Using Set-up Tactics to Score from the Neutral Position

            When I was in college, our team placed a heavy emphasis on using tactics to set-up an opponent for a takedown.  Tactics are not necessarily specific moves, like an arm drag, but they are like, well, tactics.  It’s probably easier just to describe them.  Before I start, I should mention that the original source (that I am aware of) of the concept of tactics was published in an article entitled “Tactics” by Ed Yarovinski, sometime in the 1980s. 

            You should use tactics several times in a match and be able to switch from one to another as the situation dictates increases their effectiveness. 

            The first tactic is Breaking Balance, which is using any kind of control tie to get an opponent out of position so you can shoot.  The best ties for this are simply a collar tie used effectively to snap the head, and underhook, or a Russian tie.  Using this tactic looks a lot like an Iowa-style of wrestling where your are in an opponent’s face and just knock him or her out of position until you can attack the legs.  Probably the best thing about this tactic is that it keeps opponents on the defense.

            Binding is probably the next most effective tactic.  This involves using a control tie such as an underhook, Russian tie, or wrist control to slow down an opponent.  When the opponent works to clear from the ties, there is often an opening for you to attack.  You must be focused on aggressive wrestling, however, because if you just hang on the tie you can be called for stalling.  Avoid getting lazy in this position and don’t get in the habit of hanging in the position too long.

            Maneuvering is kind of the opposite of binding.  Most coaches call this clearing ties.  Use this when an opponent ties you up.  If an opponent hangs onto a collar tie, clear the tie or maneuver out with a slide-by or a duck-under as the situation dictates.  Clear a Russian tie by spinning or attacking the far elbow.  When an opponent has an underhook, battle for head position and go on the offensive.  The key is to look for a scoring opportunity as you are clearing the tie, don’t just clear the tie only to give an opponent another fresh start.

            Another very effective tactic to practice is Repeated Attack.  This is simply planning two or three attacks in a row.  Basically, as soon as an opponent blocks your first shot, you follow it up with a second.  Timing is critical.  You don’t want to take a shot from a poor position, but you can’t wait too long for an opponent to get back to a defendable position.  Your repeated attack can be the same shot, if the opponent is in position or it can be another shot.  Double leg attacks work well for same-shot repeated attacks as long as you keep your head up and don’t get stuck on your knees. You can also follow a double-leg attack with an outside single (high crotch) attempt. 

            Most wrestlers and coaches use Reshots so I won’t spend a lot of time on them here.  A reshot is simply stopping your opponent’s initial attack, and attacking him before he can get back to a defensible position.  Double legs, ankle picks and sweep singles are all effective re-shot attacks depending on the situation.

            Fakes.  I would much rather wrestle an opponent that was very strong than one who was quick and moved well.  Using fakes to set-up an opponent is an easy way to keep an opponent on the defense, because every well-executed fake must be taken seriously.  Unfortunately, I don’t see nearly enough wrestlers using this great tactic.  One wrestler who made a career on this kind of movement is the legendary John Smith, now the head coach at Oklahoma State University.  He would change his levels and fake a shot with his entire body and even world-class opponents could rarely stop his shot. 

            The final tactic I found to be effective is called High and Low.  Using this tactic simply involves alternating between attacking the upper and lower body.  My favorite way to do this was to use a head snap to set up a leg attack or faking a leg attack and then snapping the head for a go-behind takedown.  It can also involve using an upper-body control tie to set-up an inside trip.  If you are a good thrower, there are several opportunities to hit body locks, bear hugs and lateral drops after an opponent fights off an initial shot.

            The key to effective tactic drilling is to have a good training partner.  The reason I like tactics so much is because they are the kind of movement that actually happens in a match.  However, to effectively drill them, your partner should be giving you at least 70% resistance and must react to your set-ups.  I might mention here that when I coach a drilling session, I pay as close attention to the defensive wrestler as I do to the guy who is drilling the shots.  If the defensive drill partner is not reacting realistically (sprawling, level changing and reacting to fakes), then the drill is a waste of time.  Think about it.  Who makes you better?  It’s your training partners.  If they aren’t giving you a good defensive look on your shots, then find a new partner.

