Coaching at the click of a mouse

One of two-time NCAA champion Cary Kolat’s legacies in wrestling is that he is one of the best wrestlers this country has ever produced, who failed to win an Olympic or World gold medal. For whatever reason, it seemed FILA had him blacklisted as a guy intentionally kept off the top step of the medal platform.  But the two-time World medalist may leave a legacy off of the mat that affects the sport of wrestling as a whole on a much greater level. The young entrepreneur’s new business concept may permanently change the way many wrestlers learn the technical end of the sport.  About a year ago, Kolat, 35, and partner John Guira started filming technique clips to put on a “one-stop-shop” internet site which shows wrestling technique. Anyone from young beginning wrestlers to advanced grapplers can go to Kolat.com to learn a wide array of moves, from start to finish. And they can do it at a level which fits them.

Over 1,200 technique clips are available at the click of the mouse to wrestlers, coaches and parents.  So how is this playing out in wrestling rooms? Coaches are taking a computer or DVD player into the room and showing the short technique demonstrations on the wall during the teaching session of practice. Coaches can also e-mail their wrestlers a series of positions or steps to a move he wants them to work on before their next practice.

Kolat is quick to point out that the site is not replacing the valuable step of physically showing kids moves. Rather, it supplements that teaching in situations where a coach isn’t completely comfortable with a certain skill or position.  “I think it will change wrestling. It’s not going to replace DVDs and VHS tapes. But I hope 10 years from now, people will say our team has really been impacted by that website. I hope it elevates the level of everybody out there. I hope it helps the dad who steps in and says he’ll coach the team,” Kolat said.

Kolat has been coaching youth and high school kids for five years. Four years ago, he made it into a business, starting Team Kolat. The 70-member wrestling club is based out Baltimore, Md. He found himself really needing proficiency at explaining and showing moves that a beginner could understand. And at the same time, teaching upper-level high school and college wrestlers to take their skills to another level.  After giving some thought to being able to take that wide range of teaching to bigger groups of wrestlers, he experimented with showing some moves on You-Tube. Kolat.com was the end result of that. Users need to be a paid subscriber to access most portions of the site. Access to the site costs anywhere from $10 for a week, to $160 annually. But, you can use the site for free on a trial basis.

It’s extremely user friendly. Moves are extensively broken down. Kolat has it set up so a beginner can go in and learn how to do a particular takedown or escape from start to finish, or an advanced wrestler can find out how to handle a particular counter that an opponent is using to his high-crotch takedown. On a single-leg series, for example, there are over 75 video clips breaking down all facets of the move.  “If you know nothing, you start at No. 1. If you’re skilled, you go to No. 12. You could be a dad at a tournament where your kid can’t stop a double leg. You can go to double-leg defense,” the four-time All-American said. “I can teach you just like I would teach you in a room. You can’t do that with a DVD.”
           

Kolat said the variety and extensiveness of moves on his site is what makes it such a good resource.  “I have to teach all skills now, from beginners to really talented high school kids who can compete in college. You can only put 10-15 moves on (a DVD). Now, a dad can take the site and help his son learn the moves.”
           

The four-time Pennsylvania state high school champ also does one or two half-hour free clinics which are featured on the site each week. In addition, some practice sessions are also shown on the site. People can access these to get a flavor of his teaching style or find out how he runs parts of a practice for free as well.            
          

Kolat said the response in the four months since the site has gone live has been even better than he had hoped. Including people using the site on a free-trial basis, Kolat.com has over 1,500 users. The 2000 Olympian promises there’s some other new exciting features that will be released on the site, and he’s waiting to make those public in the near future.

“It’s been a homerun, it’s been really good,” he said.

I'm all for offensive wrestling and I want everyone I coach to put points on the board but I don't want to just win matches, I want to win championships.

The europeans approach the sport differently and it gives them an advantage.  We have trained ourselves falsely to look at defensive wrestling as a lack of guts, lack of hard work, even a lack of character on the part of the wrestler that chooses a defensive style.

