Minutemen Youth Wrestling

March 8 at 8:30 On Saturday March 8th USA Wrestling CT will be hosting a copper level certification clinic from 8:30 to 11:00 at Southington High School in Southington CT. Registration will begin at 8:00 am. The cost of the clinic is $25, USA Wrestling card required. USA Wrestling's National Coaches Education Program is a four tiered certification system for coaches in the sport of wrestling. As the National Governing Body for the sport of wrestling in the United States, USA Wrestling actively works to promote and develop the sport of wrestling through the NCEP. The Copper Certification, the first of the four levels, is an enjoyable introduction to the sport of wrestling. The course is highly interactive using the USA Wrestling InstructorÕs video and the second edition of Coaching Youth Wrestling published through the American Sport Education Program. Coaches and parents that complete the four hour course and receive an 80% or higher on the thirty question take-home multiple choice test are certified at the Copper Level. Coaches will then be entered into the USA Wrestling NCEP database and receive a certificate of completion and a Copper Card used to authenticate certification at USA Wrestling events. Coaches and parents are encouraged then complete the next level of certification, the Bronze Level. People with a strong background in the sport of wrestling are allowed to begin the certification at the Bronze Level without previously completing the Copper Level. Join USA Wrestling in building the sport of wrestling in the United States by attending a NCEP course near you! The clinic will be limited to twenty participants, contact USA Wrestling CT director of coaching Stephen Makein via e-mail at bandog@attbi.com or phone at (860) 225-1807.

Click on the title to take you to our stats site for this match. In their first match of the season the young Minutemen were defeated by Meriden 106-81. There were some key wrestlers missing due to sickness but the young team held their own and lost in matches 23-19. Winning by: Pin - Ricky Mullins, Ryan Bisson, Jonathan Asal and David Asal. Major Decision - Matt Cotes, Anthony Scacca, Jacob Eliades, David Balafore, Kevin Moss and Billy Hastings. Winning by Decision - Tyler Cunningham, John Swantek, Richie Skwiot and Jonathan Fort. There was one Technical Fall won by Lucas Caron.

by Ted Witulski At the start of every tournament the teams take the mats, and begin the process of warming up. After the jogging and stretching the wrestlers pair off and begin going through the familiar tasks of drilling the techniques, which will be used in their matches. Even before the matches are wrestled coaches and fans in the stands can probably conjecture as to which wrestlers are the studs in the tournament, just by viewing their drilling habits. Some wrestlers have it together firing off shots and counters with speed and finesse. Other less advanced wrestlers appear cumbersome as they try to imitate the techniques they’ll need to win. Drilling is a means to an end—the goal, of course, is to be a champion. Coaching wrestlers on how to drill successfully is as important as showing a sprawl or a single-leg. Beyond the moves, successfully drilling will help wrestlers better learn the basic skills associated with the techniques of wrestling. Wrestlers and coaches should concentrate on outstanding drilling to take strides forward in their wrestling skills. The purpose of drilling is varied. In some instances drilling serves as practice for a brand new move. At other times, drilling is part of a cardiovascular workout associated with conditioning. And, in other cases coaches are looking to perfect basic skills such as a precise level change or a speedier penetration step. To be able to coach wrestling successfully coaches need to teach their athletes how to drill at different speeds. USA Wrestling’s National Coaches Education Program notes that wrestlers should be able to establish three different speeds of drilling. Each speed acts as another gear for wrestlers to move in when focusing on the varied areas that drilling involves. Coaches may choose to name the drill speeds differently, but the establishment of these varied gears in drilling is important to help wrestlers learn the art of drilling. Three suggested speeds of drilling for wrestlers on the youth and high school level are “ICE” drilling, “Working Pace” drilling, and “Match Realistic” drilling. ICE drilling acts as the slowest speed for wrestlers to drill. ICE stands as an acronym for