Be Like Henry Cejudo in Your Quest to Win State or Nationals in Wrestling

            The peak of the season is right around the corner now.  State and national tournaments are no longer distant events; they are only a few weeks away!  Wrestlers who have been consistent with their conditioning programs and working their technique are enjoying the benefits.  At this point in the season an important shift in focus must occur.  Physical conditioning is still important, but the activities of the next few weeks will focus less on building a conditioning base and more on working toward a conditioning peak.  Wrestlers also need a shift in mental focus.

            Early in the season wrestlers are taught to keep the entire season in perspective and not to get discouraged with early and mid-season setbacks.  Throughout the remainder of the season, that mentality needs to evolve into a higher mental intensity.  Although this is important for wrestlers of all ages and abilities, an attitude of intensity and dominance can often help the younger guys place at the state or national tournaments.  Unfortunately, many freshmen and sophomores continue to look at these years only as building years without really expecting to see themselves on the award stands until they are juniors or seniors.     

            The younger guys need to have the attitude of  “Why not now?”  Anything can happen at the end of the season.  There are many stories of young athletes beating the older ones in state and national tournaments.  One that comes immediately to mind is Henry Cejudo, 2008 Olympic Champion.  As the youngest Olympic Champ from the United States, Cejudo had to focus his sights on the gold medal and treat every match like he deserved to win—not because he was older, or trained longer than his opponent, but because he wanted it more. 

            To make the Olympic team, Cejudo had to defeat an athlete who had won the silver medal in the previous Olympics.  What is even more impressive is that the wrestler he beat to make the team, Stephen Abas, won his silver medal before Cejudo had even graduated from high school!

            Cejudo achieved a rare accomplishment by winning the U.S. Nationals (beating wrestlers who were college age and older) while he was still in high school, but winning the Olympics was an uphill battle.  Many people don’t realize that the year before the Olympic Games he wrestled in the world championships and placed so low that most people would not have considered him a contender to win many matches at the Olympic Games, let alone a gold medal.  However, Henry Cejudo believed he could do it, and that is really all that matters.

            This is the kind of attitude that young wrestlers need to have as they go into state and national tournaments.  At the end of the year, it matters very little if a freshmen is wrestling a senior or a returning place winner or the defending champion.  In the important matches, the guy who usually wins is the guy with the most heart who is willing to give it everything he has.

            Wrestlers who go into their matches with an attitude that they can beat anybody, can truly ask themselves: Why not now?  We will recognize them, because, they will be on the award stands with medals around their necks, surprising everybody…but themselves.

Don't Defer the Choice in the Second Period; Build Momentum Instead

After watching several high school matches lately, I've noticed that the majority of coaches are instructing their wrestlers to defer the choice in the second period.  I am not convinced that is always the best choice.  In fact, in many cases, I think it is the WRONG choice.  It's definitely the wrong choice to do it out of habit, which so many wrestlers and coaches seem to be doing.

For those who don't know to what I am referring when I talk about deferring, here is a quick summary--the rest of you can skip the following paragraph.

In folkstyle wrestling, the style wrestled in high schools and colleges in the U.S., wrestlers begin the first period of a three-period match in a neutral position on their feet.  In the second and third periods, wrestlers have choices as to begin the period their feet or in a top or bottom position.  A coin toss determines which wrestler has the choice of position in the second period.  In the third period, the other wrestler will have the choice of starting position.  A wrestler who wins the coin toss in the second period can choose the starting position or defer the choice to his or her opponent and then have the choice in the third period.

Let me create a few scenarios to suggest why I think deferring the choice in the second period is a bad idea.

Scenario 1:  You have scored a 2-point takedown late in the first period and you are winning 2-0.  A low scoring period may mean you are pretty evenly matched with your opponent.  If you defer and your opponent picks bottom and earns a 1-point escape, the score is now 2-1.  He or she has momentum and confidence from a closer score.  On the other hand if you choose bottom and escape, you lead 3-0.  Your opponent would have to take you down (to make the score 3-2) and turn you or let you escape (which would make the score 4-2) and take you down again to even tie the score.

Scenario 2: You have scored a 2-point takedown and your opponent has earned a 1-point escape in the first period to make the score 2-1.  This is similar to scenario 1, except that if your opponent chooses bottom and escapes, he or she has tied the score and has confidence and momentum.

Scenario 3: You are losing.  Your opponent has taken you down (late in the first period) and you did not escape.  If you give the opponent the bottom position, he or she can easily build a 3-0 lead early in the second period.

