Wrestle

So you're interested in joining your school's wrestling team or want to wrestle for tournaments? Wrestling is one of the world's oldest sports and more complicated than you might think. This article will go over the basics as they are practiced in sports, but there are many different kinds of wrestling, and sports wrestling is just one!

Steps

  1. Get the gear. With almost every sport comes equipment or clothes associated with that sport. Things you'll need will be listed below.
  2. Master the stance. Start from a standing position. Then, separate your feet slightly so you can fit an average sized pillow in between them. Then, bend your knees and arch your back. Lastly, put your hands in front of you.
  3. Keep a low center of gravity. Widening your legs will help with this. You want to make it very difficult for someone to topple you over. Keep your weight spread between both of your feet. Stay on the balls of your feet.
  4. Practice your drop steps. First, get into your stance. Second, lower your level and take a step with your lead foot. Third, fall to your dominant leg's knee and drag your non-dominant leg through and come to a knee with your non-dominant leg. If you are a right handed, you should end up on your right knee. Although, once you've been wrestling for awhile you may develop a neutral stance and not necessarily have a lead foot, but you don't worry about it. Just make sure your comfortable and balanced in your stance.
  5. If you already belong to a team or club, watch everything the coach does closely, do not improvise some parts of the move because you think it will work better, it will not. If you don't understand a move get help from someone who does, and watch it being done slowly and attempt it slowly to perfect technique, then speed it up.
  6. Learn the double-leg take-down. Start from your stance, then shoot into your partner with a drop-step. Your "power leg" or leading leg should be on the inside of your partners legs and your non-dominant leg should be on outside. Your right hand should be grasped onto your opponents left gastrocnemius muscle (the back of their thigh) and your left hand should be on the right one. If you are strong enough to lift your opponent, then do so and dig your head into your opponents hip and drive him that way. If you are not strong enough, then still drive your opponent with your head on his hip, he will eventually fall if performed correctly.
  7. Learn to sprawl. Sprawling is simply falling to your hip from your stance. It moves your legs out of range from someone shooting on you. Simply drop from your stance and land on your partner with your hip on his back. Like everything else in wrestling, practice this over and over again. This is the best way to defend an opponents, and opens the best options to counter-attack.
  8. Find out what weight class you are in. Your coach should have a weight class chart.
  9. Research. Find articles on wrestling such as this and read through them. There are many videos online. Watch and study them. Most of the best wrestlers have studied hours of film (videos). Practice what they tell you.
  10. Get strong and lose the fat. Unless your coach tells you not to do this, working hard in practice (sweating) will lose your fat. Next, you have to be "hitting" the weight room as often as possible so you get stronger. How strong you are can make you or break you. Contact your doctor or coach for a safe lifting schedule and lifting techniques.
  11. You must be in excellent shape. Wrestling is a physically demanding sport. You don't understand that until you've entered the mat. Cardio and strength workouts are the best way to prepare. The best man in shape will usually win the match. Contact your coach or doctor for a safe workout schedule.
  12. Practice all aspects, fighting on ground, etc., because most people don't like to be caught on their back not knowing what to do. A pin is the worst feeling in the world.
  13. Lastly, never give up! Wrestling is a tough sport, and it can hurt a lot. You must fight through the pain. Let that intensity inside you to allow you to never fail and never give up.



Tips

  • Practice makes perfect. If your moves during a match aren't entirely done through muscle memory, then you are too slow to win large tournaments. Repetitively going through moves and combos will allow you to instantaneously react to the situation.
  • Learn how to reverse a move.
  • Know your limitations. If you are not strong enough to perform a move, then find an alternative. Many wrestlers are not as strong as most but beat stronger wrestlers because of their technical wrestling styles. But some wrestlers are very strong.
  • When in your stance, your elbows should be between your thighs and never enter outside of them or there is a possibility of getting under hooked.
  • Never let your back touch the mat. If you're on your back, get to your stomach.
  • Never let your knees touch the ground.

Warnings

  • It is important to take a hot shower with soap after you leave the mat to prevent skin diseases such as impetigo, ringworm, or staph infections.
  • Wrestling is a huge commitment, and if you want to truly excel it only becomes more demanding. If you are going to set high goals for your self make sure you are willing to work and sacrifice for it. Remember that all success has a price.
  • Wrestling can lead to many injuries like all other contact sports. Be smart, and wear the right equipment.
  • Think positively and believe in yourself! If you do not you will surely fail.
  • Throwing a tantrum when you lose will make you look immature.
  • If you are in a wrestling room with many other wrestlers/wrestling pairs it is important to spread out and give each other room. If you run into another pair when wrestling live, break, move, and then start again.
  • If you lose a match, take it gracefully - if they were strong enough to beat you on the mat, they have a good chance of hurting you if you try to retaliate.
  • Don't get cocky, just because you can wrestle doesn't mean you can beat up someone who doesn't, you'll probably end up with a broken nose.

Things You'll Need

  • Wrestling Shoes
  • Headgear
  • Knee-pads (optional)
  • Mouthpiece (If you have braces)
  • Singlet (If you will be wrestling competitively.)
  • hair net (If you have long hair)

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