2010-11 Season: Building individuals, building a team
Coach Mark Schoenfield
wrestler@schoenml.org
cell: 480-7571
Please visit www.schoenml.org/hfawrestling for updates.
A Pamphlet for wrestlers and their families
Table of Contents
Introduction and philosophy
About the Team
Important Dates
Important FORMS
Equipment
Practices,
matches, and other info
For Parents
About the sport
Rules
Competitions
Moves and tidbits
Thanks to all the wrestlers and families for your interest in the sport of wrestling and the Hume-Fogg team. We are confident that with hard work, communication, and a sense of the joy of the sport, the team will improve, individual wrestlers will learn, and we will set in place a future for Hume-Fogg wrestling. Wrestling is mentioned in our oldest known literature, the Epic of Gilgamesh. It is the sport that the wily Odysseus is particularly expert at, in the Odyssey. A staple of both the ancient and modern Olympics, wrestling has developed in different styles all across the world. Some wrestlers, like Dan Gable and John Smith, 6-time world champion, are famous for their wrestling; others, like the writer John Irving and the Congressman Dennis Hastert, went onto other successes, but attributed that success to the values they learned on the mat. Wrestling doesn't require being tall or short: there is no ideal wrestling body—just the ability of each wrestler to figure out what are his best moves and strategies based on his strengths and weaknesses, body shape, and psychology. About 10 years ago, Hume-Fogg placed in the top twenty in state, and has been part of the great tradition of this sport for many years. So I invite you to join in, give it all you can, and start a wrestling dynasty together at Hume-Fogg.
Wrestling is a great sport—it develops both mental and physical attributes and it is fun. It is more fun when it is done well; the thrill of a perfectly hit lateral drop is hard to describe, and the sense of accomplishment when hearing the ref’s hand slap the mat signaling your first victory by pin is a real excitement. At the same time, almost all wrestlers lose many matches, and learning from those losses and recognizing the accomplishment of trying one’s best is both valuable and part of improving.
There is no ideal body type, or set of skills, for wrestling. Rather, wrestlers must work on strength, quickness, balance, knowledge, and intelligence. By candidly assessing where you are with each of these traits, you can set out how to improve the weaker ones and exploit the stronger ones. Different body types lend themselves to different moves, and wrestlers should learn at two levels:
· certain basic moves that are the groundwork for most other moves, and ones that you can most expect to see from your opponents
· moves particular suited to your own skills, body type, and temperament.. At tournaments, watch for moves that look fun—and even if they seem hard, ask about them—they might be easier than you think.
Wrestling is a team sport,
in that team members support one another on the mat, in work-outs, and in their
other encounters; get done what you need to, and help your teammates do the
same. By being a good practice partner, your teammates will become better
wrestlers and better practice partners for you. Cheer your teammates on;
use their good energy to inspire yourself; watch them to learn from them and to
rethink your own moves.
In all aspects of wrestling, good sportsmanship is
imperative. Referees will make bad calls, and that should disappoint
you—but it should not distract you from doing your best, and it is no excuse for
poor language, throwing headgear, or being rude to either referee or opponent
(all of which can result in team penalties, and looks stupid to boot).
During the match, be aggressive and ruthless (within the rules—which include
being responsible for the safety of your opponent—slamming, punching, and
blatantly illegal moves can result in both disqualification and suspension); use
all your creativity and effort to win. Wrestle so that afterwards, you
will be able to congratulate your opponent and yourself on a match well fought.
And afterwards, be polite, even if disappointed; courteous, even of your
opponent is not; proud, because however you did, next time, you’ll do better.
Families: Cheer loudly and proudly—it really helps. Parents, feel free to ask questions and offer advice.
Important FORMS for prior to practice: You must complete 4 forms in order to work-out and compete. You can get them from the school Office or from this link (www.schoenml.org/HFAwrestling/requiredforms.htm) which will give you access to PDF versions of each form that can be printed out and filled in by ink, or filled out, saved, printed, and signed. The medical form MUST be completed by a physician; all the others need parental signatures and sometimes the athletes.
