Continued to drill the stuff learnt last week: Finishes to single and double legs.

We then practised the front sprawl. Some aspects are the same as the side sprawl that we practised 2 weeks ago. We need to drop our hips down fast and put pressure on the opponent's head. But instead of scooting out to the side for an overhook, the front sprawl involves snapping your opponent forward so you can go-behind. The go-behind needs a lot of leg power to drive into your opponent. Do not just try to jump around behind your opponent. In this video, you can see Tom Brands dominate with his front sprawl and go-behinds. He doesn't just sprawl defensively. Brands uses his attacks to force the opponent onto his knees, then puts great pressure on the head and shoulders while driving with his legs to go-behind.

Today's training session was all about drills. We learnt a couple of finishes.
1) Single leg into a high leg control from the outside and inside. Elevating the leg and stepping in to trip the opponent. See how it works in real life in this video (enjoy the country music soundtrack!)
2) Double leg, scooting into a good position under your opponent, then lifting and turning them at the same time. Excellent video here.
3) Double leg driving in a tight circular motion to take opponent down. This is a good driving technique that works when you can't lift your opponent.

Setups: Today we learnt how to fight to get a setup. This works by pushing and pulling the opponent's arms and head/neck. Work hard to off balance opponent and then use one of the setups for the attacks that we've been drilling. Setups and attacks are not enough. We need to create the angle or level-change in order for the setup to succeed.

First thing today was to practise those 3 moves from last week again. But in addition to those 3 moves, we also learned the Wrist Grab to Sweep Single Leg. The key to the sweep single is the big step in the direction of the takedown followed by dropping down low to one knee and swivelling your whole body on that knee until you sweep behind your opponent. This move can also be done without dropping down to the knee and instead swivelling on your feet.

We followed up last week's training with more focus on setups. This week, we closely drilled 3 types:
Head Pull -> Outside Single Leg
Duck Under -> High Crotch
2-on-1 Armdrag (Russian Arm Drag) -> Double Leg

My approach to training takedowns is to associate certain setups with certain types of shots. This is because not every setup can be used for every attack. Some setups work better with certain shots and it is important that these standard combinations are understood by every wrestler. These moves are not only the most basic, they are also the most commonly used moves in high level competition. Once the basic movements are learned, some variations are possible with each setup. But this is a lesson for some other time!

We did another interesting drill today where we wrestled from sprawling/scrambling positions. This is a good drill which we will use more in future. This video shows some of the best scrambling I have ever seen: John Smith vs John Fisher. Take note of their excellent defence to each shot (sprawl), their control of the arm and the head (whizzer) and the counter-attacks. Study it carefully and you will see both wrestlers using the moves we learned today, but they go from one attack to defence to counterattack to counter-counterattack very quickly. This is what scrambling is all about.

This was a final tune-up for those going to the nationals. The main thing we drilled today was the setup and follow through to the shot. For example,

Snap Down -> Spin Behind
Head Pull -> Outside Single Leg
Duck Under -> High Crotch or Inside Single Leg
Front Headlock -> Outside Single Leg
Wrist Grab -> Sweep Single
Russian Arm Drag -> Double Leg
Overhook -> Spinning Arm Throw

We will be continuing to drill this more in future. These combinations form a strong basis for learning leg attacks in freestyle wrestling.

We also emphasized the importance of partner-work. Drilling with a partner is the best way to become fluent with moves. Instead of just practising moves together, we focussed on how to be a good training partner by being active and providing the correct amount of resistance to allow them to train effectively.

We did a lot of sparring practice today. The main problem with the standup wrestling is still not changing levels quickly enough to take the shot. Remember that set-ups off balance your opponent so that you can either get an angle or change level on your opponent. Changing angle and level allows you to shoot for a good takedown position. Finally, a good takedown position allows you to scramble effectively and get the takedown. These things all happen in a chain.

Also covered ground defence. The 3 main defensive strategies we looked at were: Bracing, Sitting Up and Grabbing Hands. Bracing is good when your opponent attacks your head and gut. Sitting Up is good to defend your ankles. Grabbing Hands is a useful way to prevent your opponent from getting a grip and using moves to score points on you.

Next week we will look at more upper body tie-ups and practise using them to set up shots and throws.

We covered how to finish takedowns from difficult positions. Two scenarios were considered:

1. If you shoot badly and end up on your knees, and you are still far away from your opponent's legs, you need to scramble defensively. Do not let your opponent stretch you out. Instead, get up on all fours and start circling. Do NOT end up like this: sprawled.

2. If you shoot well, but still end up being partially sprawled on, you can either scramble defensively as described above, or continue for the takedown. To continue the takedown, scoot your knees under your chest. This helps you get your base balance. Once you have your base, keep your head up and try to straighten your back. Get under your opponent's centre of gravity and continue with the takedown. Like this: single leg from knees. The blue wrestler (Bruce Baumgartner) has both knees under his opponent's centre of gravity, which allows him to make his back straight, which then allows him to follow through the takedown. Here's another picture of Baumgartner displaying good takedown posture.