I can wrestle any style I choose to wrestle.  I can be on the attack, I can run the middle road and shift gears offense to defense, or I can be total defense.  most defensive wrestlers like to frustrate opponents and get them to force action and then capitalize on their mistakes with counter offenses.  this is their game and this is where americans fall short in international competition against the best wrestlers in the world.

Not that I like to remember these days, but when I was in college wrestling in open competitions John Fisher consistently beat me with a defensive wrestling strategy.  John would sit back and look for mistakes while I continued to press the action.  Each time I lost to him the bout was 1-0 or 0-0 at about the 3-minute point.  Eventually I got so frustrated and tired that I made the mistake of forcing action.  John Fisher was an experienced wrestler on the senior level and he understood defensive wrestling and how to use it to his advantage to take me out of my comfort zone.

Defensive wrestling or counter offensive wrestling, however you refer to it, is very important in high-level competition.  This strategy will apply to all athletes with few exceptions, maybe John Smith (6x World Champion) or Satiev (9x World Champion) are extraordinary competitors with a total offense style. But even Satiev was beaten by Brandon Slay of the USA in the 2000 Olympics with Brandon’s defensive strategy.  In international competition on the open level this strategy must be studied.

Wrestler 1 spends: 80% of his time on offensive wrestling and 20% on defensive wrestling.  He works on 50 different takedowns offensively and then your normal sprawl, stance, re-shot.  Offensively there are so many attacks on your feet and set-ups that it takes years to master these and perfect them.

Wrestler 2 spends:  80% of his time on counter offensive wrestling and 20% on true offensive wrestling.  He focuses training on defending the shot and then countering the attack.  He spends this time on his stance, sprawl, and the other elements of defense, which are not as hard to grasp as the offensive positions.  His offensive 20% is focused on the high crotch, double, single, and snap & spin.  These are the same moves he will use in his counter offensive wrestling.

The elements of defensive wrestling are so much easier to master than the offensive elements.  What if wrestler 1 & 2 are even when it comes to speed, balance and strength.  If they both start wrestling tomorrow and prepare to compete against each other in 6 months, who will win?  To be fair, lets say that wrestler 1 is only going to focus on 20 moves on his feet.  Wrestler 2 has built his defense and focused his re-shots on the same techniques he used in his offensive training.  So wrestler 2 can focus more time on wearing you down, frustrating you, defending leg attempts and reshooting. 

How many repetitions does wrestler 1 have spread over 20 shots for 6 months?  Has he really mastered all 20 shots?  I don't think there would be a dr astic difference between these two wrestlers and if they wrestled 10 matches I think it's 6-4 in favor of the defensive wrestler (it’s my blog so I'm winning this argument) being all things equal when they start.  If 3-2 represents the score of one match then you stopped one takedown in there during the bout and scored one more of your own on counter offense, winning the championship.  Does it really matter if you win the World, Olympic, or NCAA title by a 2-point margin or one takedown?

How do you shift gears and build into both an offensive and defensive wrestler?  You build offense over years, not in a season, not in months, and not overnight.  If you learn to shoot a single with two set-ups then you have two single legs not just a single.  Next season, you add three more set-ups and now you have five singles.  You get the point and this is true for all your offensive takedowns.

When I created KOLAT.COM a friend who has more NCAA titles than me (I won't mention his name) said, "how does your single leg series have 75 clips in it?"  I gave him the breakdown that I just gave you in the paragraph above and he understood. He already knew this but needed to be reminded.  Wrestling comes easy to some of us and we don’t think of it in terms of a different takedown with each set-up but that is truly what it is when you change the set-up or as they say, "there is more than one way to skin a cat."

This article is meant for those who are interested in aiming for the highest level of wrestling competition on a world stage.  It will be beneficial to all wrestlers, but if you are attempting to become one of the best in the world, defense wins the championships. 