Skin Lesion form: With some care and luck, the above forms are the only ones you will need. If, however, an athlete has a skin condition, especially one resembling ringworm, that student must be cleared by a doctor in order to participate. The doctor must sign off on the Official TSSAA form, available at http://tssaa.org/Forms/Sports/wr03.pdf or at www.schoenml.org/hfawrestling/skin.pdf. Referees will not accept any other form, regardless of how complete or compelling, and we must anticipate a referee's request, so be vigilant for both health and wrestling reasons. Also, the form must be completely filled out; a partially completed one—no matter how nearly complete and compelling, will likely be rejected. While any doctor can sign off on such forms, the best care for skin conditions often comes from a dermatologist.
Equipment:
What you need at practice:
What you need at a match:
Practices, matches, and other info.
Before the season starts: As soon as you get your forms in, you can work out at Hume Fogg. But whether at school or elsewhere, you want to be working on your strength, speed, stamina, and agility. So lift weights, run, do front and back summersaults and cartwheels (don't worry about how well you can do them). Some basic agility moves are hip heists, jumping rope, and (for those more advanced), Granby-style roles. You might want to do some push-ups with first one, then the other, leg elevated, and sit-ups, crunches, leg lifts, and other core-muscle building exercises. Balance on one foot, hop a lot. Stretch. If you know them, front and back neck bridges, and switching from one to the other. Stance and motion, bear crawls, sprawl drills, and other drills that some of you might already know are good to do, but if you don't know them yet, just stretching, calisthenics, and anything aerobic (running, biking, etc) is great, too.
In practice:
The more you practice, the better you
will be. This applies to the violin, writing, and wrestling—and just about
everything else. That's why practices are mandatory. If you have a legitimate
reason to miss practice, other than sudden illness, notify me by either note or
email as far in advance as practical.
But practicing never means just showing up, going through the motions. Practice with intensity—by the end of a drill in which you learn a move, picture yourself doing the move; resolve to try it when you wrestle live that very day. Make sure your warm-up stretches out all your major muscle areas—neck, arms, torso, legs, ankles. Warm-ups is the time to warm up your mental focus, not just your muscles. When doing drills, offer the right amount of resistance to allow your partner to learn and perfect the move; if you aren’t sure how much resistance to offer, ask. Do not wrestle live during drill—and do not merely drill when wrestling live; we will be learning about how best to drill, and it is extremely important to get right.
Feel free to offer suggestions and improvements at the appropriate times (which can't be during the drilling)—especially on those moves with which you’ve had success—but be ready to try out new ways of doing moves. Ask questions of coaches and more experienced wrestlers. When drilling or wrestling on your own, keep moving—don’t let conversation displace the training.
Everyone will be assigned a locker space, where you can keep clean clothing and other supplies. It is crucial that you always wear clean clothing. Do not wear jewelry, and if your hair would be illegal without a hairnet in a match, then you must where one in practice, unless you are given explicit permission not to do so. These are all safety issues.
Practices are mandatory. If a wrestler cannot be there, it is up to him to tell the coach, find out what happened (including what moves were taught), and do additional conditioning to not fall behind.
Practices are every day from 3:20 to 5:20 in the Wrestling Room. Arrive early enough to weigh in, suit out, and set your water bottle where you can find it. Relax and throw yourself into it. I will stay up to 30 minutes later to help any wrestlers who have missed practices catch up on the materials they have missed.
After practice, make sure to shower thoroughly, get your work-out clothing off into a hamper as quickly as possible. Relax a bit, eat healthily, and do what needs doing.
In a match: Wrestling is also an individual sport, in that when actually competing, the wrestler is on the mat with just an opponent and a referee. This should be a fun period of time—in ways the culmination of training up to that point, but also the chance to continue to train and to learn more. Try the moves that you’ve worked out. Don’t be intimidated. Keep moving and keep thinking and keep trying.