All these assumptions and scenarios assume that you would not turn the opponent from the top position in the second period or other factors (like riding time advantage--in college) are not a factor.  Sometimes an opponent may take the top position in the second period.  This is somewhat rare, however.  My observation has been that in most high school matches (where they don't have advantage time) the bottom guy is rarely getting ridden for an entire period when the wrestlers are evenly matched. A bottom-position choice in the second period usually ends up in an escape, for evenly matched wrestlers, where there is no riding time to be earned.

Anything you can do to build momentum and increase your lead going into the third period will play against your opponent's confidence and wear him or her down mentally.  By the same token, any time you can do things to keep the score closer if you are losing will be helpful.

Here are some times when it makes sense to defer the choice:

1. You know your opponent well.  Maybe he or she is a tough rider and you don't want to be on the bottom at all in the match.  You might defer in the hopes the opponent will choose bottom in the second period and look for an escape.  In that case you might be able to choose neutral in the third period.
2. You have a lead of four or more points at the end of the first period and know your opponent would have to escape and take you down, just to get to within one point of your lead.
3. Your are wrestling in college and want to build up some advantage time (that will be worth an additional point at the end of the match) while wearing down your opponent.

Never underestimate the psychological power of momentum in a match.  As you dominate every position and build the score, not only do you discourage your opponent (and make it easier to earn a pin), but future opponents who watch you will take notice.  And that will give them something to think about...

Tips to Avoid Being a "Psycho Wrestling Dad" (with a WARNING)

WARNING: This will not be a "sunny" post.  The first part is written to the perpetrators, many of whom probably will never read this.  Perhaps the rest of us can stand-up for the kids who need our help.

Over the years, I've had numerous opportunities to watch youth wrestling.  While it is usually a thrilling experience, there are some situations that tie my gut in knots.  It occurs when a parent gets out of control and comes down too hard on a kid.   I’ve witnessed acts of physical intimidation and mild abuse.  While “psycho dads” (and moms) may be found in nearly all youth sports, we seem to have an ample supply in wrestling.

With my own son wrestling in the youth leagues, I have seen it at every event this year.  In some cases the perps are the same moms or dads week after week.  In most cases, I've been able to confront them and diffuse the situation (more about that later). 

.           Before I continue, please don't think I am suggesting that parents and coaches shouldn’t push their kids, especially in a sport like wrestling where intensity and work ethic and toughness are among the most important keys to success. But it is important to consider if your actions and motives are helping or hurting the situation. 

Here are some tips to help you avoid being a psycho parent or to help you recognize if you have tendencies towards being one:

1. Consider this.  I've never seen the child of a psycho parent amount to anything of long-term consequence.  Those kids will always fold on some level at some time--usually early in high school, sometimes not until after college.  But it always happens. 

2. Think about how you are feeling, and, in your mind, make statements about your thoughts.

What you are likely to find is that your feelings are being driven by what you want, not necessarily what your child wants. 

3.  Ask yourself, "What is the worst that can happen to my child?"

Death, dismemberment, abduction are among the top things that most parents would fear followed perhaps by worries that the kid might become a social deviant or something like that.  When it really boils down to the nitty gritty, a poor sports performance is pretty tolerable compared to things that could happen.

4. Try to imagine what your child is thinking.

Your child is unlikely to be thinking something like, “Let’s see how bad I can wrestle and how poor I can perform.  I really want to embarrass myself out here.  That’s what I came for.”

5. Look at your child—really look at him or her—in the moment of your anger.

If your behavior has conditioning your child to be like you and respond with anger, then you will see a confrontational look—one that she has developed to be a defense mechanism against your anger.  But if you look deeper, you will see the hurt and the shame and embarrassment, which are causing. 

You see, the greatest desire for most children is to gain approval from their parents and make them proud.  If you perceive that is not one of the motivations for your child, then you might consider where you are failing to be the kind of person that the child will honor.

Now, about confronting a psycho parent...

This can be a touchy, and, perhaps dangerous situation, so your motivation must be in line with a desire to truly help the child not a need to put a parent in his or her place.  Also remember that most of these psycho parents probably don't realize they are being so hard on their kids.  I doubt any of them have the conscious thought, "Let's see what I can do to humiliate Billy today."

1. Begin with the proverbial "cleansing breath."  If seeing a psycho dad go off on his kid affects you like it does me, then you will need it!

2. Take a moment to imagine the psycho parent as he or she might have been as a child.  In the 20 seconds it takes to do this, you are gathering more information about the situation, and looking at the perp in a different light.  I usually try to imagine them as a happy little kid and consider what might have gone wrong in the person's life to make them behave this way.  It helps me diffuse the rage.