            Incorporating tactics into your drilling will give you effective series of attacks from each position.  Eventually, you will get into a rhythm of how the opponent reacts and what effective second- and third moves are available. 

            When I coach a drill session, often I will say that the drill is Breaking Balance to any takedown or I will call for Re-shots.  The key is that I don’t just call for a move like a single leg, I try to call for a set-up, which will open up scoring opportunities for many moves.

            Incorporate tactics into your training and you will find that your takedown success will increase quickly, because your set-ups will be more fluid.

Investing in Your Wrestling Training

DISCLOSURE: I offer training lessons for athletes, so I am admitting up front that what I am about to write will be slanted from my point of view...and it might not sit well with fans or coaches of team sports.

January and February...
AT THIS TIME OF THE SEASON, a wrestler's strengths and weaknesses are becoming obvious as wrestlers move through the gauntlet of increasingly tougher opponents.  The natural tendency for parents and wrestlers is to blame the high school wrestling coaches for shortcomings in their son's or daughter's lack of preparedness.  To a certain extent they are right; the expectation is that a parent can entrust coaches to develop athletes and have kids ready to compete.  However, there are great differences between the knowledge and abilities of coaches.  Most that I have met are very committed and trying to do the right thing, but many will admit that their experience is somewhat limited.  There is a BIG difference between being able to teach a move and understanding how to incorporate that move into drilling and live wrestling in such a way that the wrestler can use it effectively.


A FEW YEARS AGO I moved to an area and was asked to provide private instruction to an athletic high school freshman with limited wrestling experience.  We trained throughout the winter and into late May.  After about a month I was very encouraged, and thought that he could be competitive for at least a couple of top-three finishes in the state tournament by the time he graduated from high school.

His other love was football.  In June of that year, he attended a few football camps, and, after some encouragement from his football coach, determined to specialize in football and their conditioning program and chose not participate in wrestling any more.

As promised by his coach, for being committed to the football program, he was able to earn a starting position and garnered many minutes of playing time.  He also had high hopes of being recruited to play college football and attended camps and participated in combines to assess his skills and playing ability. Unfortunately for him, during his sophomore, junior and senior seasons his football team went 8-18, winning only one game his senior year and losing by nearly 40 points at home on "Senior Night."   I felt terrible for him, because I knew how hard he had worked, and I felt like the system that he bought into had let him down. 

I am NOT SAYING there is anything wrong with football or other team sports.  I am not even suggesting that wrestlers should not play football or other team sports.  What I am saying is that there is only so much an individual can do to create success.  There are so many factors beyond one person's control.   This becomes increasingly challenging when subtle pressure is applied by many team sports coaches (albeit in a positive way) to specialize.

More than likely there are wrestling coaches that apply this same pressure.  The difference is that when a kid specializes in wrestling, his or her efforts are more likely to produce individual wins.  In fact, within about one wrestling season, it is easy to see whether the effort has paid off.  In team sports, sometimes kids get strung along with promises of how the team will be in the future.  When a kid leaves an individual sport to specialize in a team sport, he or she really does roll the dice on whether the team will have success.

ON THE OTHER HAND, in wrestling or other individual sports, when you invest in camps and clinics, your development WILL pay off.  Your team may not win dual meets or tournaments, but an individual can win multiple state championships, get noticed by college coaches and perhaps even get a college scholarship.

Some families with a team sports mentality put a lot more of the responsibility for their child's development on the shoulders of the high school coaches and wonder why their wrestler can't just jump into a season and beat kids who are wrestling in the off season.

The reality is that many wrestlers will probably benefit from specialized instruction and participation in off-season training.  Here are a few things to consider when determining whether to shell out money for private training or camps.