On days we don’t practice, get in some exercise: cross-train with other sports you like; run, do drills. Stretch enough to stay loose.
Outside of wrestling: Wrestling is a time-consuming activity, but it should not be all-consuming. By balancing it with other activities, you can develop into not only a more well-rounded individual, but a better wrestler. Your academic subjects remain as important during the season as any other time—and to keep up, you need to budget your time carefully and review your priorities. When conflicts arise, discuss them with your coaches, teachers, and parents to help you make the best decisions. Be cognizant of who is depending on you for what. This does not mean that I expect or allow wrestlers to miss practice in order to complete foreseeable homework; it does mean that I expect you to remain organized and aware about your assignments. We want your teachers to be part of your fan base.
Rest: Getting adequate sleep is absolutely crucial to wrestling—this is sometimes hard, because of homework and other activities or because the night before a match can just be too exciting. But it is something you can work on.
Nutrition and hydration: This is a tough one for some wrestlers. It is imperative to eat well—balanced diets with adequate carbohydrates for energy and protein for muscle growth, as well as modest fats. Vegetables, fruits, grains, and all the basic food groups should be represented. In general, avoid junk food., soda (even diet), foods overly rich in fats. The decision about what weight class a wrestler should compete in can be tricky; high-school wrestlers should not lose excessive amounts of weight, and should never drop below 6-7% body-fat (for many, they will be in peak condition at 10-12% body fat, although this varies from wrestler to wrestler). Dehydration is an awful way to lose weight, and while it won’t hurt to skip a dinner the night before a match, consistently missing meals will deplete strength, moral, and accomplishment. Wrestlers will weigh-in before and after every practice (as per TSSAA guidelines) to be certain that they aren't losing too much water. You should drink at least 8-12 ounces of water in the couple hours before practice. Weigh-in weights are officially recorded, to insure that wrestlers lose neither too much weight nor lose too quickly.
Weight Class: Wrestlers wrestle according to weight. These are the weight classes at the beginning of the year:
103, 112, 119, 125, 130, 135, 140, 145, 152, 160, 171, 189, 215, 285.
On December 25th, each weight class is granted an additional two-pound allowance, so the 103 weight class has a 105 lbs limit. If a team has two consecutive days of weighing in, an additional pound allowance is granted for the second day.
Wrestlers weigh in before the match by getting on the scale. If they are under the weight, then they have “made weight”; if they are over, they have not made weight and may not wrestle. Wrestlers may not do anything to lose weight once they have stepped on the scale. For additional information about weight regulation, see http://tssaa.org/Handbook/wrestling.pdf and http://tssaa.org/Sports/Wrestling/weightmanagement.cfm (once the latter is updated). Note: a rule change requires that all wrestlers weigh-in in their underwear; they may not strip down.
Selecting a weight class must be a deliberate decision. As your coach, I will offer advise on where I think you would do best. But ultimately, the decision of your weight class is a choice you must make in consultation with your parents. The hydration/weight analysis test will tell you what the permissible options are. For the varsity starters, you must compete at the weight you elect to compete in for Regions in half of your matches during the year.
Communication: Every wrestler and parent should have my contact information as well as the basic contact information of the other wrestlers. This is vital for when we travel or if there are changes of plans. I am always happy to answer questions and to work out any problem. Almost everything can be solved sooner more easily than later. But wrestlers also need to communicate with themselves. They need to learn to evaluate their performances and take responsibility for them. To help them achieve this self-awareness, wrestlers will have a wrestling notebook and will review their matches with video.
On starting for the Varsity team: Wrestling traditionally has a very straightforward way of determining the starters in a weight class: all the members of that weight class compete against each other, and whoever wins is the starter. After a starter is established, other wrestlers may challenge for the spot. You should always challenge for a position—the experience of a challenge match is a big step to being competitive. At the same time, if the coach does not think a wrestler is experienced enough for a varsity position, he will wrestle J.V. until he is ready. Being the starter, however, does not always mean that you will wrestler in a particular meet or at a particular weight: coaches have responsibilities to develop the over-all team, and while that generally means going with the starters, sometimes a different approach might be warranted. In order to challenge for a weight class, you must be within 3 pounds of the weight limit; should you ever not make weight for a meet, you will need to be at that weight to wrestle-off for the spot in subsequent meets.