Intense—Controlled—Energy. When coaches want kids drilling slowly the message to the wrestlers shouldn’t be take a breather. Instead, coaches are looking for focused intensity, controlled movements, and energy spent on deep concentration for learning. Generally, in moves drilled, a coach should be able to see the setup, the attack or penetration, and the precise finish. ICE drilling should get the wrestlers to focus on all three parts for a slow count of one—two. When wrestlers use the ICE method all parts should be readily apparent to the coach. In a typical double leg takedown, a wrestler might head shuck, penetrate, and then finish with a turk step. If a coach asks his team to drill this move at ICE speed, then the wrestlers should slow down immensely. The wrestlers footwork as he moves to the head shuck should be slower. While grasping the head the wrestler pulls it tightly to his chest and then push it across his stance. Think of a slow thousand one—thousand two count. As the second count is reached for the setup, the wrestler should have preset his feet to penetrate after the setup. (Visualize a shuck of the head with the right hand pushing the opponent’s head across the stance to the left. The attacking wrestler to ready for an inside step double would have placed his left leg in a lead leg stance.) With the head shucked into place and lead leg set, the opponent is open for attack. Still in a slow one—two count, the offensive wrestler will deeply change levels, count one. At count two, wrestlers should penetrate in a clean continuous but slow motion. Don’t get wrestlers to pound their knee to the center of the opponent’s stance and stop. Successful penetration is not viewed as reaching an opponent’s stance, but rather penetrating through it. On the second when a wrestler’s knee hits the mat his trail leg should be moving to cut the angle, so that the attacker can come off of his planted knee. Having slowly moved the level change step and trail leg movement of penetration, then wrestlers should enact a slow finish. In this case wrestlers on the slow count would change levels up and through their opponent. On the second count wrestlers would hit a slow controlled lift and turk step through the split legs of the opposition. Drilling a move at such a slow speed serves the purpose of teaching wrestlers the importance of each part of a move. It is hard to say what is most important the setup, the attack, or the finish. But the ICE drilling procedure gives the coach ample opportunity to check over the wrestlers hand position, footwork, level change and other aspects of the takedown, by not allowing the wrestlers to hide flaws with speed. If a coach has noticed that his wrestlers are not looking across the back on their double leg lift, then he can cue his athletes into this simply by saying, “lets drill ICE—Doubles and I’m looking to see that your eyes are looking up and across your opponent’s back.” By mentioning the precision of looking across the back wrestlers will have a mental cue and plenty of time to focus correctly on the cue while they hit the technique. Coaches will find many uses for ICE drilling once their athletes learn the procedure. The goal should not be for the coach to count one—two as the wrestlers work through the setup, attack and finish. Rather, wrestlers should feel the power to control the speed and slowly advance through the technique. Again, precision is the key. Every movement should be intense, controlled, energy easily viewed and evaluated by the coach. Once wrestlers have learned ICE drilling, then they should be comfortable in drilling at a working pace. Working pace drilling does not require athletes to slow the speed of a technique to a large degree as opposed to the ICE drilling method. Rather, the focus should be on a smooth speed with one focused explosion after the level change. Wrestlers will not be going all out in the working pace, accept in one part of the setup-penetrate-finish model. When wrestlers go at a faster pace they need to learn to be explosive with their attack. In the working pace model wrestlers will level change loading their hips into a strong attack position. Once they have level changed precisely, they should flip the switch and explosively penetrate through the opponent. Instead of focusing on a slow methodical penetration athletes should tune in on quick movement into the attack. The contact from attacker to the opponent should be solid. An attacker’s head or shoulder, depending on the shot, should strike powerfully into the defender. Some coaches