3. Approach the person from an angle and say something like, "Hey, you look a little stressed."  This is not an attacking statement; it is a neutral observation.  Sometimes this is all it takes to diffuse the situation and bring the person back to reality.  Don't be judgmental.  It probably helps to say things like, "It can sure be hard to watch our children struggle when we want so badly for them to have success."  I've actually had some good conversations with a few psycho dads when taking this approach, and felt satisfied to see one dad pull his kid in close and a big change in the whole mood.

4. Don't expect to work a miracle.  All you are really doing is giving the kid a break.  Sometimes it doesn't work, but at least you will have tried.  

I think we fear confronting a psycho parent, because on one level, it really isn't any of our business.  However, if we were to see a parent punching a kid in the face, we probably wouldn't stand for it.  And I won't stand for it when I see someone giving a kid an emotional beat down either.  I wouldn't get in the way of discipline, but when the parent is berating a little kid for a sports performance, I'll always have the little guy's back.

  

Peak at the Right Time

The month of January can be a tough time for high school and college wrestlers.  Competitions piled upon competitions give little time for strength training and other injury-preventing activities.  It can also be difficult mentally to overcome stale performances and maintain the enthusiasm that was abundant only a few short months ago.

Here are a few tips to help you (or your athletes) peak at the right time.

"FEEDBACK" Situation Wrestling
Situation wrestling is key at this stage of the season.  You will benefit from doing strategy situations and feedback situations.  A strategy situation is performed by creating a hypothetical where something is happening in the match such as: you are losing by one point and there is 30 seconds left in the third period.  this can help you plan for what do do in those instances. 

A feedback situation is an underused tool to help you improve your technique.  To perform feedback situations, focus only on the technique you are trying to improve.  An example would be to begin the situation where you have your training partner in a head-outside single leg.  You both wrestle to score from that position, but you stop as soon as one of you scores or your wrestling takes you well out of that position.  Then you both take a few seconds to figure out why you scored or failed to score.  Repeat this several times.

This training will help you peak your technque in specific ways that will make a difference late in the season.  Here are key positions to use in feedback situations: building up from the belly on the bottom, the first 2 or 3 seconds of trying for a stand-up, finishes to leg attacks, tilts, leg rides and counters to leg rides.

Strength Train
At this stage of the season, many wrestlers and coaches have gone from heavy weight training to high-repetition circuit training.  This is a mistake!  Circuit training will increase muscle endurance (in the pattern you are performing the lift), but the best way to condition for wrestling is BY WRESTLING.  Save the weight room for DEVELOPING STRENGTH. 

Focus on large muscle GROUPS.  Deadlifts (or power cleans), squats, bench press and rowing exercises performed with 3-4 sets of 8 or fewer repetitions is all most wrestlers need to do at this stage of the season.  Avoid rushing between sets.  For heavy lifting allow 2-5 minutes between each set.  You can speed up the workout by performing a GIANT SET or a strength circuit by doing a set of squat, followed by a set of bench press, and a set of rowing and then start again with the second set of the squat.  By the time you get back to the squat, you will have rested that exercise for several minutes. 

Don't worry about doing very many isolation or single-joint exercises like arm curls.  You never isolate that movement in wrestling, and you won't have a lot of time for a long weight room workout.  If you can hit the weights hard two times a week for about 35-45 minutes, you will get a good strength benefit without overtraining.

Focus on Optimal Nutrition
In spite of the new weight management rules instituted for high school and college wrestlers, most of you are still having to cut some weight before each competition.  This is why it is important that whenever you do eat, you are consuming a good mixture of the right calories.  Try this for a strategy each day:

1. Weigh yourself before and after each practice and make sure you drink at least 16 oz of water for every pound you lost in practice as soon as possible.  This will help curb your appetite for highly sugared or fatty foods that are so appealing after practice.
2. Drink a carbohydrate drink during hard practices.  Shoot for a 6% solution, which is about 60 grams of sugar, or 1/4 cup, per quart of water.  (Yeah, I know it sounds like a lot of sugar, but trust, me, you'll burn it up in a hard workout.)  Add some lemon or KoolAid for flavoring.  If you want to get technical about the sugar, you can opt for something like maltodextrine, but table sugar will work just fine.
3. Eat two servings of raw vegetables or fruit each day.  The recommendation is five or more, but I don't know very many people who do that each day.  I try for a carrot and an apple.
4. Get enough protein, but don't overdo it.  If you are eating a pretty normal diet, a protein supplement--shake--with breakfast will probably help you out.
5. Don't forget the complex carbs!  These are strarches (breads, cereals and grains).  They are your energy foundation.  You will have to experiment to see your energy needs, but 6-12 servings depending on your body size (each serving being the equivalent of a slice of bread of 1/2 cup dry cereal) is a range to work within.