1. Is the additional training really necessary?  A first-year wrestler and kids who are not naturally intense will probably not benefit that much.  Wait until your kid has mastered a few of the basics and has competed enough to understand how the advanced drills relate to competition.
2. Is it too late?  Three weeks before the end of the season is a little late to get a kid with a .500 record to accomplish anything that will make a big difference.  On the other hand. a kid who has won 75 or 80% of the matches may benefit from a little tune-up and some refinement on a few specific things.
3. Are you willing to make a long-term commitment?  I like off-season training programs that are once or twice per week.  (More training might provide more benefit, but a kid still needs the chance to be a kid and have opportunities to do other things.)  I'd rather see a kid train for three or four months once per week, than cramming all the learning into a few camps once in a summer.    

Essential Contact Drills

In my club practices we begin every training session with what I call "contact" drills.  These drills are designed to develop a wrestler's automatic reaction to the most common positions that happen in every match.  For the most part, these drills help wrestlers maneuver out of an opponent's attempts to use set-ups or tie-ups, but there are a few other offensive and general drills we use. 

We've all seen down-to-the wire matches where a wrestler with a narrow lead gets warned for stalling, because he or she goes to a collar tie and tries to slow the opponent down.  The idea behind the contact drills is that a wrestler can look like he or she is doing a lot of work without actively trying to score.  The beauty of some of these techniques is that they generally set up a low-risk takedown. 

Another thing most of us have observed is wrestlers who trail in the closing seconds of a match who cannot effectively set up a shot.  These drills will help in those situations as well.

I typically will have the wrestlers drill each technique for about a minute.  I like to have one partner hit the move continuously for about 30 seconds and then the other person drill it.  These are pretty quick techniques, so most athletes will get several reps in thirty seconds.

There are a number of these drills, so I generally don't use each one every day, but the kids see all of them at least every other practice.  Moves have different names in different locations so hopefully the names will not be too foreign and the general descriptions will help.  I am assuming most people reading this will have some familiarity with these techniques.  My objective is not to teach new techniques, but to highlight ones that I think wrestlers don't use effectively in matches and suggest that we get them to drill them more frequently.

Slide-by

In nearly every match at the high school level you will see some form of a collar tie-up position.  The slide-by can be used by wrestlers initiating the tie-up or defending against it.  There are two keys in this drill.  1) Get your opponent to push into you; 2) Perform a slight cartwheeling motion with the upper body as you look away from your opponent's collar tie.

Elbow pass-by

This can be used as an attack or a counter attack.  Assume you are trying to attach your opponent's right leg or get close to the right side of his or her body.  Begin by circling to your right to the the opponent to circle.  As the opponent commits weight to the right leg, use your left hand to pass the opponent's elbow across his body.  As you do so (and this is key) tuck the right side of your head against his ribs to seal off the arm from coming back.  Your head should be in about the same position as it would be for a high crotch.

Arm drag from wrist tie

Assume you are attacking the same side as on the elbow pass-by.  Set this up with the same foot motion.  This time, however, dangle your left arm in such a way as to invite your opponent to grab your wrist.  When he does so, do an arm drag.  This drag will be faster if you step to the outside with your left foot instead of stepping between the feet with your right foot.  (If you have time the drag to coincide with the person stepping with his right leg, you won't need to penetrate with a step between your opponent's feet.)  Again, tuck your head against the ribs.  On this technique, your right ear will actually end up near the area over the person's kidney, if you circle to get the angle.

Rotational arm drag (or chop drag)

The finish to this is the same as the arm drag from the wrist tie.  Use the rotational drag against an opponent who is trying to control your elbows.  A chop drag is effective as the person is reaching.  I drill these, but I've never used them in a match.  However, I've scored with the arm drag from a wrist tie many times against good wrestlers.