indicate to wrestlers in this form of drilling that a good “shot” can be heard as well as seen. After coiling up tightly and loading his hips into a striking position, the attacker’s knee pads and shoes will make a sweeping sound across the mat. But the real sound that a coach should hear is the hard contact of the attacker into the torso of the opponent. A little forced exhale from the defender is a good sign the attacker is penetrating solidly into the opposing wrestler. Once the wrestler has penetrated as quickly through his opponent as possible, then he should perfect the finish. The pace of the drill does not need to slow dramatically. Instead, the momentum from the explosion into the defender should be used to carry the attacker through the finish. The “working pace” should tell wrestlers to get reset quickly. Wrestlers should build speed, and power in their attack by consistently practicing loading their hips. Another way that working pace drilling can be enhanced is to require the attacker to repeat his setup before changing levels and exploding through the attack. If a wrestler is working on hitting single legs with a “Russian” (two-on-one) setup, then the wrestler will be required to hit a Russian release it and as the defender reaches again he will control the same Russian. After controlling the Russian on the second time the wrestler will then lower his level and attack at a working pace. The final gear that wrestlers can build in drilling is “Match Realistic” drilling. Whereas ICE drilling, and Working Pace drilling slows the wrestler to produce the concentration needed to build basic skills to perfect technique, match realistic drilling should be all out speed. Once wrestlers know the techniques and feel comfortable with their footwork and level change, coaches should encourage them to build speed and force in their drilling. Coaches should instill in their wrestlers that match realistic drilling gives them the opportunity to build faster setups, penetration, and finishes. Additionally, wrestlers need to build more power in these parts of their moves. Coaches in match realistic drilling can look for a variety of things to encourage wrestlers. For example, a wrestler’s footwork should not be repetitive. And, when a wrestler’s feet move his hands should be moving. Another mental cue to focus athletes on when drilling match realism, is the distance a wrestler reaches when making contact with an opponent. An extended reach opens up counter-attacks. While these mental cues will help wrestlers stay focused even when going all-out with their techniques, it is best to constantly reinforce the idea of speed and power. A coach that consistently relies on the aspects of speed and power will get wrestlers’ attention to really go hard in match realistic drilling. Match Realistic drilling is far removed from the precision of the ICE drilling concept. The second gear for wrestlers, working pace drilling, focuses less on precision and allows wrestlers to explode into their drilling partner after a deep and controlled level change. Match realistic drilling should really get the team’s adrenaline flowing. They shouldn’t be in a confined area. Wrestler’s should be encourage to run through their shots, while going all out with the most speed and power that they can muster for their techniques. Drilling technique in wrestling is an important part of developing wrestlers. By giving wrestlers three speeds to drill at, a coach will find that he can further direct the team. The wrestlers will have clearer expectations drawn for them when the coach asks them to “drill it”. With the tempo set by the coach direction, he can evaluate for anything from precision, to speed and explosion. Better drilling will eventually lead to more success for any wrestling team. ************************************************************************* The National Coaches Education Program helps amateur wrestling coaches across the country develop the sport at all age levels. Coaches from the youth age divisions to the senior aged wrestlers are invited to grow the base of amateur wrestling by becoming a member of USA Wrestling, the National Governing Body of amateur wrestling in the United States. Please call (719) 598-8181 to get your 2001 USA Wrestling membership card. Further, all wrestling coaches nationally are invited to become certified with USA Wrestling’s education program by attending a Copper or Bronze clinic in their area. To host a clinic at your school or club, contact the NCEP Manager at twitulski@usawrestling.org.

