept may permanently change the way many wrestlers learn the technical end of the sport.  About a year ago, Kolat, 35, and partner John Guira started filming technique clips to put on a “one-stop-shop” internet site which shows wrestling technique. Anyone from young beginning wrestlers to advanced grapplers can go to Kolat.com to learn a wide array of moves, from start to finish. And they can do it at a level which fits them.

  Over 1,200 technique clips are available at the click of the mouse to wrestlers, coaches and parents.  So how is this playing out in wrestling rooms? Coaches are taking a computer or DVD player into the room and showing the short technique demonstrations on the wall during the teaching session of practice. Coaches can also e-mail their wrestlers a series of positions or steps to a move he wants them to work on before their next practice.

  Kolat is quick to point out that the site is not replacing the valuable step of physically showing kids moves. Rather, it supplements that teaching in situations where a coach isn’t completely comfortable with a certain skill or position.  “I think it will change wrestling. It’s not going to replace DVDs and VHS tapes. But I hope 10 years from now, people will say our team has really been impacted by that website. I hope it elevates the level of everybody out there. I hope it helps the dad who steps in and says he’ll coach the team,” Kolat said.

  Kolat has been coaching youth and high school kids for five years. Four years ago, he made it into a business, starting Team Kolat. The 70-member wrestling club is based out Baltimore, Md. He found himself really needing proficiency at explaining and showing moves that a beginner could understand. And at the same time, teaching upper-level high school and college wrestlers to take their skills to another level.  After giving some thought to being able to take that wide range of teaching to bigger groups of wrestlers, he experimented with showing some moves on You-Tube. Kolat.com was the end result of that. Users need to be a paid subscriber to access most portions of the site. Access to the site costs anywhere from $10 for a week, to $160 annually. But, you can use the site for free on a trial basis.

  It’s extremely user friendly. Moves are extensively broken down. Kolat has it set up so a beginner can go in and learn how to do a particular takedown or escape from start to finish, or an advanced wrestler can find out how to handle a particular counter that an opponent is using to his high-crotch takedown. On a single-leg series, for example, there are over 75 video clips breaking down all facets of the move.  “If you know nothing, you start at No. 1. If you’re skilled, you go to No. 12. You could be a dad at a tournament where your kid can’t stop a double leg. You can go to double-leg defense,” the four-time All-American said. “I can teach you just like I would teach you in a room. You can’t do that with a DVD.”
           

  Kolat said the variety and extensiveness of moves on his site is what makes it such a good resource.  “I have to teach all skills now, from beginners to really talented high school kids who can compete in college. You can only put 10-15 moves on (a DVD). Now, a dad can take the site and help his son learn the moves.”
           

  The four-time Pennsylvania state high school champ also does one or two half-hour free clinics which are featured on the site each week. In addition, some practice sessions are also shown on the site. People can access these to get a flavor of his teaching style or find out how he runs parts of a practice for free as well.            
          

  Kolat said the response in the four months since the site has gone live has been even better than he had hoped. Including people using the site on a free-trial basis, Kolat.com has over 1,500 users. The 2000 Olympian promises there’s some other new exciting features that will be released on the site, and he’s waiting to make those public in the near future.

If you could pick when to hit the best guy in the tournament the first round is the time to do it.  Most wrestlers like to ease into events, do not warm-up properly, fatigue easy, quit mort often in the first round of the event if they have a tough opponent!  Warm-up properly and the first round of the event will work in your favor more times than not.  Don’t lost matches only because you did not warm-up and get the burn out of your body the day of an event.

  Warm-Up Routine

  You should be stretching as you are going through the routine

  Jog/Tumble                             3 min

Clearing Ties                           2 min

20-20-20                                 high pace quick motions

Finishing Shots                       3 min  (opponent 70% fight)

20-20-20                                 high pace quick motions

Sprints                                                1:30 min  (sprint – bounce – sprint – bounce – etc.)

Escapes/Rev                            2 min

20-20-20                                 high pace quick motions

Escapes to take down             3 min

Jog                                           1 min

Hand Fight                              3 min (: 30 sec – bounce)

Sprints                                                1 min

Live Wrestling             5 min  (feet don’t stalemate more than 10 sec. keep moving)

10-10-10                                                  High pace quick motions

Shadow wrestling                    2 min (1 min - :30 sec break lots of motion)

Stretch

  This routine is 27:30 minutes in length without breaks.  You should attempt to time this and be done with the warm-up 15 minutes prior to your first match if you can.  You want to get as tired as you can during the warm-up everything should be done hard, fast, and executed perfectly 5 minutes into the warm-up once your body is loose.  Get tired so your body will respond to the fatigue you feel during the first round and fight through it. 