Now don't read this blog and run out and change your training to 80/20 on the defensive side. But do take note and realize that defense is an integral part of the sport.  If you are a beginner wrestler in the sport 80/20 might be a good rule for you to get started in the competition and then begin building your offense over time.  If they can't score on you, it's going to be really tough to beat you!

Copyright © 2010 Kolat.com

"mr. kolat, this will be my 3rd year of wrestling for my high school.  I'm not that good yet.  I was wondering if it would be possible for your advice on wrestling from the referees position cause my weakest area of wrestling."  thanks dan

dan:

two parts to your problem. first part is practice which i'm sure you already know or you would not be taking the time to email me if you did not care about improving.  second, bottom wrestling is like riding a bike.  the reason i refer to riding a bike is because once you understand how to maintain the position on bottom it really does not change.  once i understood how to hold my base and seal off it never changed and I used if from little league all the way through college.  this is the exact reason why we have a riding time point in college because nobody can hold good guys down.

here are a few things you need to work on and then advance from here:

you need to work on being able to hold your base.  first moves off the whistle are great but when you don't win on the whistle you need to know how to hold your base, seal off, get hand control, and then get out.

base drill: get in a base and hold it for 30 sec. or 1 min go's where the top man can do whatever he wants to try and get you out of it.  this will force you to learn how to shift your hips against his pressure.  see video of base drill

sealing off drill:  top man attempts to put legs in, pull you out of your base, or attempts to tie up a wrist. your job is to keep the legs out (keep hips low, knees together, sometimes shifting away from him) and keep your wrist free.  see video of sealing off drill

capturing hand control:  work on shoving your opponents hands from under your arms to the outside of your hips and keeping control of his wrist without getting your wrist tied up.  make sure to keep your elbows tight to your body.

once you feel you have this then you add your stand-up, sit-out, or whatever else you like.

best of luck 

cary

The idea behind KOLAT.COM came to me about 6 months ago.  The process has been a long road to take from and idea to reality for everyone to use as the best wrestling technique database out there.  Originally, I set out to only create the video database for my club members and myself as a training tool.  After seeing it develop and start to come to life, I reflected on what my parents had to do for me when I was young and progressing in the sport.

My father spent his time trying to find me coaches that could train me and increase my technique level.  He took me every where he could to find quality coaching.  Finally it got to a point where the travel and expense was too much and during that time we only had VHS tapes.  The problem with the VHS is that much of the stuff I already knew so I would become very disappointed with the video and never use it again.  The other factor with VHS tapes was that usually only one area of wrestling was discussed.  My database covers all areas and continues to grow in all areas.  I created it with the following blueprint in mind.  When we shoot an offensive series on your feet I will more than likely shoot the defense to that series and so on.

Finally, I got to a level where some of the senior level clubs invited me to training camps and I would use the time to watch and learn from the older guys.  This is where I really began to excel and my level of technique increased dramatically and once again excited me about wrestling.  This reflection is why I decided to go public with the database and give everyone access to its contents.

Technique is one part of wrestling, It's an important part but only one part.  There is an awesome amount of cataloged clips in the database, but my advice is move very slow and focus on what best fits you.  I created the site with technique in mind not style.  I'm laying out everything I came up with, learned, and have seen used.  I might have used some of the technique you see, I might have drilled it in practice, I might have hit it in competition, I might have only used it in practice.  Either way it made me a better and more creative wrestler in competition and helped me throughout my career.

I will at this point add 20 clips a month on anything that I think is important for your growth in the sport.  The two main features you should be aware of when using the site is "search" and "my playlist."  You can search by drilling down and scanning the categories by clicking on the video library or you can simply type in the name of the move you are looking for and the clips will appear that contain your search.  This is wrestling and many moves have many names so I attempted to name everything within a general category name and then labeled moves by motions.  The other important feature is the "my playlist" page.  This is where you can contain your favorite clips and break them into days of the week so as a coach you can plan a week of practice within minutes and know exactly what you are going to cover visually.  If you set up a laptop in the wrestling room, your team could also see what you are going to go over and get a jump on the techniques before you teach them.

