Finally updated our phones, which freed up space to record video again. Satch finished yesterday 4-1 with 3 pins and a decision, losing his sole match to the first place finisher, who is far heavier than he, and was able to overpower him. We’re at the point now where Satchel is having trouble matching the pure arm strength of the bigger kids, so this summer we’ll be working on getting him stronger at push/pull, mostly by way of rowing out on the lake together, pull-ups, chin-ups, and band work. Maybe we’ll do a bit of archery, too.
As you can see in the videos, Satch is the smallest kid in the bracket (the only kid even close to his height is clearly much stockier — and was still about an inch taller; Satch weighed in at 56 lbs this week); nevertheless, he continues to be a nightmare when he’s riding, which is how he often wins: he tires his opponent out when he isn’t able to turn him. In his final match, a 4-3 decision, he does turn his opponent only to have the (bigger) kid bridge him off to an escape / takedown, a 3-pt swing. Satch has wrestled this kid six or seven times and these are the first points he’s ever allowed to him. That they came on what would ordinarily be a position of dominance for Satchel hammers home the point that the arm strength to pull the head up and keep it there — which prevents the bridge — is the only way he can compensate for the weight disadvantage he has at the lightest of his bracket.
Match 1 (fall):
Match 2 (loss by fall. Sorry, but if this kid is 60lbs, Michael Moore is a male model):
Match 3 (fall) In this bout, Satchel really begins using the snap down properly and to great effect: he gets the collar tie deep, lowers his level as he snaps, and as the opponent’s head pops back up he shoots in for the take down. Textbook, and something I want him to review and repeat.
Match 4 (fall)
Match 5 (4-3 decision) Would be a wrestle back for 2nd place.
A lot of what I’m teaching Satch now, as I work to strengthen his game (which involves taking a few steps backwards from time to time; he’s often thinking too much rather than just reacting, but that will change as his reps with the new stuff increases) comes from those DVDs many of you contributed to the purchase of. Both Satch and I are very grateful!
Very cool. I look forward to him wrestling for Mizzou.
He’s expressed interest in West Point; but being the kind of Dad I am, I’d rather it be Air Force if they have a team. It’s within driving distance!
Important is what you can learn from a loss: it’s a natural instinct to pull away when someone has your head trapped, but wrestlers need to train themselves to go into “danger” — that is, keep pressuring in. If you watch match 2 closely, when Satch’s opponent sprawls with Satch caught in a front headlock, there are two instances in which daylight appears and if Satch had been pressing forward rather than pulling away he could have peeked his head out while bringing up the same side leg and probably run that across into a double leg take down. Even before that, though — from standing — he should have been pressing in to take away space for a snap down rather than trying to pull away. Again, this runs counter to natural instinct, so it’s a skill that has to be taught and practiced.
After that 2nd match during a break, the kid he lost to was telling Satch how hard he is to bring down — that Satch has a really strong neck. This is true, but he can’t rely solely on neck strength against a kid that size, particularly one as strong as that kid is. And so once Satch missed the opportunity to peek and was in danger of being turned, he needed to grab the headlock elbow and pull it down to the mat while turning his own head into his bicep. From there, a sucker drag is available, or at the very least, a stalemate would be the likely outcome.
These are learning experiences. And it’s great that I was able to sit down with video this season (finally) and walk Satch through things. Since we’ve been working together on his stance, he’s not had his legs taken nearly as much as he was earlier this year. And it looks like he’s getting comfortable enough to shoot out of the new lower stance finally, as well as use hand fighting to set up shots. That’s what I mean about taking a step back in order to get better: last week he didn’t place and wasn’t shooting, but he was trying to tie up; this week, his ties were crisper, he was digging for inside position, and his posture was better. The wins therefore take care of themselves. Ultimately, even if he isn’t a contact wrestler, knowing how to use his hands and work angles and shots off of ties will make him that much better. In fact, Ben Cherrington, who is coaching next to me in a few of these vids, credits work on hand fighting with Kirk White while he was recovering from a knee injury for his undefeated D1 National Championship season for Boise State. Knowing how to hand fight often separates the really good from the great.
I’m glad, Jeff, you take time to explain what I’m watching since I’m not familiar with wrestling at all.
It’s an amazing sport of strategy as well as agility and strength.
My late uncle wrestled, high school/college/Navy. It enhanced his football skills.
Dunno if you’ve seen it, but http://www.goarmysports.com/sports/m-wrestl/army-m-wrestl-body.html
One of my son’s good friends from Beast is a Corps Squad wrestler. Army is D1 sports, but those guys do not get a break from any of the day to day grind that the cadets go through. It’s rough on all of them, especially this time of year, they call it the “gray period”.
If you ever get the chance go see a home game, any sport, at Army.