  You will have already gone through the pain and your muscles and lungs will adjust to the stress the match is putting on them your opponent will be enduring it for the first time and his body will not respond as well as you are to the stress of the match.

  I recently broadcasted a live question and answer show online for viewers and a question, which I receive again and again, is how do I structure a practice.

  Fundamental skills are something that need worked everyday in various areas.  The correct way to think about skills and drills are to take the common positions in wrestling and apply them daily in training sessions.  The number one problem with this is wrestlers and even coaches do not attack these skill sets properly.

  Wrestler A has been training in the sport for 6-10 years and skills were very important to him when he was first learning and he probably attacked them with enthusiasm.  These skills were brand new to him and his passion for learning how to wrestle was high.  As wrestler A has entered high school he now approaches these drills as part of a daily warm-up and just something used to get him ready for when the training session really begins.  His level of intensity and passion for the sport has dropped and will ultimately cause his ability to react, defend, or have full understanding of common wrestling positions to become sub par.

  Determine Your Skill and Drill Sets For Your Team

  First, you as the coach need to determine what common positions you consider to be important drills in all areas of wrestling.  One example is a spin drill, which teaches wrestlers to react quickly, defend their legs, and then capitalize on their opponent’s attempt to take them down.  This skill or drill would fall into a defensive feet warm-up session.  A spin drill can also fall into a feet offensive warm-up session, but you probably get the point of how I categorize my drill sets.

  Quick list of skills and drills could look like this:

  Feet Offense Skills

  Shadow wrestling

Penetration steps through opponent’s legs

Attacking tie-ups and moving partner

Etc

  Feet Defense Skills

  Spin drill

Down block and spin

Defend single leg attack

Defend double leg attack

Etc

  Top Riding Skills

  Sit and follow drill

Opponent stands return him to mat

Taking opponent out of base

Etc

  Bottom Skills

  Base building

Hip heist drill

Clearing hands drill

Etc

  There are many more drills for each area; I’m just keeping it simple for this blog.

  Getting the most out of the warm-up

  The warm-up section of training should be treated as time to work the skills you feel are most important to your team.  This is where you get into your teams head about what you are going to accomplish during the training session.  This is where you and your staff have determined the places that each team member has to be above average in common positions.  Your warm-up routine needs to change almost every training session.

  Big twenty warm-ups

  Prior to the start of your season, write down the skills that you feel are important to your team.  Each warm-up covering a specific area of skills and drills should be 20-30 minutes in length.  Creating these warm-ups keeps your team from falling into the same stale routine that will eventually kill the intensity of the room.  If the warm up stays fresh, you and your team can expect solid quality work in every session. Don’t underestimate the significance of the first 20 minutes of practice. Warm ups should: Grab their attention, set the pace, and get them physically and mentally ready for the next 60 minutes. Now after you have applied these 20, you should be an expert at disguising these drills into the warm-up in a variety ways that your team is constantly getting work in common positions.

  Warm-Up & Teaching

  I don’t feel the warm-up needs to mirror what is being covered that day, but you could put the two together.  If we plan to teach feet defense during our teaching segment of practice, I may grab one of my top riding skill warm-ups and use that at the start.  You can of course have the two match up if you like, but 20 days later you will return to that warm-up.

  Practice Planning

  Now that you have twenty different warm-ups designed to cover your daily skill work you have saved yourself a great deal of time when it comes to planning practice.  Simply keep a record of each warm-up and when you’ve used it during the month.  Twenty days later start back through the cycle and your guys will not remember the exact routine keeping them on their toes and working!

Here is a great workout I used to increase mental toughness and body endurance.  The workout was given to me by a friend who was a Navy Seal and uses only your body weight.  The workout is done in rounds and in order of the exercises with different movements going away after round three:

Calisthenics Program

Sets                     Reps                     Exercise

5                                  35                        push-ups


4                         40                        Bent Leg Crunches

3                         30                        Dips

4                         30                        flutter kicks (3 count is 1)

3                         15                        hanging knee-ups (straight)

3                         15                        hanging knee-ups (obliques)

3                         15                        body builders (squat thrust with push-up at the       bottom)

3                         15                        wave offs (on stomach doing a continuous superman freestyle swimming motion, 3 count is 1)

3                         20                        lunge (each leg)    

3                         30                        squat

4                         15                        standard pull-up

4                         15                        wide grip pull-up

4                         15                        commando pull-up