coaches,
over the past couple of months i have been trying to make a coaching plan for teaching first year wrestlers. the middle school season around here is 10 weeks with a dual meet every 2 weeks and the district championships at the end. i've never been the head coach of a team before, however i've assisted my old middle school for my senior project last year. most of the kids i taught were in their first, second, or third year. practices are 1.5 hrs long 5 days a week, and in that time before the first dual i feel i can't teach them all i want to. also not knowing what the other coaches at the schools around town or showing i don't want my kids ending up in positions they don't know how to defend. here is a list of all the things i feel necessary to teach:
feet offense: stance, motion, penetration, high-c, double, single
tie-ups: collar tie, snap & penetrate, snap & spin, front headlock to leg attacks, pull block & spin
feet defense: head position, downblock snap & spin, down block re-shot, sprawl, crossface, head stuff (see terry brand's "counter-offense to doubles" video)
top: tight waist chop, ankle breakdown, half nelson, crossface cradle, arm bar shoulder post
bottom: stand-up, switch, hip heist, fighting hands on bottom, fighting off back
my question is, given the time frame that i have, how can i teach my kids new things while still re-enforcing things they've already learned? how much time should i put into warm-ups, technique, live wrestling, drilling, and conditioning?
1st Years
With all my first years i stuck with the very basics... Teach them to shoot a single or double,duck under, how to break a man down from the top.. tight waist single / spiral ride, from the bottom i showed them the stand-up, sitout, switch.. as far as pinning moves the half and cradle. I then went over a few things they could expect from their opponents, some situational wrestling (what not to do's like "reaching back" and "belly down" "hand control" "locking hands and other illegal moves.) and then above all else the dont ever give up speech. This year is my first year coaching wrestling (high school) and things have worked out pretty good.. my practices have progressed from the start.. I emphasized alot of conditioning so they wouldnt get tired. Also the day before our first meet i had them all wrestle a live match with their buddies just as if they were at the match (this was fun and created some good rivalries in the room) My biggest challenge was that had 4 freshmen and 4 seniors.---(small team i know)---- but my 4 seniors will probably go to states so i had to find a way to challenge them and still cater to the new guys.. if the seniors just wrestled with the freshmen they did more coaching than practicing...Anyway hope this helped and good luck.
Practice plan
Script all of your practices and stick to your plan.
Here is how I might break a practice down, you gotta keep your team moving quick because 90 min. is not a lot of time.
90 Minutes:
10 min. Team warmup: jog, inside shuffle outside shuffle, front bridge, back bridge etc.
10 min. Individual drills:
5 min. Neutral: Stance, level change, penetration steps, motion
5 min. Bottom: Hip heist, sit out turn in(or sit back), stand ups, switch
Partner drills:
10 min. Neutral: Snap and spin (from the knees to start), double leg (finishes only), elbow post doubles
5 min. Top: Near arm chop, spiral, ankle, jump and 1/2 nelson drill
10 min. Bottom: Stand up then a double leg takedown, switch re-switch, sit out turn in
10 min. Situational drills: 1) One man sitting, the other behind him with double underhooks from his knees
2) Standing one behind the other with hands locked
3) Front head lock w/ chin and an underhook (from the knees)
10 min. Teach move of the day
15 min. Situational Live wrestling
First Year...
I too am in that first year myself. It will actually happen next year. Our high school has never had a wrestling team and I don't know where to start. Please feel free to share anything you know. I would greatly appreciate it. Thanks so much.