Ted Witulski/USA Wrestling For every position in wrestling there seems to be a dizzying array of maneuvers wrestlers can use to score points. Whether it’s a low-single, or a granby cradle, generally coaches have a move that they wished they would have shared with their wrestler prior to a match-breaking scramble occurring. Only after a match ends does the re-teaching begin. On the Monday practice, often coaches spend a good deal of technique time going over a variety of moves to win those scrambles that occurred at the previous meet. While knowing moves is an important part of the sport of wrestling, coaches may find it useful to reinforce the key components of position. Wrestling in scholastic competitions there are three common wrestling positions: neutral, top, and bottom. Each position has traits that should be constantly reinforced in participants’ minds so that they begin to analyze the various wrestling positions that they will encounter. Often times a failure to successfully score is really a failure of a wrestler’s ability to hold or move in a strong wrestling “position”. While the tendency for coaches will be to coach wrestlers to enact the next move from a common position, coaches may find it useful to coach wrestlers to return to a strong “position” to wrestle from. From the neutral position coaches at the beginning of the year spend a good deal of time on proper stance and movement. Wrestlers are versed on a good stance. Coaches reinforce that wide feet are imperative, knees bent, head up, chest forward, lead hand low. All of these different components are the fundamentals of the position. In recognizing the particulars of the position, coaches should help wrestlers see when their stance fails in a match. Instead of a coach approaching a wrestler with the next “new” move needed to win a position from the feet, coaches may find it useful to first refer wrestlers to a self-analysis of how their position failed or succeeded in their stance. While the tendency of the coach, whose wrestler was beaten consistently from a front headlock, might be to show him a sucker-drag or a peek-out a different approach towards coaching positioning might be more effective. To be beaten in a front headlock, a wrestler first lost his stance, a wrestler that recognizes the failure of his stance begins to analyze his technique better. A coach instead might ask his wrestler about how his position failed ending up with him in a front headlock. How strong was your position when your opponent secured a front headlock? What would you need to do to return to a good stance without giving up the takedown? With a coach asking these questions the goal should be to get the wrestler to see the failure of his position and the necessity of regaining a good stance. A wrestler might notice that his stance was broken when his chest dropped forward effecting the alignment of his stance. He might also recognize that the opponent was able to establish a strong lock, without having to battle hand control. Other wrestlers might see that an extended reach got them out of position. Breaks in position are correctable errors that don’t require a complex move. Certainly counters and secondary attacks are all still necessary but analysis of position is a must for wrestlers to grow in their knowledge of wrestling. Another way to help wrestlers understand the importance of maintaining strong position from their stance is to chart attacks from opponents in a dual or tournament. Development of data to show trends by opponent’s can help reinforce why maintenance of position is important. A category that charts attacks to the lead leg side might reveal to wrestlers the necessity of keeping their lead hand low to better protect against an attack. (Note: Charting lead leg attacks can be more revealing than charting left or right leg shots, unless it is done for individuals.) If wrestlers are shown with empirical data that the trend against them is a lead leg attack then a wrestler will develop stronger concern with protecting the lead leg. Keeping track of the number of takedowns given up by go-behinds off of a wrestler’s own shot can help wrestlers see that they may be getting out of position when they shoot. The data collected in this instance might be best used to reinforce positioning instead of leading wrestlers to the conclusion of “don’t shoot”. By helping wrestler see trends, coaches have another way to remind their team members of the importance of holding strong position. Wrestling from the bottom and top there are several position indicators that coaches constantly refer to. For example, on the bottom to escape or reverse opponents, wrestlers start in strong position. The base starting position is coached to be a strong offensive position. But, once the clock is rolling often bottom wrestlers are ridden because of their inability to return or maintain a strong offensive position characterized by hips being loaded back and down, head and chest up from the mat, and arms pressuring back into the top man with elbows in. While every wrestler is familiar with the phrase “base up”, often they are unsure just exactly how to build into that base. From the corner coaches can better assist their struggling down man by helping them know which knee to bring up first. For example “right leg up” (or “left leg up) is more useful when a top man is riding stronger to one side than the other. A good general rule for wrestlers to learn from the bottom position is the two most important elements of escaping or reversing an opponent. When a base is secured, to score offensive points a wrestler needs to be reminded to “move his hips” and “control hands”. Virtually every successful scoring maneuver from the bottom position requires both of these elements. Wrestlers should be coached to circle hips both right and left on cue, as well as being able to capture an opponent’s hands on the right and left side. As wrestlers advance towards the junior high level they should be able to recognize needs to capture “high” or “low” hands. For example, a wrestler on top riding from the left side might begin to attack the bottom man with a cradle. The top man reaches high on the head of the bottom man with his left hand. In this instance, the bottom wrestler should respond by controlling the top man’s left hand by attacking, “right high-hand” as a coaching cue. As a wrestler takes off the high cradle hand he should learn to circle hips away from his opponent (“Circle-right”). Wrestlers should easily recognize when they have been broken out of a strong base. But, wrestlers who fail to score from bottom should constantly evaluate whether their hips are moving, and if they have successfully established hand control. Once coaches consistently rely on coaching strong offensive wrestling position, wrestlers will begin to realize why moves like switches, granbies, and stand-ups succeed. Essentially from the bottom position wrestlers must see a positive correlation between hip motion and hand control to reversals and escapes. To reinforce strong wrestling position from the top wrestlers need to reverse their thinking from bottom. On top wrestlers need to control hips and tie up the down man’s appendages. Whether attacking legs or arms, the top man’s guide should be control over his own hands. When wrestlers feel a bottom man controlling their locks, then automatically they should see the necessity to cover hips and reestablish control. Coaches know a vast multitude of moves for wrestlers to commitment to rote memorization. Instead of reliance on the moves in all cases of coaching, coaches should also rely on the value of coaching position. Wrestlers that are versed in the basics of position and then repeatedly see how they could hold or move in a stronger position have another way to improve their performance. In wrestling it’s not just the moves that win matches but the position of the athlete as well.

by Ted Witulski NCEP Coordinator Chances are you hear it yelled to a wrestler at tournament all the time. Often, after a tough scramble, a controversial call, or a big move. Listen closely, you'll hear coaches yell that one word to their athlete. That one word, that is meant to be both insight and comfort. Every coach yells it but not every coach teaches what that one word means. "FOCUS", the coach yells! "FOCUS", you can win this match. "FOCUS, your still in it. FOCUS! When I hear coaches revert back to this one distinct command, I only hope that they have taught their wrestler a process to achieve that elusive thing called focus. The wrestler that has "it" is often the one that can achieve that championship status, whereas, the wrestler who is still seeking focus is still trying to climb to the top. Wrestling coaches know that their wrestlers at some point during the season in the heat of a match will only have a couple of fleeting seconds to return to FOCUS. The difficult thing is to teach wrestlers what focus is and how to achieve it, when the coach yells from the corner after the out-of-bounds break to focus. As a wrestling coach yells to focus, the coach is engaging the wrestler to return back to only the moment of the match that is right of front of him/her. The coach is urging him/her to recognize the situation at hand, leave the referees calls, the adrenaline rush, and the past scored points aside. Focus is a powerful tool for a wrestler to have at his/her command. So, as a coach don't neglect to teach what it means to wrestlers. F-O-C-U-S can be better understood by wrestlers, if it is viewed as a five-letter acronym instead of just an often hurled word in the heat of match. Teach wrestlers to view each letter as a distinct action that must be undertaken to achieve focus. First of all, the "F" of focus stands for Forget. Forget anything negative that has occurred. Forget the referees call. Forget the locked-hands call that tied the match. Forget the cheap shot that you received out of bounds from your opponent. The coach is yelling at the wrestler to focus, but to achieve this the wrestler must forget anything negative. Second, if the wrestler is to be focused, then he/she must Organize him/herself. To organize, the wrestler must recognize what is the moment of the match. What is the exact situation that must be wrestled? A successful wrestler first forgets the negative and then organizes for the precise situation that he/she is in. For example, a wrestler has just given up a reversal on the edge and went out of bounds. Much has happened in this change of control. There might be only a few seconds left, the wrestler might have just