If you cant find something do not hesitate to contact me via email and I will either point you in the right direction or shoot the video if it has yet to be created.

Enjoy, learn, take your time and wrestle with confidence!

Library

Cary Kolat created a library of over 2000 wrestling techniques that he studied and perfected during his 30 year career as an elite athlete & coach. The library is organized into offensive moves, defense moves, strategy, etc. This gives the user, from beginner to Olympian, the ability to easily find the series that will benefit them the most. Related techniques and counter moves are associated with each series to help his students completely master the sport. Cary's knowledge of wrestling and his ability to teach and execute every move in the library is unprecedented. "Amateur Wrestling News" wrote, "KOLAT.COM is like the library of congress of wreslting."

Always Growing

Unlike a DVD you would purchase, KOLAT.COM is constantly growing. Just like any wrestler constantly improving and learning, we are continually updating the site with new technique clips across the spectrum of wrestling. When you sign-up for one of our subscriptions you will receive new information monthly at no extra charge.

Solve Your Technique Problems Now

No more waiting on technique DVDs to come in the mail, we have over 1950 clips categorized so you find exactly what you’re looking for without the wait. If you are facing an opponent that has a big move the chances are we have the counter already on the site. We have two ways to search for technique. You can drill down through our library and scan the categories or simply type the name of the move your looking for in the search bar and pull up all the clips containing your search without the wait. Every series is built from the most basic technique to the most advanced as you progress through the series you happen to be in.

Progressive Learning

I have built each series in a progressive order so as you scroll through a series the techniques start from the most basic techniques and advance to the most technical techniques. Now dads just getting there sons/daughters introduced to the sport can start at the beginning, slowly learn the fundamentals and advance through a series without missing important steps and give their wrestlers the foundation of fundamentals that they need. Example the single leg series will start with penetration steps, then set-ups, then the most basic techniques to the most advanced. You can start where you think your skill level starts from.

Coaches & Athletes Can Visually Plan Practice & Organize Technique Clips

Coaches now have a tool that can visually plan practice with the "KOLAT/Planner" (the practice planner is currently disabled as we make updates please use the link for more informaiton on its return:  Planner Update)page once you sign-up for an account. You can find clips you like, sort them, drop them into different practices representing days of the week and properly plan what you will teach on a specific day. You could even take it a step further if you wanted, simply hook up a laptop and a projector in your wrestling room and have cary kolat do a clinic for your team everyday if you like. The KOLAT/Planner page will easily allow you to organize your training thoughts in just a couple minutes a day, and have you better prepared to train your wrestlers. You now have a tool that can simply get you out of the same old training grind and keep you and your wrestlers fresh mentally!

Affordable

This is no substitute for attending wrestling camp and getting hands on instruction from cary or other quality coaches but if you cannot afford gas prices, club memberships, or wrestling camp kolat.com will fit your budget. We offer a variety of subscription packages so you are not hitting your wallet every time you want to get ahead of the competition.

Time In Mind

All technique clips have been built with time in mind. Clips range from :30 sec in length to 1:30 min in length. Demonstrations are shot in the same format for each clip cary will talk you through the move slowly, then demonstrate in different angles at a wrestling pace, then the clip will repeat those angles in slow motion. If you miss something you can use the scroll bar or simply play the short clip again.

Past Camp Participants

No more returning home from camp trying to remember what you had learned. There is a section in kolat.com listing camp dates simply find the date you attended and get all the techniques you were taught once again right here.

Techniques For All Shapes and Sizes

The library is built with technique in mind not style. Cary is not just teaching what he used on a regular basis but technique he has seen used by other wrestlers. There is something for you no matter if you are short and stocky, or tall and lanky.

No longer will you have to wait for the DVD and only get a handful of moves that you may or may not like. KOLAT.COM is offering technique in all areas of wrestling.

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