Focus and excitement should be
placed on successful execution of techniques and wrestling movements. 
 
In practice, focus should be on following the coach’s plan and
activities. Focus on good listening and discipline skills are
important.
 
Wrestling “type” games that help teach movement,
balance, and the very basic technical skills will keep it fun. Inspire kids to
learn and enjoy themselves.

Teaching a good work ethic and tough – but fun – physical activity will help
a youngster to develop their conditioning, health and coordination.

Win or lose, let’s hug our child/wrestlers lots and always.


The Don’ts:
Don’t get emotional as parent or coach regarding winning and
losing. Kids will sense our emotion for sure.

Don’t think that if kids don’t win ‘now’ (at 12 years old and younger) that
they are learning to accept losing. This is false! Matt Lindland, Olympic and
World silver medalist, states; “Without properly teaching kids how to win AND
lose at this young age we are doing them an injustice. In the real world we have
to deal with both.” 

Don’t push young wrestlers to think winning is the main focus. Yes, winning
is good and fun but it’s not all about the wins and losses. “I was the worst
wrestler on my club team when I was young. However, wrestling with all the
better kids helped me to get better myself”; says Lindland.

Don’t get mad at a child/wrestler for losing or not executing moves properly.
Most of the time a young child’s physiology and motor skill development
determines what that child can and cannot master at that particular age in their
life. As they grow older, their coordination and motor skills will naturally
develop. 

Don’t cut weight! Please understand that losing weight to wrestle at a lower
weight class does not help a wrestler win. Learning the skills and strengthening
the body and mind is what helps them to win. The fact is cutting weight will
kill (in many cases) a young wrestler’s attitude about this great sport of ours.
Wrestling requires enough hard work at learning the skills and conditioning the
body without the added torture of not eating after the tough workouts. It is no
fun to cut weight! Remember the main goal of the young wrestler should be to
have fun and enjoy the act of wrestling. 

Don’t get mad at officials, or yell at them and other coaches/wrestlers.
Accept the results and all the bad calls (or perceived bad calls) that the
referees make. Teach good sportsmanship by setting a good example.   
 
Don’t be a “coach” when we need to be “father/mother”. Kids need their mom
and dad more than anything!

Don’t think short term. Think about how we will teach our child/wrestler to
love the sport so they will wrestle as teens and beyond. This is where the true
value of the sport of wrestling will build their character. 

Don’t take our child/wrestlers match (especially losses) personal. Don’t
think our wrestler’s performance is an indication of how tough ‘WE’ are.
Remember it’s about growth and development. Young kids need to learn from defeat
as much as victory.
 
In summary: If we are too focused on
winning/losing at this young age we are risking a lot. Basic skills, games and
fun should be the emphasis. It takes a strong parent/coach to fight the common
urge to get emotional about our children/wrestler’s performance and result.
Remember kids all develop their coordination skills, physiology and anatomy as
their maturity allows. Most wrestling techniques and movements will not even be
possible to master at this young age. Not to mention the mental development at
this age varies tremendously. Many of the young national champions at this age
never even wrestle past the age of 12. Why is this? And let’s keep in mind that
a national champion at age 7 means absolutely nothing in the big picture. 

As you progress you will undoubtedly have new questions, some of
which your original instructor may not be able to solve. Enter collaboration. At
some point in your grappling career you will have to ask tough questions that
only other high level grapplers can help you solve. 

Training with other quality grapplers and asking better questions
is the key to growth. This is not to be confused with training against high
quality grapplers for competition; there is a time and place for that. The most
beneficial route is to pick their brains for insights and tips that will help
your game. 

I’ve been very fortunate to become friends and train with several
high level grapplers, each of which has their own specific style, philosophy and
way of doing things. I’ve learned something from Sheldon Marr, Jeff Kunze, Ricky
Lundell, Jeff Monson, Jeremy Horn, Dave Johnson, Gerald Harris, Ica Medina, Mike
Colby, Rigan Machado, Rulon Gardner, Justin Ruiz, Steve Fraser, JJ Johnson,
Momir Petkovic, Mark Schultz and a host of others over the years. Training with
and learning from these incredible athletes and coaches has given me a greater
insight into the grappling arts. 

To finish up with a little more from the article: 

“Creativity is generally considered a solo gig, and our instincts
tell us to hoard talent for our own benefit. Instead, seek out more and more
collaborations. This works in any office, in any business. Start with
  willingness, enthusiasm and an open mind. Talk to co-workers who complement
  your talent. Kick around ideas. Encourage excellence. Share top billing. You
  may produce something incredible-and become the person everyone wants to work
  with.”


 

I like this best for Grappling; it also works well for
Wrestling.  However, it’s not good in a Takedown situation where both
wrestlers are on their feet.  Training “blind” works best when you’re on
the mat; working Top and Bottom positions; working Guard positions; working
Submission positions.  It makes you slow down because you can’t see what
you’re doing.  By slowing down, you allow yourself to develop your
positioning and get a better understanding of openings. 

I like training with my eyes closed because it allows me to have a good sense of
balance.   If I feel like I’m going over, I feel it more because it
becomes the dominant sense.
Keeping your eyes closed allows you to develop
better balance. You’ll be able to feel where your opponent has tight grip and
loose grip. You can hone in on which grip is the real threat.

A good example of this is when you’re defending a Rear Naked Choke; it’s really easy to fight
against the wrong arm.  The arm that’s the real threat is the one that is
closest to your neck, not the one underneath your arm.  And a lot of times
people will defend the wrong arm because it’s the closest or they just don’t see
the right one but when you can’t see what’s going on you’ll be able to feel
really quickly which arm is the most important to defend against. 

This will help you with your Grappling and Submission Wrestling technique. By
training with your eyes closed, you’ll be able to have a better sense of feel
and balance and you’ll be able to improve in your training much faster.  

They only trained twice in the day but how many meetings and strategy and
technical reviews did they undergo? In this example it was four times. Each of
those times lasting anywhere from 1 to 2 hours! That’s a full day! 

How much time do you spend as a grappler studying, evaluating, taking notes
and educating yourself about your chosen field? How much do you know about your
opponent’s offenses and defenses? How much do you know about your own offenses
and defenses? Are you one of the literally thousands of athletes who would
rather spend 2 hours of grueling hell on a mat conditioning until your left lung
collapses? 

Or are you one of the less than 1% who is willing to use their mind and put
actual real mental conditioning and development into the world’s oldest and
greatest sport? How many hours have you spent watching the perfect single leg?
How many mental repetitions have you completed of your favorite submission?
Favorite takedown? How many hours have you studied the various grappling styles
and their philosophies? How many books have you read about the subject?

If you’re not willing to put the time into your mind and your strategy you
will only be half an athlete. You may have success but only up to a certain
level and then you will go no further. If you want to go to the absolute limit
of your capabilities you must train your mind. 

You must be willing to slow down in your training and get it right. You must
be willing to stop in the middle of a technique and fix it, do it right and do
it again. You must be willing to sacrifice 15 minutes of hard physical training
for and even harder 15 minutes of analyzing, correcting and developing your
technique. 

If you take the ‘2 steps back’ to do this you will take 3 to 4 steps forward
in your training and in your success rate in competition. 

Remember you can win more by training less physically. Learning to train
mentally is what will one day separate you as a champion.