Discipline: Next to intensity, discipline may be the most important attribute that a wrestler brings to the sport, and it gets developed by the athlete in the course of practices and meets. Consequently, we will not use exercise as punishment—exercise is part of training, and though it can hurt a bit, it is not supposed to be a punishment, but something athletes know they do to get better. Pay attention throughout practice—in warm-ups, drills, and live wrestling. Listen to the coaching and always stand where you can see what is going on. This does not mean that wrestlers should not ask questions and make suggestions—including reminders about water breaks. Wrestlers need to discipline themselves and discipline each other by example, commitment, and verbal encouragement.
Water Breaks during practice: Every wrestler must have a water bottle freshly filled up every day for practice. We will take a couple of general water breaks during each practice, and for many wrestlers, that will be adequate. But all wrestlers should keep their water bottle near enough at hand that they can get a quick sip without disrupting practice when needed. You may not share or borrow water bottles.
Vacations: We will work out during both the Thanksgiving and the Winter Holidays (with a few days off), and will have a match on December 30th. As soon as school returns, we run into the thick of our schedule. Our practices will generally be early in the morning, giving kids the rest of the day free. These practices are great learning times, and while I know it may not always be possible to make all of them, the more a wrestler does makes, the more he will improve. For variety, we will probably work out with some other teams some, and so give the wrestlers the chance to learn from other coaches.
Traveling: Most
of our matches are away, although fairly close, and even our "home matches" will
be a short drive. This requires that we travel in an organized manner, with
each wrestler taking responsibility for his equipment and personal
items. We will set clear departure times and sequences, and all wrestlers must
adhere to them. For tournaments, wrestlers need to bring snacks and ways to
relax. I recommend a book and a pillow; others prefer IPods.
When traveling to a meet, including overnights, all school
rules remain in effect, including so-called "Zero Tolerance" violations. As your
coach, I fully expect full compliance with those rules. (It is, nonetheless, my
recommendation that should any student be
accused of a serious violation, s/he not answer any questions regarding the
accusation without consulting a parent. But let's just make sure this doesn't
come up, by staying focused on wrestling and having fun.
PARENT INVOLVEMENT: Different parents have the opportunity for different levels of involvement, but there are some basics without which the team will not run as well.
Be supportive: Wrestling isn't easy, and the harder athletes work at it, the more fun it is. Every one will need a little something different from his parents, but support is always crucial. Be positive.
Transportation: A main issue is transportation to meets. For tournaments, athletes are responsible for getting to the tournament site 15 minutes before the start of weigh-ins. Parents can drive or carpool. For dual meets, we will leave as a team from school, and we will need volunteers for driving. As soon as we have a finalized schedule, I will be contacting parents to work out a schedule for drivers. Some wrestlers will be driving themselves, and may drive others with parental approval. I hope to have 2 parents accompany the team to the Halls tournament.
Practices: Practices are open to all parents at all times. I ask that you be cognizant of the need for the wrestlers to concentrate and wait for breaks to talk with me or them (except in cases of urgency). Also, be aware that before and after practices, wrestlers will be checking their weight (stripped down to their underwear) in our locker area.
Miscellaneous: Various needs always arise during the season. If we have managers or an assistant coach (dependent upon having 25 or more wrestlers), then they will handle a variety of activities that I might otherwise need help with. These include filming matches, acting as score keepers, acting as official timers and scorekeepers for our two home matches (at MLKJ), entering in statistics for various eligibility requirements and team management. None of these are very hard—though they might seem daunting—but they will all help you understand the sport more.
Organizing a Wrestler's Booster Parent group. Lots of different ways this could work.
