Strider Wrestling Blog

After 6 weeks of Strider Wrestling, the progress made has been fantastic. The kids who have been with us from the beginning or nearly so have made great strides from the first time I saw them. Those who came on later have also picked it up quickly, and I look forward to the final three weeks with them and hope they will return for our spring session.

If you're reading this and want to help out in any way, here are some things you can do:
1. Bring your kids to wrestle, and stay to help. It doesn't matter if you know anything about wrestling. If you watch and learn as the teaching goes on, you will be able to show your son what to do. With a large group of young wrestlers, the more coaches on the mat, the more successful we can be together.

2. If you have old wrestling shoes that are still in good condition, but maybe your son has grown out of, donate them to Strider for other kids to use. This goes for the future as well. If you buy shoes for your son, when he grows out of them, consider this as an option.

3. Tell other people about Strider Wrestling. It will be more successful with more people involved. Get the word out to your neighbors, friends, church, and schools.

4. Support Strider Wrestling financially. As a 501(c)(3) organization, your donation will be tax deductible and will do a lot to support us as we support youth wrestling in the greater Chicago area. We do not charge our students to attend Strider, so we are completely donor funded.

USA Wrestling has released the Second Edition of the Parent’s Guide to Youth Wrestling. This document explains the sport to parents who may be unfamiliar with wrestling. Among other things, it answers the following questions about the sport:
* What makes wrestling so different and unique?
* What effect will the sport have on my child?
* What about weight management?
* Is my child really cut out for this sport?
* What equipment is needed?

This document is available as a free download in PDF format here. If you have a son who has been coming to Strider or you have considered bringing your son and would like more information about the sport, this guide can answer some of your questions.

Once you learn a double leg takedown, transitioning to a single leg takedown shouldn't be that hard. The step is almost the same. You still lower your level and make your attack. You're still grabbing legs. The main difference is where you step. A double leg is an inside step and a single leg is an outside step. Make a slight adjustment to a double leg, and you get a single leg. This was the concept used tonight at Lawndale to introduce the single leg takedown. It was much easier to teach this move with the foundation of the double leg already in place. As such, the wrestlers picked it up very quickly.

Not every wrestler will have a top notch double leg and a top notch single leg. I personally did not score often with a double leg takedown, though I scored countless times by attacking one leg at a time. I had a teammate who rarely scored with a single leg, yet took down many opponents, even even in matches he lost, with his double leg. Of course, each of us knew and could execute both techniques thanks to the inherent similarities. Our goal in coaching wrestling is not to create a team of wrestlers who all wrestle the same way, but instead we want to show enough technique so that the wrestlers can find what works for them as they learn to be complete wrestlers.

After three weeks at each location, the progress made by the wrestlers is evident. The learning curve for wrestling is initially steep, but it can be quickly climbed if the coaches and athletes are enthusiastic and willing to improve. Strider has coaches that know what they are doing and know how to impart that knowledge to young wrestlers. The wrestlers who continue to come to practice have shown the dedication and attentiveness required in order to learn the sport. I am excited to see where this group can go in the next six weeks of the fall session.

A big part of wrestling is learning to hold your position. It is important to learn single leg takedowns and double leg takedowns, but having a good stance, understanding leverage, and holding your ground is important as well. Thankfully, there is a fun way to begin to learn this. At least, the wrestlers really enjoy it. Two wrestlers face each other inside the small circle. When the coach blows the whistle, each wrestlers tries to push his opponent outside the circle. For now, the wrestlers aren't quite sure how to accomplish this, but as they learn more about the sport, they will learn how to both hold a position and drive an opponent off of his position.

Of course, we didn't leave technique completely by the wayside. A large part of the practice at College Church last night focused on stance, motion, attack step, power triangle, and double leg takedowns. Review is important no matter what you're trying to learn, but it seems to be even more important when you're trying to develop the muscle memory required to perform wrestling techniques.

The wrestlers at Lawndale are making dramatic improvement. Most of the wrestlers who came last night have been to almost every practice, making the improvement expected, yet still enjoyable to watch. Two weeks ago, each of them could barely execute an attack step without a partner, yet yesterday, I watched them take each other down with great execution. We drilled double leg takedowns, a half nelson pinning combination, and ended wtih counterattacks. After learning the Seven S's of a counterattack last week, many of them were obviously paying attention, as they could repeat and execute all seven. In the future, we will do our best to keep the improvement coming.