Coaches Corner Article: Freestyle Wrestling: A few skills for Athletes to Have

Freestyle Wrestling: Some Essential Skills

As I've mentioned before, freestyle wrestling is very beneficial to the high school wrestler; it is the ultimate spring cross training vehicle. Athletes learn so much from it because of the movements and positioning that are important in freestyle. In addition, most of the top guys in the state are doing freestyle/greco in the spring and wrestling at the USA Nationals in Fargo in the summer.
So, allow me to cover a few essential skills athletes need to have in freestyle.

First, due to rule changes in the past few years, Freestyle wrestling is geared more toward the feet than anything else. In fact, an athlete almost never starts from Par Terre (down position) anymore, rather, gets there from wrestling into it. The higher level you go, the more it becomes a takedown battle. However, at the younger levels - high school and below - there will be quite a bit of 'ground' wrestling. Athletes have to be able to counter two main moves on the ground: 1. Gut Wrench in its different forms (high, low, trapped arm); and 2. Leg and ankle laces. Work hard to develop a very strong, solid base on the mat. Kill as much time as possible in keeping them from getting anything locked up.

Next, on the feet: Be able to finish shots in freestyle without giving up exposure points. Athletes need to spend a lot of time in shot situations to prevent guys from turning them, and also being able to finish. Athletes in my Elite Freestyle/Greco club spend hours and hours in these attack positions - scoring from there and countering from there as well. Next - work on transitions - meaning, getting takedowns and going right into turns from there. That's how you really open up a freestyle match, and it is the best time to get a turn.

Finally: Winning the Center. The closer the match, the more important the center of the mat is. You lose a point for stepping out of bounds, and those points decide a lot of matches. Main rule is this: Don't back out of the center circle, let alone the big circle. If you take 3 steps out of the center circle, you are already in trouble. Make sure you know how to circle back in. There are some good drills to emphasize this, that the athletes should use.