Approximate Expenses for Individuals
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65 |
The primary objective is to pin your opponent, which means placing some part of each of his shoulder blades on the mat for two seconds. This is achieved, usually, by pining holds; if, at the end of three periods of wrestling, there is no pin, the wrestler who has scored the most points wins. A wrestler scores points for doing moves that improve his situation:
A take-down (2 points): A wrestler takes his opponent from a neutral standing position to one where he is in control on the mat. Usually this means that the opposing wrestler’s weight is supported by his hands, knees, hips, or other body parts that are not his feet, and that the scoring wrestler is behind him (or pinning him).
A near fall (also called “back points”): A pinning hold that does not actually pin a wrestler scores two points if the opponent’s shoulder blades are at a 45-degree angle on the mat. If the position is held for 5 seconds or more, a 3-point nearfall is scored. (you will often notice a referee watching for a pin seeming to have two or three fingers in an imaginary back-pocket. This means the wrestler in control has scored these points, but that they won’t be awarded until the hold ends, that is, when the opponent breaks the hold, the time period ends, or the wrestlers move off the mat)
An escape (1 point) is scored when a wrestler goes from a down (or controlled) position to a neutral position. A reversal is when the wrestler goes from a down position to a top (controlling Wrestlers are penalized for illegal moves, false or illegal starts (after a warning), and stalling positions.
With the exception of some penalty points, the scoring of points does not stop the action—which is continuous, unless the wrestlers go off the mat or the referee stops the match for some specific reason. A referee can stop the match at any time if s/he judges the position to be “potentially dangerous” to either wrestler; there is no point in arguing about this call, but you may ask for clarification about what the danger was, in order to avoid it.
Periods: A wrestling match consists of three periods, unless there is a pin, disqualification, or one wrestler outscores the other by 15 points (a victory by superior decision, or tech-fall, is declared). Each period is usually 2 minutes, although for J.V., consolation, and certain team tournaments, shorter time controls may be in place. Wrestlers should always have a sense of how much time is left—it takes less than 3 seconds to score 4 points from the neutral position, and many matches are decided in the final seconds of the periods. The clock stops when wrestlers go off the mat or when the referee blows his whistle to stop the action.
The first period always begins in the neutral position, with both wrestlers facing each other about a yard apart. The referee will ask them to shake hands and then blow the whistle to start the action. Look for aggressive moves right off the whistle from the best wrestlers, though don't just lunge into things.
In the second period, one wrestler will be given his choice of starting position. He may choose neutral (both standing, as in the first round), top (in control), or down (bottom position). He may also defer—in which case his opponent will choose neutral, top, or down. Whichever wrestler makes the choice in the second period, his opponent will make the choice in the third period. Usually wrestlers defer, preferring to control the start of the third period. (Wrestlers should experiment with what choices mean for them, and discuss their decision with their coaches in practices. Usually, a wrestler will want to look over at his coach for advice. Many coaches insist that the wrestler choose what the coach wants; my view is that the choice is given to the wrestler, because it is his responsibility. I will advise, but ultimately the wrestler has to choose.
In the down position (which may start either the second or third period) and is the starting position if wrestlers go off the mat with one wrestler in control, the bottom wrestler is on his hands and knees, with his back straight (parallel to the mat, and so this is sometimes called “on his tables”). Head is up, to watch the referee. Slight bend in the elbows provides spring for the explosive first move. Most wrestlers sit back, so that their haunches are just about over their ankles. Wrestlers can either lie their ankles flat on the mat (good for sitouts) or curl their toes under (good for standups and switches).
The top wrestler chooses one side of the down wrestler. He places his head along the middle of his opponent's back, places one arm around the waste with palm flat on the belly button, and then placed the other just behind the elbow. After a brief pause to be sure that the position is legal, the referee will blow the whistle, and the wrestlers should explode into action.