Knee-slide recover position

Get in on a head-outside (or high crotch) shot.  Inside kneed should be down, outside knee should be up.  Wrap your hands down the calf of the leg you are attacking.  Don't hug the leg to your chest.  Hugging it usually means your above the knee and allows him to bend his knee on the sprawl--it also mean that when he sprawls you are more likely to get extended and pulled out of position.  Wrapping the calf, so to speak, allows you to keep some control of his lower leg without getting your body pulled so far out of position.

Allow your training partner to sprawl at about 75% resistance.  When he sprawls take a small step forward with the outside leg, drive your head up and into his ribs as you slide the inside knee back underneath you to recover your position.  Do this three or four times.  On the last one, finish by driving across to a double leg attack.

Front headlock shuck

Some high school kids are very effective at this.  Simply chase the ankle like you would on a go-behind.  As the opponent attempts to square up, shuck his head circle around the other side.  Sidenote: Many kids get into trouble when they lock their hands under an opponent's arm pit.  This sets them up for a sucker drag.  On a front headlock go-behind or shuck, it isn't even necessary to lock the hands, it just slows you down.  In folkstyle, don't worry about trying to put a lot of pressure on someone or choke them, just get behind them and score!

Sucker drag from front headlock

This is similar to an arm drag when an opponent locks his front headlock under your armpit (or anytime you can control the elbow of the arm he has controlling your head. 

Peak out (Auble out)

This is a move you don't see very often, but if it's drilled correctly and frequently it can be effectively used because there are many times it presents itself in a match.  The easiest way to drill this is to have a drill partner drape both arms behind your armpits when you are kneeling in front of him in the referee's position.  (It's like he is in a front headlock position, but both arms are behind your instead of only one.)  To execute the move, cross your left hand in front of your right to bear your weight as you elevate your right knee like you are doing a sit-out.  Hit a short sit-out to the right side as you peak your head under his left armpit.  Attach his legs like you are shooting a double leg takedown with a really good angle.

Sometimes you can hit this move when your opponent has a front headlock.  It can also work when you have shot a head inside single and your opponent has a loose whizzer and squares his hips.

Head snap-leg Attack Combinations

            Any time you snap an opponent's head, his or her natural reaction will be to raise the head, which opens up leg attacks.  This set up can also work by making a convincing leg attack fake and then snapping the head as the opponent begins to sprawl.

Monkey throws (Lateral drop)

We call them monkey throws in practice with our little guys, because I have the kids squat down on their haunches when they throw each other.  It eliminates the fear and they can get a lot of reps without beating each other up.  Withing a few days they can all hit some pretty good lateral drops, but we still keep them low for most of the reps.

I also teach them when to use this.  I suggest the mentality is to score with traditional takedowns to build a lead. An opponent will invariably coming rushing in to try and tie the score.  Wrestlers who have been trained to throw and drilled effectively can break a close match wide open.  We also teach a few step-around lateral drops to use when you are losing. 

My throwing philosophy is taken from the movie Quigley Down Under where Quigley wins a pistol duel with a guy who didn't think Quigley could shoot.  As the bad guy was dying, Quigley said, "I told you I didn't have a lot of use for pistols, I never said that I didn't know how to use them."

Some of the mat drills are the following.

Build up from Belly

Most kids have never learned basic techniques from building up from the belly.  Key points include keeping the opponent's arms from being underneath your arms--don't let him or her under your armpits.  In fact, if you can get two hands controlling one of the opponents hands and be under his or her arms it is even better.

Build up by bringing the inside knee up to your inside elbow.  (An opponent will generally ride off to one side. The inside knee is the one closest to the side his or her hips or feet is on.)  Don't let go of the hand control.  Support yourself with elbows and knees, but control at least one hand!

Hip Heist and flip grandby. 

Incorporate several drills of these movements with and without partners each week.  Being comfortable executing these techniques will come in handy in many situations in matches.

Feel free to post some of your favorite drills including series and move combination drills to this blog.

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.