went down by a point, the match might be slipping away. Hopefully, the wrestler in the few moments he/she has to get set on bottom will know how to organize for that situation. A wrestler organizing for the moment in the match must recognize the score, the time left in the period, the position to be wrestled, and the attacks to be wary of that his/her opponent will initiate. There is a great deal of information to process in a short time for a wrestler to be organized and focused. It is up to the wrestler's coach to help to teach a wrestler the skill of organizing for the moment of the match during a whistle break. Forget the negative. Organize for the precise situation. Now the wrestler must "Concentrate" on the action that must be taken to win in that moment. A good and focused wrestler will know if they are on bottom and there is only a 12 seconds left in the third period and they are down by one, that it is important to be organized for that precise moment. Most coaches would probably be hoping their wrestler realizes that with the limited time on the clock, their more advanced scoring maneuvers, such as a granby roll, would take too long to score. A wrestler who is concentrating must pick the best and precise move to win. Last year, at the Division I Nationals in St. Louis, Brock Lesnar had the down position in sudden-victory overtime. After trying to escape with stand-ups unsuccessfully Lesnar switched tactics. He focused on the situation, did a half stand-up followed with a perfectly executed hip-heist. To the unobservant eye this might have been a chance maneuver, but if you watched the Minnesota staff, they helped Lesnar achieve the focus, by concentrating on this precise movement and it won him a national title. Instead of relying on a stand-up and the scramble for hand-control the change to a hip-heist was the perfect tactic to win the title. That small change was achieved by focusing in on the situation, due in large part by the Minnesota staff urging this tactical shift. In the seconds before the whistle initiates a re-start of action in the match the wrestler must unwind. Unwinding is really a simple process. It is a matter of the wrestler taking control of the moment. When a wrestler is at a critical point in the match you would hate to see him/her rush back to the center without being focused on the moment. Once a wrestler forgets, organizes and concentrates, encourage wrestlers to unwind. The process of Unwinding is that reassuring deep breath that can give that wrestler a moment of pause. In a way, to see a wrestler pause and unwind is also reassuring to the coach in the corner. Teach wrestlers to draw in a deep breath on a three-count, hold it, and exhale on a three count. This past summer the Lone-Star, from the Lone-Star state, Brandon Slay initiated this process of unwinding every time he started in parterre position. Before he would set himself on bottom or top you could visually see him focus on the moment of the match. He would check the score to organize himself, he would scan his mind to think of the movement he would attempt, and just before placing his hands to re-start wrestling you could watch him unwind by drawing in and controlling a deep breath. This process of unwinding, while focusing on the moment of the match, surely helped him gain the Olympic team spot. Finally, the last part of focus is Step. The acronym of F-O-C-U-S walks a wrestler through forgetting the negative, organizing for the moment, concentrating on the movement, unwinding to take control of the rush of adrenaline, and the step to be taken at the sound of the whistle. Now it isn't enough to say to a wrestler hit the inside stand-up. Rather the process of focus should help coaches teach the speed, the force, and the fury that needs to go into the precise step to be taken at the initial whistle. In the practice room coaches, can teach focus by going through a match situation and as the coach talks to his/her wrestlers about unwinding and getting set he/she should reinforce what kind of maximum speed and power they are looking for in that step. Too often coaches see wrestler go through the motions. They might be repeating that standup for the fiftieth time in practice. Their feet and hands are moving to the right points. Their head position is fine. But something is lacking their isn't the right speed to that step. F-O-C-U-S, specifically STEP is what those wrestlers are missing. Every coach wants to see his/her wrestlers hit that step in a higher gear. By breaking down the word focus coaches can renew wrestlers attention and achieve higher focus for the speed, force, and fury of any particular step. Focus! Coaches will yell this to their wrestlers often in the up-coming season. If the wrestlers are truly going to understand what focus means, then they need to learn a process that can be done quickly in the heat of a match, which will actually help them achieve focus. Forget, organize, concentrate, unwind, and step…….when you a hear coach yell focus that's what they expect their wrestler to do. However, the wrestlers that separate themselves from the others to become champions, will undoubtedly learn a higher level of focus. As a coach, make sure you take the time to go beyond the moves and teach the tactic of focus to all your wrestlers.