Competitions come in three basic formats:
Dual meets in which one team competes against another. Points are awarded for each victory (3 points for a decision; 4 for a major decision, 5 for a superior decision, and 6 for either a pin or forfeit in the weight class). The matches begin at a randomly selected weight class, and then move up to heavyweight, and then back around to the light weights. Whenever possible, our JV wrestlers will compete before the Varsity dual meet begins. We will mostly have tri-meets, meaning that we will wrestle duals against two other teams for each meet. These meets are usually held on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
Team tournaments, in which the teams compete in dual meet style, moving through tournament brackets. Although the champions are specific teams, usually awards are given for the outstanding wrestlers in each weight class. These tournaments are great for the team bonding and working together. We will have one team tournament in addition to the Region Dual Tournament. These will be on Saturdays.
Individual Tournaments: Here, wrestlers compete individually, advancing through brackets towards the finals or (if they lose) toward consolation or 3rd/4th wrestle-backs. (another common format is to have the wrestlers compete in pools and have the top placers in the pools advance; this guarantees all wrestlers 4-5 matches). Although these tournaments emphasize individuals (and are the model for the regionals and states), they award team places based on the collective accomplishments of the teams. The winning teams are often determined by the wrestlers who come back from early losses to score team points by placing 3rd an 4th. Tournaments provide great opportunities to pick up new techniques and ideas by watching and talking with other wrestlers. We will have 3 tournaments (on Saturdays or Friday and Saturday), in addition to the Regions and States; they tend to last most of the day.
Some main moves: (This isn’t every move by a long way, not even all the ones we will work on this year, but you can be a great wrestler knowing just a couple from each category--). This represents some of what we will be learning. If you don't know a single one of these, that's just fine; if you think you know them all, that's fine, too
Standing position:Set-ups, take-downs, counters
Basic set ups:
Basic takedowns: (each takedown has a variety of finishes—you'll want to learn which ones you like, and which ones you might need to use)
Escapes and reversals (always with hand-control; usually to escape or reverse, a wrestler will do several of these moves in a row, keeping your opponent on the defensive)
Top position: Rides/breakdowns and pinning combinations are the key moves, but improvising, switching off from move to move, and exerting mastery are the keys. Keep the pressure on with hip control, driving with shoulders, locking off the opponents legs, etc. Be creative
Rides/breakdowns
Pinning combinations:
Getting off of ones back—We all end up there sometimes—it’s no time to panic, but to get down to business: bridging, hip-heisting, sliding an arm through, breaking your opponents grip (in a cradle). Never give up, and always know where you are on the mat—if your shoulders are off the mat, you can’t be pinned.
Common mistakes to avoid
Do not grab an opponents head without a specific move in mind; it usually gives him leverage to take you to your back.
Follow through with a move if it’s working, but if it isn’t, don’t cling to it—change off to something new.
On your feet, don’t cross your legs; don’t let your elbows come out wide of your body. Keep knees bent and stay on balance—don’t lean on your opponent to let him hold you up—it is asking to be thrown.
Keep your hips squared up, unless you are doing a specific move that calls for them to slide; otherwise, your turning towards your back and taking the pressure off your opponent.
Don’t stop midmove—especially in the transition from a shot to a finish, or from a break-down to a pinning combination.
Don’t letup when you score—it is an ideal time to score more. Also, when scored against, respond immediately—often, the moment a wrestler scores a takedown, he is to high and can easily be reversed.
Know the illegal moves:
A note on wrestling against girls. Although Hume-Fogg does not currently have any girls on its team, more and more girls are joining in the sport. Last year's women’s division of the National Freestyle championship had over 500 participants. Wrestler a girl like you would a boy; work hard, try your hardest to win, so that if you lose, you have nothing to be embarrassed about. She has worked hard to be there, and deserves the respect of your utmost effort.
On occasion, you might wrestle an opponent with a disability, and the referee will inform you of any specific regulations. For example, when wrestling against a blind wrestler, you must remain in physical contact at all time. But always do your best, try your hardest, using your best moves. That’s what you opponent is going to do, so it is only fair.